Duke Hoops: Blue Devils May Be Down, But Don't Count Them Out

Despite dropping a tough loss in their last road matchup, the Blue Devils still have a hell of a team.

Let the naysayers and UNC-lovers have their fun for now.

Duke will be back in no time.

With Coach K at the helm, there’s no doubt about it.

And it looks like the Blue Devils have already bounced back in a big way, taking care of business at Cameron Indoor with an 80-71 victory over St. John's on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the hated Tar Heels, just eight miles down the road, dropped a road affair with Kentucky, giving the Crazies even more of a reason to celebrate this weekend.

"The story was also Lance [Thomas] and Brian [Zoubek]," head coach Mike Krzyzewski told  GoDuke.com . "To get 22 points and 15 rebounds ... they have been in a fight before. This was like a big conference game. It's a fight early in December. I thought they did extremely well. So I'm pleased with the win and to come back with that type of vigor after a really tough loss at Wisconsin and getting back so late. It was a really good performance by our team."

The Blue Devils are now 7-1 on the season and have 10 days off before returning to the hardwood on Dec. 15 against Gardner-Webb.

"The bigs in the first half came to fight," Zoubek said. "We didn't do a great job in the Wisconsin game but had a much different attitude this time. We had to be more mature and approach the game a little differently. We did a hell of a job today, and we just need to keep building off it."

Duke will get a chance to keep the ball rolling on Dec. 15 at Cameron in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPN2 with tipoff slated for 6 p.m. CST.

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