DURHAM, N.C . -- Maryland coach Gary Williams barked at the officials, junior guard D.J. Strawberry scowled and senior guard Chris McCray shook his head, seemingly both in disbelief and frustration.
None of it helped.
No. 23 Maryland's offense unraveled like a roll of toilet paper last night, as the Terps turned the ball over to No. 1 Duke 29 times en route to a 76-52 beating before a packed crowd of 9,314 that rocked a stuffy and deafening Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The one thing the Terps had last season, despitemissing the NCAA tournament for the first time in 12 seasons, was two victories against Duke, including one here when the Blue Devils were ranked No. 2.
Point guard John Gilchrist, who left school early to pursue his professional career, was gone last night, but essentially the same team took the court.
Maryland had won the past three meetings with Duke and five of the past eight. From the onset of the game, though, another upset seemed remote as the Blue Devils built a 23-point halftime lead.
The loss came on the heels of an unexpected defeat at Miami on Saturday and dropped the Terps to 11-4 overall and 1-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
It seemed as if anything that could go wrong for Maryland did. At the 10:49 mark of the second half, Ekene Ibekwe was called for a technical foul when he got tangled in a scrum on the floor after McCray dived for a loose ball.
Duke senior J.J. Redick, the best free-throwshooter in NCAA history with a .928 career percentage, went to the line andmade both of his shots, giving the Blue Devils a 56-37 lead.
That didn't stop Redick, who finished with a game-high 27 points, from driving in late in the game for an uncharacteristic dunk. Shelden Williams added to the Terps' misery with 19 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 10 blocks for the Blue Devils (15-0, 3-0).
It was Williams' first career triple double.
McCray scored 12 points to lead Maryland.
There was just a smattering of red mixed among the Blue Devils' crowd, and at the center of them all was themother of sophomore forward James Gist, proudly wearing his No. 15 jersey and waving a Maryland flag. She was unfazed by the chants of "Mama's boy."
Gist smiled at it as he went to the line and missed a free throw with about five minutes remaining.
While a freshman point guard with an injured finger was running the Blue Devils' offense, Gary Williamswas trying all three of his point guards. Strawberry started the game but was erratic, and at one point ran the entire perimeter before he passed the ball. Junior-college transfer Parrish Brown got his shot, as did senior Sterling Ledbetter.
The Terps seemed to turn the ball over on every first-half possession, and the shots they managed to take either ricocheted off the rim or were batted away by Shelden Williams, who had four blocks in the first half.
Maryland shot 28.6 percent in the f irst half (8-for-28) and turned the ball over 18 times, with Duke scoring 22 points off Terps mishaps.
It wasn't even as if Redick, the ACC's leading scorer with an average of 25.8 points a game, was having a career day. He shot 5-for-13 from the field in the first half and was instead working the ball inside toWilliams,who more often than not was waiting under the basket for uncontested shots.
But Redick's three-point shot with 2:22 remaining in the first half put Duke ahead 39-20. The Blue Devils went to the locker room with a comfortable 45-22 lead.
Duke started the game with a 7-0 run-the second consecutive game in which the Terps have fallen behind by at least that many points - and easily widened the gap.
The Blue Devils used a 12-3 run to take a 26-11 lead with 10 minutes remaining. Maryland went about nine minutes with only one field goal. After senior forward Nik Caner-Medley made a basket at the 15:55 mark, junior guard Mike Jones' three-pointer was the only other score for Maryland until Ibekwe made a basket with 7:16 remaining.
No Maryland players scored more than six points in the first 20 minutes, as the Terps were held to a season-low22 first-half points.
WAKE FOREST@NO. 23 MARYLAND
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