Duke Basketball Continues ACC Climb While Rival Tar Heels Free Fall

While Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils continue to play top 10-worthy basketball, their rivals eight miles away continue to falter.

It may be oh so sweet for Duke and the Cameron Crazies, although sadly a proven bias as UNC remains in the top 25 in the latest polls.

I can’t remember the last time I saw a team with six losses this early in the season getting so much attention in the polls, and the latest rankings remind me more of a BCS system than anything college basketball has adopted.

However, I digress…

Duke is coming off a 20-point victory over Boston College heading into tomorrow night’s matchup with NC State, and the Blue Devils hope to use their latest W as a starting point for a winning streak.

“We only hit one three today and still scored 79 points,” Krzyzewski told Duke’s Official Athletic Site following their latest win at Cameron. “Last year we wouldn’t have won a game like that. We had to hit threes. I thought Miles [Plumlee] and Brian [Zoubek] really from the five position if you added their two totals up it would be like a monster game. I thought Brian, especially in the second half, had a couple buckets that he scored. He kind of mucked it out. And I thought Kyle [Singler] played really well.”

The second half was the key to the Blue Devils' win, and Coach K and company hope to continue that trend as the ACC season progresses.

“We feel like we haven’t gotten off to a good start in the second half, and this was our best start in the second half,” Singler said. “It was because of our defense. We turned them over; we made them get out of their stuff and made them feel uncomfortable. The crowd got going and there was a lot of excitement in the gym. It was a great way to start the second half.”

Let’s raise a glass to Duke continuing to dominate the second half of play and beyond; Coach K’s Blue Devils are looking good early on, and I really hope they will keep on getting better as the season moves on…

Denton Ramsey may be reached via email at [e-mail]