Newcomers help fuel Terps' win over Duke

COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND - Maryland&#39;s seniors had already experienced the euphoric sensation that comes from beating No. 1 Duke. <br> <br> Now the rest of the team knows how sweet it feels. <br> <br> Seniors Drew Nicholas, Ryan Randle and Tahj Holden contributed heavily to Maryland&#39;s 87-72 victory over the top-ranked Blue Devils on Saturday - the Terrapins&#39; second straight at home against their arch rivals. <br> <br> Maryland probably wouldn&#39;t have won without the support of several players who never before participated in such an important game. <br> <br> ``Our freshmen have no fear,&#39;&#39; Terrapins coach Gary Williams said, ``and I think that&#39;s a good thing.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Freshmen Nik Caner-Medley, John Gilchrist and Chris McCray - the building blocks for Maryland&#39;s future - made their presence felt well ahead of scheduled Saturday. <br> <br> Caner-Medley brought the Terrapins back from an early 13-3 deficit, sinking a pair of clutch 3-pointers during a 14-0 run. Gilchrist ran the offense efficiently in the second half while senior Steve Blake was sidelined with three fouls, and McCray chipped in with six points, a block and a steal in 14 minutes. <br> <br> Throw in an 8-point, 6-rebound effort by Jamar Smith, and Maryland&#39;s newcomers were left with a signature game to stack up against their teammates&#39; national championship victory last April. <br> <br> ``Each team each year has to get a watershed win,&#39;&#39; Williams said. ``This certainly was a great win, because you&#39;re playing against the best program in the nation over the last 15 years. They were ranked No. 1, and that just adds to it.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Gilchrist will almost certainly be in charge of the Maryland offense next year after Blake departs. On this day, however, the 6-foot-3 freshman proved that he&#39;s already an ample point guard. <br> <br> While Blake was on the bench, Gilchrist dealt out three assists and scored six points in 10 minutes. <br> <br> McCray was nearly as effective, sinking four fouls shots down the stretch to keep the Blue Devils at bay. <br> <br> ``We have two good freshmen in the backcourt,&#39;&#39; Williams said. ``I&#39;m to the point now where I&#39;ll throw them in any situation. Obviously John&#39;s future as a point guard here, well, he&#39;s going to be very good. He thinks he&#39;s pretty good right now, and I&#39;m not going to tell him any different.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The success of the defending NCAA champions this season still depends primarily on the play of the seniors, but the upperclassmen know they can&#39;t do it alone. <br> <br> ``The freshmen were huge for us today,&#39;&#39; Blake said. ``John came in and played great, Chris played well. If they&#39;re going to be playing like that, we&#39;re going to be tough to beat. I was real happy with their performance.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The victory was particularly significant because it came on the heels of an ugly 81-72 Atlantic Coast Conference loss at Wake Forest on Wednesday night. <br> <br> ``This feels really good. All you hear about in this league is Duke, Duke, Duke,&#39;&#39; McCray said. ``But we&#39;ve got a good team, too. This was a good way for us to bounce back.&#39;&#39;

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