No. 3 Maryland crushes No. 1 Duke

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- No last-minute collapse. Not even a home loss.

Maryland finally beat Duke at Cole Field House and the venerable building claimed one more No. 1 victim.

The third-ranked Terrapins, who had lost four years in a row on their own floor to the Blue Devils, beat them 87-73 Sunday, the seventh time a top-ranked team lost in the building that is closing after this season.

"Every game you play here is special because it's the last year here," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "You want to win each game. The situation makes it special. You don't put special emphasis on it with your players because what if you lose? You just get ready to play."

Williams didn't do a good job of selling that attitude to his players.

"This whole week the coach has been uptight on us about Duke. Duke this, Duke that," said sophomore Chris Wilcox, who had a career-high 23 points. "I just feel better for my coach because Coach wanted this win more than we did."

Cole and Notre Dame's Joyce Athletic Center had been tied with six No. 1 losses, but the Terrapins (21-3, 11-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) made sure there was no heartache like last season with the convincing win.

Last year, the Terrapins lost 98-96 to Duke at home in overtime when they squandered a 10-point lead with a minute left in regulation. The Blue Devils won three of four against Maryland last season, including in the NCAA semifinals, rallying from a 22-point deficit on the way to the national championship.

Maryland made it almost impossible to blow a lead this time, going up by 25 points three times.

Juan Dixon had 17 points for Maryland and Byron Mouton added 15. Steve Blake had 13 assists, one off his career-high and the school record.

Carlos Boozer had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Blue Devils (23-2, 11-2), who had won 11 straight since their only loss to Florida State. Mike Dunleavy added 15 points and 11 rebounds and Jason Williams had 17 points.

"The team that should have won did win, and they won in convincing fashion," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.