Nik Caner-Medley was the focus of the Terps’ offense, said point guard John Gilchrist. Caner-Medley hit eight of his 13 shots en route to 25 points.
With just under two minutes to play last night, Nik Caner-Medley hobbled off the court at Cameron Indoor Stadium clutching his left ankle.
The game had yet to be decided at that point, but the Terrapin junior forward had more than done his part.
For the fourth time in the past five games, Caner-Medley topped 20 points. He led the Terps to a 75-66 upset of No. 2 ranked Duke, scoring a game-best 25.
“He was focused and ready,” junior point guard John Gilchrist said. “He told me just to keep coming to him, bring the ball to his side, because none of the guys out there on the floor could guard him. Somebody was either too small and he could post up and shoot over him, or too big and too slow. Couldn’t nobody really guard him on the wing. It was the game plan to go to him.”
It worked.
Caner-Medley jump-started the Terps early, scoring nine of the team’s first 15 points.
And he carried the offense late when the game was starting to slip away. With the Terps trailing 40-32 early in the second half, he scored the team’s next nine points to keep the score close.
After averaging 12.2 points last season, Caner-Medley entered the game sixth in the league, scoring at almost 17 points per game. The difference is even more noticeable in the last two weeks. Beginning with a career-high 35 against Temple on Jan. 15, he is averaging better than 22 points over the past four games.
“He’s really started to change his game where he does more things on the court,” coach Gary Williams said. “I think he’s been kind of a guy who would wait for the ball to come to him. This year, he’s started to be more aggressive with the ball.”
Caner-Medley credits Gilchrist for his increased scoring figures. Before the Temple game, Gilchrist vowed to spread the ball around more in response to criticism from Williams.
“John has done such a good job of running the team and running the offense. Everybody knows he can score, but he’s making me a better player,” Caner-Medley said. “I’m not necessarily doing anything differently. I only took 13 shots this game, but John is doing such a good job of getting me the ball and controlling the tempo of the team that it’s making it easy for me.”
By the time Caner-Medley walked off the court with a twisted ankle (which he said won’t keep him out of action), he had connected on eight of his 13 shots and all six of his free throw attempts. And had endured the wrath of the Cameron Crazies, who mocked the Terp’s offseason arrest in Maine, among other taunts.
“I was really happy for him. … There were some things said that weren’t very nice tonight about Nik. Nobody’s perfect,” Williams said. “I think that’s the way you respond though. Just go out and play a great game. That’s what Nik did.”
