GREENSBORO, N.C. -- In the final seconds of Duke's decisive semifinal win over Georgia Tech, Chris Duhon held up six fingers to the cheering Blue Devil crowd.
The senior point guard was undoubtedly making a reference to his school's five-year win streak in the ACC tournament. His prediction of the streak's extension, however, proved to be less than prophetic as the top-seeded Blue Devils fell to upstart No. 6 seed Maryland, 95-87, in Sunday's final.
The Terrapins came back from a 12-point deficit with just under five minutes to play to push the game to an extra session. They grabbed a lead midway through overtime and then made 12 of their final 15 foul shots to clinch the school's first championship since 1984.
The tournament MVP went to Maryland guard John Gilchrist, who scored 26 points on 50 percent shooting in the championship game. In the Terrapins' semifinal victory over No. 2 seed N.C. State, Gilchrist was successful on 11 of his 13 shots to register 30 points in Maryland's victory. The Terrapins came back from a 19-point halftime deficit to beat the Wolfpack Saturday and squeak by No. 3 seed Wake Forest in Friday's quarterfinals after Gilchrist drew a foul with the score tied at 86 and made the winning foul shot with 3.7 seconds left. Sunday's come-from-behind victory over the defending champs completed the sweep of the top three seeds and denied Duhon and company the title that seemed to be theirs for the taking.
"Anytime a team counts another team out, that's when bad things are destined to happen for them," Gilchrist said. "You can never count out a hungry dog. We had our backs against the wall a few weeks ago, with people saying we weren't going to amount to anything. When we came here, we were just hungry."
Duke freshman Luol Deng hit two free throws with 27 seconds remaining, but Gilchrist answered right back for the Terps, taking the ball strong to the hole for a basket and the foul. He made the free throw to tie the game and Duke guard J.J. Reddick missed a three-pointer with three seconds remaining to push the game to overtime.
The Terrapins gained a five-point advantage with 41 seconds left in the extra session, but a three-point play from Duhon and a missed back end free throw from Gilchrist gave the Blue Devils the ball back with 34 seconds left down by three. Duhon had an open look at the basket from behind the arc to tie the game a few seconds later, but was unable to convert. Free throws from center Jamar Smith and forward Mike Jones sealed the victory for Maryland.
Duke, on the other hand, struggled from the line throughout game, making only 16 of 31 free throws.
"Both teams are fatigued, but they hit their free throws better," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
The Blue Devils also received a lackluster performance from Reddick. The normally deadly accurate guard was 1-8 from three-point range.
Duke, which had been riding a record 17-game tournament win streak into the game, had a much easier path to the final game than its foe, rolling to double-digit victories in the quarterfinal over Virginia and in the semifinal over Georgia Tech.
Despite the loss, the Blue Devils still received a No. 1 seed for this weekend's NCAA tournament. The Terrapins, who earned an automatic berth with their tournament win, received a No. 4 seed and will be in the same regional bracket as N.C. State, which garnered a No. 3 seed.
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