ENGELKE: Same old Terps in loss

If former Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green was at the helm of the Terrapin men's basketball program, we might've heard one of his famous rants following the Terps' ACC Tournament-ending loss Friday.

Even though the circumstances were much different — the Terps never boasted a 20-point lead over Duke, as the Cardinals did over the Chicago Bears five years ago when Green went on his memorable tirade — the ex-NFL coach's unforgettable words were still fitting for what happened on the hardwood Friday night.

The Terps and Blue Devils, as Green put it back in 2006, are who we thought they were. The two teams' respective seasons were epitomized during Friday's matchup, and the result on the court was just what was expected.

The Terps, as they have countless times this season, put together a solid effort for about 30 minutes and then fell flat, allowing the Blue Devils to pull away.

Duke, meanwhile, did what it has done all season long, squashing any hopes of an upset with clutch shooting from the field and free-throw line as of one of their All-ACC seniors led the way. This time around, it was forward Kyle Singler, who grabbed nine rebounds and scored a game-high 29 points in the win.

"We knew what they were going to do," forward Dino Gregory said. "We did a good job for the first 35 minutes. Just towards the end, we kind of lost it. We had some lapses, and that's how they beat you."

"This year, we couldn't play 40 minutes hard," guard Terrell Stoglin said. "That hurt us."

Even though Duke deviated slightly from its norm Friday night — the team didn't shoot particularly well from beyond the arc, and guard Nolan Smith had an off night, scoring just seven points before suffering a toe injury — the Blue Devils were still able to pull away from the Terps late and bury them en route to a 87-71 victory.

Simply put, Duke had too much talent for the Terps to handle for an entire 40-minute stretch. The Blue Devils boast the ACC's best scoring offense, scoring margin and free-throw percentage, and it showed.

Last night's game, which gave the Blue Devils their third victory over the Terps this season and ninth of the two teams' last 10 meetings, offered just another example of how far the two squads sat apart on the different ends of the ACC spectrum this season.

"There's the MVP of the Final Four last year, there's arguably two or three of the best guards in the country playing out there, so you have to do things right when you have the ball," Gary Williams said. "They're a veteran team. With that type of experience, when they feel a weakness, when they sense something from the other team, they pounce on it."

For the Terps, the mistakes that cost them the game — and the missteps the Blue Devils capitalized on — have been constant pains in Williams' side all season long. Poor free-throw shooting and long stretches of play without a field goal were the two biggest reasons the Terps couldn't pull off a miracle victory Friday night.

Thirty strong minutes of play, as we've seen all season long from the Terps, just wasn't going to cut it.

"We played really well the first 30 minutes, and then we just didn't finish it out," guard Adrian Bowie said. "It's too bad the game is 40 minutes and not 30."

The Terps had a good start to the ACC Tournament, rebounding from a three-game losing streak with a win over NC State. But beating Duke wasn't going to happen.

The two teams, after all, proved to be who we thought they were.

jengelke@umdbk.com