Maryland, Close Games, Psychology

I was rooting for Maryland yesterday for all the obvious reasons. However, now that they won I thought about the effects such a game would have on them as well as UNC and Duke.

For one, Maryland now has the confidence that it can beat the best. It also knows it can repeatedly come back from deficits at different times in a game. This will make them an even tougher out as they will not roll over when they are down even near the end of a game.

As far as UNC, they will continue to doubt themselves in close games. This will possibly cause them to melt in a pressure situation in the NCAA Tourney unless they can do some damage in the next two weeks.

What gives me some pause is that Duke really hasn’t had any similar wins in the ACC this season. Last year and in '99 there was a theory that the squad wasn’t “tournament tested” because they didn’t have many close call games. This year it seemed that there were few blowouts and the team would be ready for some tough close games in March. However, I don’t know if that is true. Yes, they beat Clemson at the end- but it was more of a hold on game. There really hasn’t been a game like the UNC vs. Maryland game where Duke finished off a solid come back or a really close game throughout.

Hopefully in the next 3 or 4 games Duke can pull off one of these signature games. It is clear (from 1st halves at least) that they have the talent to compete with anyone. Maybe this type of psychological boost can spur them to a surprising finish.