01/24/2009 - Michael Tomko, GoDuke.com

DURHAM, N.C. – The Blue Devils exemplified the type of team basketball they want to play on the court during the second half in their runaway win over the Maryland Terrapins with a play that saw four of the five Blue Devils on the court get their hands on the basketball.

The play was started by Gerald Henderson who picked the pocket of Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez, with Kyle Singler saving the ball from going out of bounds by sending a cross court pass to Jon Scheyer. Scheyer quickly made a touch pass to Nolan Smith, who was near the rim, with Smith tapping the ball back to Henderson cutting down the middle of the lane for the easy two plus the foul.

Following the play the crowd celebrated, the players celebrated and the Duke lead was pushed to forty as it capped a 20-5 run to open the second half.

Afterward, Henderson thought the play was the best he has been a part of at Duke.

 “This year and probably since I’ve been here,” Henderson said. That’s definitely up there.”

 “Kyle made a great play saving it...I think that was the most excited the crowd has been this year and we were really excited because that is something we want to play off of,” Scheyer said.

Eleven Blue Devils logged at least 11 minutes and 13 saw game action in the 85-44 rout of the Terrapins, the largest victory by Duke in the history of the series.

Feeding off the energy of the crowd the Blue Devils shared the basketball recording 23 assists and only turning the ball over 10 times, while forcing 17 Terrapin miscues.

Scheyer finished the game with 12 points all coming from three. He was one of three Blue Devils to score in double figures. Henderson led the way with 17 points corralling eight rebounds and Singler chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds. Zoubek finished with a team high nine rebounds and four blocks.

“Playing like that is the best way to play I think,” Scheyer said. “A couple of those plays started with our defense, which is how we can get out in transition.”

Defensively the focus for Duke was containing Maryland’s perimeter players. They succeeded holding them to just 2-of-12 from three. Vasquez, the leading Maryland scorer coming in, went 2-of-10, scoring four points to go along with four turnovers.

Henderson drew the matchup for most of the game, but Duke switched a lot on the perimeter to keep the Terrapins off balance, with Scheyer and David McClure both giving Vasquez fits throughout the game.

“We played a great game today," Mike Krzyzewski said. "Maryland couldn’t hit today, so that helped us a lot. Our defense was outstanding. We had great communication and so it was one of those games where we played great defense, and the shots they did have early, they missed."

The game was never truly close as Duke got off to a fast start and never slowed down. To open the game the catalyst who set the tone on both the offensive and defensive end was Brain Zoubek.

The junior opened the game by banking in a hook shot from the right block which ignited a 12-3 run to open the game. Over the course of the run Zoubek blocked a shot that led to a Scheyer three, following that up with securing the rebound off Maryland’s next possession leading to another Scheyer three.

The capper for Zoubek may have been the charge he took on a 2-of-1 situation with Adrian Bowie crashing into the 7’1” center.

“I am glad the first hook went in,” Zoubek said. “I’ll tell you that. The charge and the block right in a row were huge for me because protecting the basket for us is really big. For them not to get easy buckets really early started us off on the right foot.”

During the run that lasted 3:16, Zoubek scored four points, blocked two shots, pulled down two rebounds and recorded an assist finding Henderson for the two.

“He had the first hook right away to start us off,” Scheyer said. “He had nice passes inside and he was everywhere on defense blocking shots, rebounds, affecting shots. It gives our team a huge boost when he is playing like that and it takes your team to another level.”

That new team level will more than likely be to No. 1 in the rankings on Monday.