Blue Devils

Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie sees Jasmine Thomas as someone who is never satisfied. Thanks to the junior guard, the Blue Devils now stand a win away from their first Final Four since 2006. Thomas matched her career-high with 29 points and sprinkled her stat line with a little bit of everything, and second-seeded Duke ended No. 11 seed San Diego State's surprising NCAA tournament run with a 66-58 victory Saturday to reach the regional final. "She's just a very hungry player, someone who loves to get out there and dictate and on both sides of the ball," McCallie said.

John Haus hasn't heard from his younger brother this week. Of course, the Maryland men's lacrosse midfielder hasn't exactly tried to reach out to him either. No hard feelings. It's just the nature of sports. "It's game week," said Will Haus, a freshman starting on Duke's defensive midfield, "so there's not much talking going on. " John's Terps will face Will's Blue Devils in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament Saturday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

So many of the architects of the longstanding Maryland-Duke rivalry were in attendance Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. There was former Terrapins coach Lefty Driesell and former Duke player J.J. Redick, a Maryland nemesis. There was current Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who was celebrating his 1,000th game at Duke and his 63rd birthday. And there was Maryland coach Gary Williams, whose Terrapins were unable to use Saturday's game to revive the rivalry, which has turned one-sided the past few seasons.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - It's April, so it is time for Duke's men's lacrosse team to start its annual march toward the NCAA championship. The Blue Devils, behind stellar defense and three goals effort from sophomore attackman Josh Dionne, won their ninth straight game Friday, beating Maryland 6-5 in the ACC semifinalsat Klockner Stadium. The fourth-seeded Terps (7-3) had two good scoring opportunities in the last 13 seconds, but Duke goalie Dan Wigrizer saved both as time expired.

The national championship in Division I men's college lacrosse will rest on the shoulders of Duke goalies Mike Rock and Dan Wigrizer this weekend. If they play well, the fifth-seeded Blue Devils will win the title. If not, it will probably go to No. 1 Virginia, the Blue Devils' opponent in the semifinals Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium. Sorry to put such a burden on Wigrizer and Rock, but Duke (14-3) is playing at such a high level offensively, averaging nearly 18 goals in each of its last three games.

Last season, the Duke Blue Devils were everybody's All-Americans. Players came across as interesting, articulate guys who were good enough to get to the Final Four, but not quite good enough to win it. So despite their success, they were underdogs.Then they beat Nevada-Las Vegas -- a seemingly unbeatable team favored mainly by deeply tanned men with jewelry -- and, in the NCAA championship, Kansas.Basketball fans rejoiced.They aren't rejoicing now. We are in Year 1 of the great Duke backlash.

Like every other observer of the sex-race-class-legal-political-media drama unfolding at Duke University, we can't possibly yet know if any crimes were committed, or even who may turn out to be the true victims - if any - in this story. But this grotesque bonfire in Durham, N.C., is impossible not to watch, nonetheless. Take a big dose of privilege. (Who doesn't know by now that Duke, where the annual tab is about the same as the U.S. median household income, is among the most impossible-to-get-into schools?

MINNEAPOLIS - It has to be a rough morning for Maryland basketball fans. By now, you're late for work because you stayed up to watch the NCAA basketball championship game. And while you're sipping coffee, you keep switching the TV channel. Everywhere you look, there is a Blue Devil. Click. It's Shane Battier and Jason Williams on ESPN. Click. It's Coach K on "Good Morning, America." By the end of tonight, Duke likely will be featured again on ESPN Classic. Probably, the "Road to Glory" with three of the games against Maryland.

MINNEAPOLIS - It has to be a rough morning for Maryland basketball fans. By now, you're late for work because you've stayed up to watch the NCAA basketball championship game. And while you're sipping that coffee, you keep switching the TV channel. Everywhere you look, there is a Blue Devil. Click. It's Shane Battier and Jason Williams on ESPN. Click. It's Coach K on Good Morning America. By the end of tonight, Duke will be featured again on ESPN Classic. Probably, the "Road to Glory" with three of the games against Maryland.

Massachusetts and Connecticut held the top two spots in the college basketball poll today, the second week in a row they were there. The big news, however, is who isn't in the Top 25.For the first time since December 1986, Duke is not among the ranks of the ranked. A run of 143 consecutive poll appearances came to an end when the Blue Devils (9-6) didn't get enough votes after dropping their fourth consecutive game, the last three without coach Mike Krzyzewski (back ailment) on the bench.

The Terps are 59-19 in their all-time series with the Blue Devils and have won five of the last six contests, including a 10-7 decision on March 3. Both teams are riding fan-rousing victories with No. 8 Maryland topping No. 9 Johns Hopkins, 9-6, and No. 5 Duke thumping No. 6 Virginia, 13-5. Because of their 2-1 record in the Atlantic Coast Conference and their head-to-head win against the Cavaliers, the Blue Devils (11-3) are the top seed in the league tournament. The Terps (7-3 overall and 1-2 in the ACC)

Dan Wigrizer, Duke Junior, Villanova, Pa., goalkeeper Wigrizer powered the No. 5 Blue Devils' 13-5 pasting of then-No. 1 Virginia last Friday night. The 5-foot-10, 186-pound goalkeeper finished with 14 saves and contributed to the Cavaliers tally a season low in goals. Wigrizer and the Duke defense held Virginia scoreless in the first and third quarters, marking the first time this season that the Cavaliers had failed to score in a quarter. Wigrizer, who was named the Atlantic Coast Conference's Defensive Player of the Week, boasts an 8.68 goals-against average and a .547 save percentage.

As part of ESPN's coverage of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament Friday and two critical Big East contests Saturday, Paul Carcaterra will be offering commentary from the network's studio. The former Syracuse All-American midfielder, who can be followed on Twitter via @paulcarcaterra, provided his thoughts on the top team in Division I, Duke's mastery of Virginia and Villanova's upset potential against Notre Dame. With Virginia losing to Duke and Johns Hopkins falling to Maryland, which team did you have at No. 1?

No. 7 Duke (11-3, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) used a 6-0 run in the second half to elevate itself past No. 1 Virginia (10-2, 2-1) on Friday night, 13-5, in front of an announced 7,234 at Klockner Stadium. The Blue Devils earned the top seed in the ACC tournament and will play fourth-seeded Maryland in the semifinals Friday at 5 p.m. Maryland, the defending ACC champion, took the regular-season meeting between the teams, 10-7, on March 3 in College Park. The second-seeded Cavaliers will face third-seeded North Carolina at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU in the second semifinal.

No one knows for sure if Loyola University belongs in the top echelon of lacrosse teams this season, but it will be fun to see if the Greyhounds can get there. Loyola continued its impressive and strong beginning to the 2012 season by stunning Duke, 13-8, Saturday at Ridley Athletic Complex. There has been doubt about how good the Greyhounds (5-0) are, but a lot of it can be erased now. In the last decade, Duke has become just as synonymous with lacrosse as Johns Hopkins, Virginia and Syracuse.

As if snapping a six-game losing streak to No. 8 Duke wasn't arduous enough, No. 17 Loyola welcomes the Blue Devils to Ridley Athletic Complex Saturday with just two days of practice in the bank. The Greyhounds walloped Michigan, 15-8, on Wednesday night, but didn't return to campus until Thursday morning. The team got in a light practice Thursday and is expected to participate in another session Friday, but Loyola won't have the benefit of a full week of scouting and preparation as Duke - which hasn't played since dropping a 10-7 decision to No. 5 Maryland last Saturday - has likely enjoyed.

COLLEGE PARK -- Duke was breaking with tradition this season by rushing more than passing, but that should change Saturday when the Blue Devils meet Maryland at Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C."I wouldn't be surprised if they came out on their first four plays and try to hit a long one," said Mike Lacy, a Maryland cornerback. "I know they're going to test us."Almost every other team has, and Maryland (1-6) has flunked. Wake Forest was the latest team to toast Maryland's pass defense.Demon Deacons quarterback Keith West entered the Maryland game Saturday averaging 133.4 yards passing.

Notre Dame fired the first volley of the 2012 season when the then-No. 7 Fighting Irish upended then-No. 1 Duke, 7-3, on Saturday. It was the third time Notre Dame opened the season by beating the Blue Devils, and the team is enjoying a 15-game winning streak in the month of February. But coach Kevin Corrigan said he hopes the victory doesn't satiate the players' hunger for a national championship. “Any win helps you with your confidence,” Corrigan said Tuesday. “I hope it lets our guys know what they should already know, which is we're going to be there competing with everybody.