It was only fitting that Maryland's quest for a third straight NCAA Tournament appearance ended this way.

The Terrapins went toe-to-toe with Duke through much of Friday's ACC Tournament quarterfinal, but a couple of short stretches where they failed to keep pace ultimately spelled an 87-71 defeat.

Now at 19-14, Maryland is almost certainly ticketed to make its fourth NIT appearance in seven years.

Within striking distance much of the second half, Maryland could never quite catch the Blue Devils, even after Nolan Smith went down because of an ankle injury in the final seven minutes.

Instead, Duke went on a run, extending a five-point lead out to 13 behind guard Seth Curry.

Maryland struggled in its half-court offense and Duke controlled the boards. All in all, it was just like a lot of Maryland's defeats this season. The Terrapins are 1-9 against teams currently in the RPI Top 50, and 0-for-7 against teams ranked in the Top 25 poll.

Against the fifth-ranked and second-seeded Blue Devils, seventh-seeded Maryland didn't have an answer for Kyle Singler, who had 29 points and nine rebounds.

The Terps couldn't keep pace, particularly with freshman guard Terrell Stoglin out of sync much of the evening with 2-of-10 shooting and five turnovers.

Most frustratingly, though, the Terrapins reverted to an early season problem at the free throw line. Maryland was only 15-of-28 from the stripe, costing the Terps several opportunities to pull closer.

Jordan Williams turned in his normal double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds but he was a culprit in the free throw problems, hitting only 2-of-10 from the lone.

"We played pretty well for 35-36 minutes tonight," senior Dino Gregory said. "In order to beat a team like Duke, the fifth-ranked team in the country, you have to play 40 minutes strong, and we weren't able to do that tonight."

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