Written by DCist contributor Brett Gellman

The Maryland Terrapins (16-8, 6-3 ACC) travel to Durham tonight to take on #2 Duke (21-1, 9-0 ACC) in a nationally televised conference showdown on ESPN. The Terps, who have been red hot after a dismal December that included losses to Ohio and American, have won six of their last seven games. Their lone loss during that stretch was, yep, to the Blue Devils.

The first time Maryland and Duke battled it out was just a couple of weeks ago, when the Terps handed the Blue Devils their first halftime deficit of the season. But Duke came roaring back in the second half and gave the Terps their third conference loss, 93-84, in College Park. Since then, Maryland has played their best basketball to date. Gary Williams deserves praise for turning around a team that couldn’t even score 60 points against a program from Tenleytown just a few months ago. Williams earned his 600th win last Wednesday after coaching his team to victory against Boston College, and was honored for his achievements last Saturday night at the Comcast Center when the Terps proceeded to defeat NC State for win #601.