DURHAM, N.C. — Duke’s famously intense fans packed Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday night, filling the historic venue with signs and shouting chants that for the final time in an ACC matchup were directed at the Terrapins men’s basketball team.
The Terps didn’t immediately quiet the Cameron Crazies, but eventual made some noise of their own to cut into an early double-digit deficit. At halftime, the Terps trailed 39-33 after an energetic-yet-sloppy 20 minutes. Coach The Terps committed nine turnovers and got into quick foul trouble, which allowed Duke to pull ahead, but forward Jake Layman’s 12 points have kept the game competitive
Versatile freshman forward Jabari Parker had 14 points for the Blue Devils, and scored six points in the game’s first four minutes, allowing Duke to build an 8-2 lead.
The freshman’s quick start continued, and the Terps didn’t have an answer as Parker finished the half shooting 5-of-10 from the floor.
The Terps’ most prolific scorer, meanwhile, wasn’t able to make much of an impact. Guard Dez Wells went to the bench with three fouls with 6:59 remaining in the half and was scoreless at halftime.
Forward Charles Mitchell helped the Terps hang around early, scoring eight points in the game’s first nine minutes. Mitchell, too, had three fouls at halftime.
Layman got going later on and hit a pair of 3-pointers midway through the half. But the highlight of the half came on Layman’s only miss from the beyond the arc, when guard Nick Faust soared from several steps outside of the paint for a thunderous putback slam.
The Terps, who once trailed 24-14, cut the Duke lead down to 32-31 with less than four minutes left in the half shortly after Fasut’s dunk. The Blue Devils scored seven straight points after that, though, and entering the locker room with a six-point lead after Faust hit a runner at the buzzer.
