The Untold Story Behind Jason Williams’ Legendary 25-Year-Old Maryland Meltdown

There’s something utterly captivating about Jason Williams—not the flashy NBA star, but the Duke dynamo who could shift momentum faster than you blink on a Saturday night. Picture a compact powerhouse, low to the ground, yet explosive enough to dismantle defenses before they even know what hit ’em. Williams’ game was a rollercoaster; he might drift like a ghost for stretches, only to erupt into pure firepower in the blink of an eye. His 17-point streak against UCLA? Legendary. But it wasn’t just about the numbers—it was how he owned the court, especially during that intense Duke-Maryland rivalry that had fans on edge every time they faced off.

Maryland fans swore they could break Duke’s dominance, chanting “overrated” when the Blue Devils faltered late in a game 25 years ago. But Williams? He wasn’t having it. Angered and fueled, he transformed frustration into a clutch performance that shifted the tide and left Maryland reeling. Supported by teammates like Battier who never lost faith, and with voices like Chris Duhon providing the inside scoop, this story offers a rare glimpse into one of college basketball’s most electrifying moments—the Miracle Minute—and a season that ended in an epic comeback worthy of immortality.

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For people who never saw him play, it would be hard to explain Duke’s Jason Williams. Built like a fireplug with a low center of gravity and also strong and explosive, Williams could do anything he wanted on the basketball court. Once against UCLA, he scored 17 straight points. And while he could be flakey at times and seem to drift out of a game, he usually snapped back and was in assassin mode within seconds.

Williams played at the height of the Duke-Maryland thing. It only gradually dawned on Duke fans that Maryland sort of had a thing about the Blue Devils. One Maryland fan told us once that we had “no idea” what it was like to lose and lose a lot, to which we say: yes, actually, older Duke fans did.

During the Juan Dixon/Steve Blake era at Maryland, the Terps achieved rough parity with Duke, but even then, the Blue Devils typically won more often than not.

That was the case 25 years ago Tuesday as Duke went to Maryland and for about 39 minutes, played poorly. Down 90-80 with just over a minute to go, the Terp faithful started chanting “overrated! Overrated! Overrated!”

Jason Williams said he took exception to that. Actually what he said was it “pissed me off.”

He hit a layup then stole the inbounds and hit a three. And from there the whole thing unraveled for Maryland.

In the link above, Williams talks about Battier sticking with him despite the poor game he had had up to the last minute and overtime and in this one, Chris Duhon gives some more background on what happened.

Duke would go on to beat Maryland three times that season – the Miracle Minute, once in the ACC Tournament and finally coming back from 22 down in the first half in the Final Four.

That, friends, was a beautiful basketball team and this comeback is deservedly legendary.

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