MINNEAPOLIS -- The curtain has closed on Act IV of Duke vs. Maryland, and what a drama it's been.

Who would have thought that Maryland would play the perfect game for the first 10 minutes -- jumping out to a 39-17 lead -- only to see Duke battle back from that 22-point deficit and post a gutty 95-84 victory.

Jason Williams had a nightmarish game in the first half but found his stride in the second.

It looked like it was Blowout City, but Duke made a patented run and cut the deficit to 11 at the half (it was cut to eight before Juan Dixon hit a 3-pointer in the first half's closing seconds).

Then in the second half the Blue Devils sent a message loud and clear as they came out and quickly cut the deficit further. Maryland helped Duke's comeback by turning the ball over 21 times to only seven turnovers for the Blue Devils.

Duke was led by outstanding efforts from all-everything senior forward Shane Battier and star sophomore guard Jason Williams.

Williams had a nightmarish game in the first half but found his stride in the second. He penetrated, he got to the free-throw line and he made some big buckets -- ending up with 23 points after that tough first half. Battier scored 25, so Duke's 1-2 punch was again effective putting points on the board.

Still, Duke hit only 7-of-27 from 3-point range -- Williams was 1-of-9 -- and will need to shoot better in the title game.

In the post, Carlos Boozer was exceptional for Duke, scoring 19 points on 7-for-8 shooting. On the other side, Maryland's Lonny Baxter, who was dominant in the early rounds and played brilliantly against Stanford, had a sub-par performance (2-for-10).

For Gary Williams and the Terps, it was another tough loss in this rivalry with Duke. But let's remember, this team at one time was 15-9 and had a great season in getting to the Final Four.

So now Duke marches on, trying to win a third national championship for Coach K. The last time they won the title, in 1992, they won it right here in Minneapolis, following the same path -- going to Greensboro, Philadelphia and then Minneapolis.