THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 9, 1996 TAG: 9603090577
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GREENSBORO LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Duke limped away from the ACC tournament hoping for healthier and better days ahead in the NCAA tournament.
``I think we are in (the NCAAs) and hopefully we will get healthy before next week,'' coach Mike Krzyzewski said after an 82-69 loss to Maryland in Friday's quarterfinals.
The Terps (17-11) needed the win to help their chances for an NCAA bid.
The Blue Devils (18-12) began the game with two starters sidelined because of injuries. A third, guard Steve Wojeciechowski, badly sprained his right ankle with two minutes remaining in the first half.
Wojeciechowski had the ankle treated and taped during intermission and courageously played the final half, hopping around on his good ankle, until fouling out with 4:40 remaining.
Despite the injuries, Duke hung with Maryland most of the way and was even at 54 with 8:57 remaining.
``I am proud of my guys,'' Krzyzewski said. ``We played hard, but we have done that all season.''
The Blue Devils were without senior Chris Collins, who averaged 20 points in Duke's two regular-season victories over the Terps. Collins injured an ankle in the final regular-season game against North Carolina and was not in uniform.
Carmen Wallace, a forward, missed his eighth straight game with a sprained knee.
Still, the Blue Devils may have been able to pull the upset if junior guard Jeff Capel had not played one of his worst games.
Capel made only 3 of 20 field goal attempts and missed all nine 3-point tries.
Maryland coach Gary Williams said his strategy was to wear the thin Devils down with his bench, but he wound up relying on his reserves to save the day.
``We don't lose anthing when we go to them,'' Williams said.
Guard Duane Simpkins was the only Terp starter in double figures (12) while reserves LaRon Profit (19), Mario Lucas (11), and Rodney Elliott (10) supplied offensive help.
Profit, a freshman, hit all four of his 3-point attempts, including one with 6:47 remaining that gave Maryland a 63-55 lead.
``That was one of the biggest shots of the day, coming just before the shot clock expired,'' Krzyzewski said.
Simpkins, ill with the flu the last few days, passed out on the court in the final seconds.
Williams said Simpkins was doing fine after the game and would play in today's semifinal against top-seeded Georgia Tech. ILLUSTRATION: HUY NGUYEN
The Virginian-Pilot
Maryland's Keith Booth puts up an off-balance shot as Duke's Greg
Newton applies defensive pressure during Terps'win.
by CNB