Travis Garrison (above) wasn’t in the starting lineup for the first time this season, but was a main part in sealing a Terp win. Garrison and other usual starter Ekene Ibekwe scored 14 of the Terps’ final 16 points and hit nine of 10 late-game free throws
DURHAM, N.C. — For the first time this season, Travis Garrison and Ekene Ibekwe weren’t on the court at the start of the game.
But they had a lot to do with how it ended.
The duo combined for 11 points in the final minute and a half, as the Terrapins did what no other team has done this season — shock previously undefeated No. 2-ranked Duke, 75-66, at Cameron Indoor Stadium last night.
The win couldn’t have come at a better time for the Terps (12-5, 3-3 ACC), who lost three of their past four conference games — the last a deflating home defeat.
“I’m really proud of the guys. There’s a lot of people up around College Park that kind of had written us off,” men’s basketball coach Gary Williams said. “This is good for us.”
After leading for most of the first half, the Terps trailed 58-54 with less than nine minutes to play before launching a decisive 21-8 run.
Garrison, a junior forward, and Ibekwe, a sophomore center — who started each of the first 16 games — scored 14 of the Terps’ last 16 points. Ibekwe gave the Terps a 66-64 lead on a layup following a nifty spin move under the basket with one minute, 24 seconds remaining.
He and Garrison then connected on nine of 10 shots from the foul line to preserve the upset victory.
“Me not starting, I didn’t let it rattle me or whatever,” Ibekwe said. “Same thing as Travis — he didn’t let it get to him either. We trust our teammates and we came out with the win. It feels good, too.”
Ibekwe, who entered the contest shooting a team low 57.1 percent from the foul line, finished with 15 points and nine rebounds after playing only six minutes in the first half.
“Me coming through and hitting big shots at a place like Duke, with that crowd, I feel real proud of myself. I feel real proud of myself,” he said.
Garrison also played six minutes in the first half, picking up three fouls without scoring a point, but delivered nine points and five rebounds in the second half.
“I had to do something,” he said. “As a starter and as one of the leaders on the team, I just had to go out there and do anything — just get every rebound or get my hands on loose balls. I had to do it. … You can’t be down on yourself because you’re not starting. You just have to be confident.”
The win follows a dismal effort against N.C. State Sunday, in which the Terps trailed by as many as 28 points at home. The team was flat in the first half against the Wolfpack, mustering a meager five field goals before halftime against a slumping team. That loss left Williams “concerned” about which direction his team was heading.
“We’ve struggled a little bit this year with our identity for whatever reason, but we do have pride in our program,” Williams said. “We think we have a good program. After the N.C. State game, without me saying much, the players took it upon themselves to come in here and give a great effort. You can’t come in here thinking you’re going to win or anything like that, but we knew we could give a good effort.”
Former Terps Juan Dixon, Steve Blake and Laron Profit — all players for the Washington Wizards — visited the team’s practice yesterday to talk to the players.
“They said all the right things, but it’s up to the players to use that,” Williams said.
Forward Nik Caner-Medley said the practice, in which Blake worked out with the team, was the hardest of the season.
“He has that type of effect on us because everyone has so much respect for him,” Caner-Medley said. “And then Laron and Juan, we also have so much respect for them and what they did when they were here. They just said, ‘Go out there and play hard and have fun. You guys have a great team, but it looks like you’re thinking too hard. You guys aren’t having as much fun as you should. This is the best four years of your life.’”
The Terps responded against the vaunted Blue Devils (15-1, 5-1). Sophomore center Will Bowers and sophomore guard Mike Jones each made their first collegiate starts. Williams made the lineup changes, he said, “to get us to play better early,” and to match up against a smaller Duke team.
Bowers logged 19 minutes in the first half, contributing four points and six rebounds. Jones had four points in the game.
Caner-Medley continued to drive the offense, scoring nine of the team’s first 15 points.
The Terps led 23-16 with eight minutes to play in the half. Less than three minutes later, the score was tied, and by halftime Duke had a 34-30 lead.
But for the third time in the past six seasons, the Terps upstaged the Blue Devils on their home court. Only three other teams have won at Cameron in that span.
“I think this is going to give us confidence. I think we’re going to go up from here,” Garrison said. “The season’s not even over yet. We got a good win. We can celebrate tonight, but tomorrow is a new day. We just have to keep on improving from here.”
Caner-Medley finished with a game-high 25 points on 8 of 13 shooting. Junior point guard John Gilchrist piloted the offense with nine assists and added 10 points.
Junior guard Chris McCray had the task of defending the ACC’s leading scorer. J.J. Redick led Duke with 20 points, but shot a meager 7 of 21 from the field (3 of 10 on 3-pointers).
“You find out about your players in this situation too,” Williams said. “It would have been very easy to come in here and lose by 20. The players wouldn’t have caught any more crap if they would have lost that game like that. They would have just said, ‘Maryland’s not that good.’ But we want to be good. That’s what we did tonight. We proved that we want to be good.”
TERP NOTES: Junior reserve point guard Sterling Ledbetter did not play last night. Williams said afterward he should have gotten the junior in the game, but he wanted Gilchrist and Caner-Medley on the court as much as possible. … Williams did not make a decision as to whether Garrison and Ibekwe would return to the starting lineup Sunday against Georgia Tech.
