Battier has been a part of an ACC-record 124 wins in his four years at Duke.
None of James' points were bigger than his last bucket. He went up in a crowd and tipped in the winning shot after Steve Blake's three-pointer had rallied the Terrapins from a 14-point deficit to an 82-82 tie with 8.1 seconds left.
A half-court shot by Juan Dixon at the final buzzer nearly went in, but it bounced off the rim.
Maryland (21-10) has not won an ACC crown since 1984.
North Carolina 70, Georgia Tech 63 - No. 6 North Carolina knocked off the hometown favorite to put itself in a familiar position: the championship game of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Joseph Forte ignored foul trouble to score 27 points and the Tar Heels survived a scare from feisty Georgia Tech for the semifinal victory.
Forte, who also had 12 rebounds, hit two key free throws with 33.6 seconds remaining and added a finishing layup at the buzzer to put the Tar Heels (25-5) into the final against Duke.
The Yellow Jackets (17-12) hung tough despite a horrible stretch in which they missed 17 shots in a row, encompassing the final eight minutes of the first half and the first 2 1/2 minutes after the break.
Big Ten
Iowa 94, Penn State 74 - Reggie Evans scored a career-high 30 points and had a tournament-record 18 rebounds - matching the total for the entire Penn State team - as sixth-seeded Iowa, on a roll, routed the Nittany Lions in a Big Ten semifinal in Chicago, earning a meeting with Indiana in today's final.
The Hawkeyes (21-11) have regrouped since losing Luke Recker to a broken kneecap after a 71-66 victory over Indiana in Iowa City on Jan 27. They dropped seven of their next nine, but have now won three straight.
The muscular 6-foot-8, 245-pound Evans was too much for the weary Nittany Lions (19-11), who upset No. 2 Michigan State in the quarterfinals. With Evans controlling the inside and the Hawkeyes shooting 57 percent, Iowa had a commanding 48-18 rebounding edge.
