Coming off a career-high 35 points in a win against Wake Forest, Duke swingman Gerald Henderson used a more well-rounded effort to sink the Terps.

The Terps held Henderson to 19 points after he struggled to find his shot in the first half, but the junior also contributed eight rebounds, four blocks and hit all four of his free throws.

Henderson also won the personal match-up with Terp guard Greivis Vasquez, getting him in foul trouble that limited the star to 22 minutes.

“[Henderson] was just workmanlike,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “He got big buckets for us, got to the foul line. It wasn’t flowing easy, and I thought Gerald for a while put us on his back until everybody else started to contribute.”

The Wooden Award candidate’s performance also keyed the Blue Devils 56 percent shooting effort in the second half.

“Pretty much every time they were getting the ball to Henderson and setting a ball screen,” guard Eric Hayes said. “And then he was trying to get to the basket and he was kicking and other guys were getting to the basket.”

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Terp forward Landon Milbourne struggled in the Terps’ upset win against North Carolina Saturday before fouling out.

Last night, he fouled out again, but not before pumping in a team-best 19 points and using some tough offensive rebounding to get the Terps some second chance points.

Milbourne also had a pair of blocks, including one at the end of the first half on Duke seven-footer Brian Zoubek that kept the game tied going into intermission.

“I think consistency-wise Landon has gotten himself into shape where he can show up every game and compete against the Singlers of the world who are good basketball players,” Terp coach Gary Williams said.

Milbourned, who attacked the basket early en route to scoring six of the Terps’ first eight points, matched the 19 points he scored in the team’s first meeting when the team only managed a season-low 44.

“Landon is one of those good basketball players,” Williams said. “He’s at a level now where people are worried when they play us.”

Interestingly, Milbourne’s 38 points in the two Duke games mean he’s responsible for 34.2 percent of the team’s 111 points against Duke this season. In games not against Duke, Milbourne has scored 311 of the team’s 1840 points – good for 16.9 percent.

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Some observations compiled before the game and during the first half of the Terrapin men’s basketball game Wednesday against No. 7 Duke…

-Gary Williams said Saturday’s crowd against UNC was a “Cole Field House crowd.” Comcast is rocking even louder tonight, and the student wall was almost entirely full nearly an hour before gametime. “Operation Scheyerface”–as many students as possible holding up signs of Duke guard Jon Scheyer making goofy faces–looks like a success.

-Several university dignitaries are in attendance tonight. ESPN personality and Terp alumnus Scott Van Pelt–who got his own chant when he walked to his seat–future Terp football head coach James Franklin, and former Terp Walt Williams are a few I’ve spotted milling around before the game.

-What a difference a month makes. The Terps have come out playing hard, pushed by the outstanding crowd, and lead by four at the 12-minute media timeout. The Blue Devils, who looked machine-like in their precise execution during the game at Cameron Indoor, are struggling to sustain consistent offense. They are forced to work deep into the shot clock and settle for less-than-ideal shots.

-This game is turning into a defensive struggle. Neither team is getting much around the rim, and the Terps have started missing a few of the shots they did get in the paint.

-Landon Milbourne is pacing the Terp offense against the Blue Devils again. After scoring 19 in Durham, Milbourne scored eight in the first 10 minutes tonight.

-Brian Zoubek is a non-factor so far tonight. The unathletic, yet wildly tall center gave the Terps some trouble in the last meeting, but the 7′1″ junior has only two points in four first-half minutes.

-Great defense by Milbourne to molest Zoubek under the basket and stop him from scoring on multiple lay-up attempts right before the buzzer. The defensive stand kept the game tied, and gives the Terps a nice mental advantage going into the break.

-It’s 34-34 at halftime as Gymkana is taking the court. This was about as good a half as the Terps could have hoped for, riding an electric crowd and avoiding the post-upset letdown to put themselves in good position after 20 minutes. You’re on your own for the second half. I have bigger fish to fry for the newspaper.

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With No. 22 Virginia’s 68-63 upset win in Tallahassee against No. 11 Florida State on Tuesday night, the Terps are now in position for their first ACC regular season first-place finish since 1989.

The Seminoles second conference defeat means they are tied in the loss column with the Terps, who have played and won one less ACC game. So the Terps just have to beat Boston College (a much-improved, but not yet elite team) on Friday’s senior night, then handle Miami (13-14, 2-10 ACC) in Coral Gables, Fla. on Sunday afternoon to earn the first seed in the upcoming ACC tournament.

While Florida State has played excellent ball most of the year, showing the league’s increased depth, you got the sense the big three of North Carolina, Duke and the Terps were still just that- the big three. The Seminoles only had to play the Tar Heels, Blue Devils and Terps once each and all at home, a pretty lucky schedule break.

The Terps were the only one of those three teams to win in Tallahassee, and after home wins against Carolina and Duke, now have the inside track at that top spot.

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It came as quite a surprise when the Terrapin women’s basketball team announced before Sunday’s win against Duke that guard Sa’de Wiley-Gatewood had left the team.

At that point, the senior has just three regular season games remaining in her career, and had established herself as the team’s starting shooting guard. Frese would go on to say after the game that Wiley-Gatewood, who was perhaps the top high school prospect in the class of 2004 before chronic knee injuries in both knees hurt her progress, left the team for “personal reasons.”

While the circumstances surrounding her departure remain unclear, what is clear is that the No. 5 Terps are going to miss her contribution in postseason play. Wiley-Gatewood averaged just 4.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game this season. But, she had become that quintessential “glue” type player who complimented the very talented duo of Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman.

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Lord knows why the powers that be in the college lacrosse world have failed to make time of possession an officially kept stat. The numbers would be quite telling.

The thought popped into my mind during the third quarter of the Terrapin men’s lacrosse team’s 13-10 loss Saturday to then-No. 8 Georgetown (The Hoyas jumped to No. 3 in today’s Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll).

Cycling the ball around the perimeter of the box, the Hoyas seemed to maintain possession for most of the quarter. Georgetown’s ball control contributed to an 18 minute scoreless spell for the Terps. The drought, which spanned the third and fourth quarters, turned a 7-6 lead for the Terps into an 12-7 deficit before midfielder Dan Groot converted with 8:47 remaining.

Alas, without TOP numbers, we are left to sift through the stats searching for answers. So why did the Terps play so much defense, despite winning 11-of-14 faceoffs in the second half?
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