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ATLANTA -- Duke won't get another shot at rival North Carolina this weekend, but that hardly matters to the Blue Devils.

They will play in the ACC tournament championship game today (1 p.m., WFMY-2) and that is all that really matters.

"Sure we would have liked another game with North Carolina, but sometimes you have to watch out for what you are hoping," Duke guard Jon Scheyer said.

The top-seeded Tar Heels beat Duke twice during the regular season. The Blue Devils own two victories over Florida State, which upset North Carolina in the first semifinal game Saturday at the Georgia Dome.

Third-seeded Duke avoided a second upset, defeating Maryland 67-61 as Scheyer scored 22 points, Kyle Singler had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Nolan Smith showed he is fully recovered from the concussion that caused him to miss the last three games of the regular season.

"I guess it can be hard to beat a good team like Florida State three times," Singler said. "So we won't think of it that way."

Other than seniors reserves Greg Paulus and David McClure, the Blue Devils haven't made it to an ACC title game. Duke lost in a semifinal last season and the quarterfinals the year before.

"We're in the position we came here for," Scheyer said. "Now we have to get the job done."

The return of Smith gives the Blue Devils (27-6) a boost. He was knocked out by a Dave Neal screen Feb. 25 at Maryland, but came back to help knock the Terps out of the ACC tournament.

"It was great to be back out there and contribute to a big win like this," Smith said.

The sophomore played 30 minutes Saturday, contributing 10 points, three assists and two steals. He had no turnovers and spent some time on the court with freshman Elliot Williams, who replaced him in the starting lineup during the regular season.

"I'm really astounded at how well Nolan has played these two games," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He's only practiced just a little bit, and even his conditioning his great. He was huge for us."

Smith and Williams will have their hands full trying to defend FSU's high-scoring Toney Douglas in today's championship game.

"He's a great player," Smith said of Douglas. "It will be our job to try to contain him a little. You can't stop him completely."

Smith and Williams did a good job on Maryland standout Greivis Vasquez. The guard from Venezuela had to take 17 shots to score 14 points.

"It feels bad to lose, but I'm proud of my team," Vasquez said. "We kept fighting."

Eric Hayes kept the seventh-seeded Terps (20-13) in the game, missing just four shots while scoring 20 points. But his third straight strong performance off the bench wasn't enough against Duke, which built a 13-point lead with 5:35 to play, thanks to a 9-0 run.

Scheyer, who has shot better since moving from shooting guard to point guard, started the run with a 3-pointer. "I feel more confident and I'm taking better shots," he said.

The Blue Devils won despite shooting just 36.4 percent as a team. Leading scorer Gerald Henderson was 3-for-14 from the floor and had only eight points.

Duke will need more from Henderson against FSU in the final. He had 25 and 21 in the two regular-season meetings.

"We could have easily lost either," Singler said. "They are a good team with a lot of size inside and a great guard in Douglas. We definitely have to stop him and that won't be easy."

Duke beat FSU, 84-81, at home March 3 after winning in Tallahassee, 66-58, on Jan. 10. Douglas scored 27 points in the second game and 18 in the first.

"We just played Florida State, so we know how good a team they are," Scheyer said. "Obviously, they have [Solomon] Alabi inside who can change a lot of shots. It's a different game where you need to know when to attack and be smart, because they do have a lot of shot blockers. ... We need to be smart and aggressive."

MARYLAND (20-13)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Milbourne 32 1-6 0-0 3-4 0 3 2

Neal 28 3-8 0-0 0-4 0 1 6

Mosley 25 2-6 4-4 4-5 1 3 8

Vasquez 39 6-17 1-2 1-6 4 1 14

Bowie 23 4-11 1-1 2-2 1 2 10

Dupree 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Hayes 28 9-13 0-0 0-2 1 4 20

Tucker 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0

Gregory 20 0-2 1-2 2-5 0 2 1

Totals 200 25-63 7-9 19-37 7 18 61

Percentages: FG .397, FT .778.

Three-point goals: 4-15, .267 (Hayes 2-5, Bowie 1-3, Vasquez 1-4, Mosley 0-1, Neal 0-2).

Team rebounds: 9.

Blocks: 4 (Milbourne, Mosley, Gregory, Bowie).

Turnovers: 11 (Vasquez 4, Hayes 3, Neal 2, Mosley, Milbourne).

Steals: 5 (Vasquez 2, Gregory, Mosley, Bowie).

DUKE (27-6)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Singler 40 3-12 6-6 8-11 3 2 14

Thomas 14 0-1 2-2 2-2 0 3 2

Henderson 33 3-14 1-2 1-5 4 0 8

Williams 15 1-4 0-0 3-4 0 2 2

Scheyer 37 6-12 6-7 0-2 1 1 22

Smith 30 3-8 3-4 0-1 3 3 10

Paulus 7 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 3

McClure 23 3-3 0-0 0-3 0 0 6

Zoubek 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Totals 200 20-55 18-21 15-32 11 13 67

Percentages: FG .364, FT .857.

Three-point goals: 9-22, .409 (Scheyer 4-10, Singler 2-3, Paulus 1-1, Henderson 1-3, Smith 1-3, Williams 0-2).

Team rebounds: 4.

Blocks: 4 (Singler 2, McClure, Scheyer).

Turnovers: 11 (Singler 4, Paulus, Henderson, Williams, Thomas, Zoubek, McClure, Scheyer).

Steals: 5 (Smith 2, Singler, McClure, Thomas).

Maryland 30 31 -- 61

Duke 32 35 -- 67

A--26,352. Officials--Gary Maxwell, Mike Wood, Ray Natili.