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Duke upends Maryland despite Smith's injury

Mar 12, 2011 - 4:51 AM Greensboro, NC (Sports Network) - Kyle Singler scored 29 points and fifth- ranked Duke pulled away late for an 87-71 win over Maryland in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

Seth Curry and Ryan Kelly each added 11 points for the Blue Devils (28-4), the two-time defending tourney champions. Mason Plumlee and brother Miles each had 10 points for the defending national champions, who will face Virginia Tech in Saturday's semifinals.

The Seminoles lost a heart-breaking 52-51 game to the Hokies in Friday night's last quarterfinal when Derwin Kitchen's made jumper was ruled to come after the buzzer sounded.

Duke senior guard Nolan Smith suffered a toe injury in the second half.

Jordan Williams had 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Terrapins (19-14), who are expected to be kept out of the NCAA Tournament.

"A couple of turnovers there at the wrong times, and I missed eight free throws, which is unacceptable," Williams said. "I take responsibility for that, and the little things add up. That's all I can really say, but the little things really add up. If we would have done those few little things, we could have won that game."

With under seven minutes remaining, Smith drove into the lane, but was hurt when he landed awkwardly on his foot. He did not return to the contest.

The Blue Devils are hoping the injury is nothing serious, as the team has been playing without freshman point guard Kyrie Irving for the past three months due to a toe problem.

"We are going to try to make a long run with or without him," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I would hope that we have him. I said we may not have him tomorrow, but I would hope that as long as it is his second toe...wherever that is...that he would be able to do something before the (NCAA) Tournament."

Dino Gregory's layup had the Terrapins within 63-60 midway through the second half, but Singler's layup began a string of nine straight points for the Blue Devils. Miles Plumlee capped it with a layup with 4:54 remaining, and the double digit margin remained the rest of the way.

The Terrapins went over six minutes without a field goal, and by the time Pe'Shon Howard broke the slump Duke's lead was still at 11 (74-63).

It was tight for most of the first half, although a dunk by Kelly opened a 31-24 Duke advantage with 6:08 left. Maryland scored the ensuing seven points before the Blue Devils netted seven in a row and eventually went to the locker room holding a 42-33 edge.

Game Notes

Mason Plumlee also had 11 rebounds...Singler is now alone in eighth place on the ACC scoring list with 2,326 points. Duke's Christian Laettner (2,460) is seventh...Duke has won nine of the last 12 ACC Tournaments and is 50-17 all- time in the event under Mike Krzyzewski. Duke has compiled a 33-4 record in the ACC Tournament since 1998. The Blue Devils have won nine conference championships in that span...Duke has won 13 straight games at the Greensboro Coliseum. The Blue Devils' last loss at the venue was a 95-87 overtime defeat to Maryland in the 2004 ACC Championship game. The Terps lost all three games to the Blue Devils this season, falling 71-64 in Durham and 80-62 in College Park...Cliff Tucker had 12 points, while Howard and Gregory each had 10 for the Terrapins.