COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Forget about the national title.

That was so last season.

	Drew Nicholas led Maryland with 24 points and the students in celebration after the upset of Duke.

This was still Duke, undefeated Duke, No. 1 Duke, Mike Krzyzewski-coached Duke, "(bleep) Duke,'' according to the obnoxious red T-shirts the student section was clad in that said "(bleep) Saddam" on the other side to show they were also apparently patriotic.

Maybe that's why the fans stormed the court after pounding the Blue Devils 87-72 Saturday afternoon in the first of many big games at the pro-style, brand-spanking-new, Comcast Center. It wasn't as hot as cozy Cole Fieldhouse, although that would have been nice Saturday with the weather outside in the single digits.

Yet, the fans still stormed the court because the Terps had won a "statement" game by beating Duke to the boards, the line and to mostly every loose ball.

How much did Maryland need this game?

"Ahh, a lot,'' Maryland's Steve Blake said. "We had just lost to Wake Forest. We couldn't lose two straight in the ACC. We had the No. 1 team coming into our gym.''

See? These rankings apparently do matter to the players and definitely the fans. But more than simply using them as motivation, the players weren't about to suffer through the wrath of coach Gary Williams if they didn't play with a little more effort on the boards.

"You don't want to lose two straight under Gary Williams, do you?'' assistant coach Jimmy Patsos joked after the game.

Williams didn't need long to break down the tape of their defeat against Wake Forest to see how simple a game plan he could devise to beat Duke. The Terps were flat-footed against the Demon Deacons and were dominated on the backboard (49-36). Wake got to the line 42 times. Maryland 18. And it wasn't the officials' fault.

"Coach just told us to go up with two hands,'' Maryland's Jamar Smith said. "We were going up with one and getting it knocked away.''

What is this rebounding 101? And maybe that's why beating Duke on Saturday wasn't so complicated.

Sure, the Terps had the homecourt, the frenzied fans, and the ability to rattle the Duke freshmen who had never been tested like this on the road. But all it took was a little more effort to keep the Blue Devils away from second shots, limit their trips to the line and get to the line themselves more often.

Maryland outrebounded Duke 43-32. The Terps were 29 of 31 from the line. Duke was nine of 20, a few days after the Blue Devils were 37 of 40 in a victory over Virginia.

"You normally don't turn things around in two days,'' Williams said of changing the fundamental approach to rebounding from the defeat Wednesday at Wake Forest to victory Saturday over Duke.

"Mentally we were in a rut,'' Williams said. "I saw on the tape that we weren't moving our feet. You can't reach all the time for a rebound and expect to get it. Once you get your legs under the ball, you'll get the rebounds you should get. We drilled on it, but you've got to want to do this against Duke.''

A lot of the credit goes to Ryan Randle and Smith. Randle scored six points, grabbed four boards, dished out two assists and had one block and a steal during the Terps' 14-0 run following a 13-3 deficit to start the game. He finished with 15 points and 17 boards.

"I told Ryan that he's got to show up and show how good he was,'' Williams said. "He had one good game early in the ACC (20 points and six boards in a victory over Georgia Tech). But that doesn't mean you're there. We've got key players who weren't in the same roles last season. They had to take a step forward this season.''

Randle played behind Lonny Baxter last season. He has moved ahead of fellow senior Tahj Holden this season. Smith might not be far behind. Smith came off the bench to score eight points, all in the second half, on 3-for-4 shooting. He grabbed six boards and finally lived up to the hype the Maryland assistants were giving him throughout the summer.

"Jamar showed some signs in a couple of games, but now he's done it against the best team he's played against,'' Williams said. "People say Jamar can really play but he had to go out there and do it.''

Maryland figured out how to beat Duke once it got down 13-3, ironically the same score the defending champs were down to Kansas in the Final Four last season.

"I told him don't worry that was the same score as the Kansas game,'' Patsos said.

"When you're down against a really good team, you're worried,'' Williams said. "I couldn't believe it. I thought we were ready to play. But when we were down 13-3, it wasn't because we weren't trying, we were. We were nervous. I'd take nervous over not trying any time.''

Can this be the blueprint to beat Duke? Can other ACC teams mimic it?

"We didn't have the enthusiasm today, they were just rebounding over us,'' Duke's Chris Duhon said. "It's sad for us to come over here and put up this kind of performance. We just got one shot and no rebound.''

	“	You don't want to lose two straight under Gary Williams, do you? ”
		— Maryland assistant coach Jimmy Patsos

"We didn't rebound the way we're supposed to,'' Duke's Dahntay Jones said.

Forward Shavlik Randolph scored 17 points off the bench to beat Virginia. He had five Saturday. J.J. Redick scored 34 against Virginia. He had 13 against the Terps and fouled out. He said he didn't have the same looks he had Wednesday. That's because Maryland wouldn't give it to him.

"You've got to play good solid defense, get the rebounds and limit the second shots,'' Blake said. "Offensively, we just ran our sets. That's what worked for us.''

The last unbeaten didn't go down swinging Saturday with Krzyzewski pulling out the starters with three minutes left. Williams kept his in because Duke burned him in the past (remember the 10-point lead two seasons ago that vanished in the final minute).

"After my experiences with Duke I just keep yelling for 40 minutes,'' Williams said.

"Everybody kept saying there was parity but until every team has a loss, there's no parity,'' Williams said. "Maybe there is parity now. For us and for the conference this is big. We didn't play well in our last game. We just got our confidence back. We were down 17 to Wake Forest and could have quit and we didn't. That helped us get ready for today. It's very important to create an identity each year. It's hard to get away from last year. But today we might have put that to rest.''

And with the fans storming the court, apparently the locals have forgotten the title now too.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.