Students tent for Duke-Miami basketball game

Although tents weren’t officially allowed in No. 3 Duke’s early-season matchup against Ohio State, line monitors are allowing students to pitch tents in Krzyzewskiville starting Tuesday night at 5 p.m. in anticipation of the Blue Devils’ rematch against No. 5 Miami Saturday night.

“When [the UNC game] finished, the first questions we got were, ‘can we set up tents and when can we set up tents for Miami?’” head line monitor Bradley Baird said. “There is a lot of excitement around this game. We are definitely going to have a full house. This is going to be a lot like Ohio State. People started to camp out several days in advance for that [game]. It was a great game-day atmosphere…. The message that I want to get out to the student body is that if you show up, we will do everything we can to get you in.”

When the teams met in Coral Gables, Fla. Jan. 23, the then-No. 1 Blue Devils suffered a demoralizing 27-point loss to the Hurricanes. The loss marked Duke’s second of the season, its first coming to N.C. State on the road the week before. In a game that silenced the Cameron Crazies watching in dorm rooms across campus, Hurricane fans rowdily stormed the court and huddled around their team. Saturday’s game will likely be more competitive as the Blue Devils look to avenge a loss that exposed the team earlier in league play. The Blue Devils rebounded from the unsettling defeat with a 20-point win against Maryland just three days later.

“Through the first half I held onto the idea that we are a second-half team, and we will come back,” K-ville resident Le Qi said in regards to Duke’s lopsided loss to the ACC-leading Hurricanes. “It really got away from us. Our team had been playing so well, it seemed like it was really vulnerable [after the loss to Miami] and [invoked] a sense of fear that we wouldn’t do well in March.”

Coming off an under-attended blowout against Boston College Sunday, loyal Crazies will take to the sidewalks outside of Cameron Indoor Stadium to secure their spots in the student section. Last time the Blue Devils faced the Eagles, they won by just one point on a last-minute free-throw from senior Mason Plumlee.

“Miami really beat us hard,” Qi said. “They shamed us, and we really want to get back at them. We want to come back and really hit them home….This would be a good chance to pound them to the ground…. We know Coach K is an awesome coach, and he will push his players to do their best.”

Becca Gil, a K-ville resident whose family members are die-hard Hurricanes fans, expressed the excitement around this family-dividing game.

“I’m from Miami, [and] my parents were at the game when we lost to them last time…. My whole family is UM except for me. I’m Duke all the way. I’m tenting out, so it will be really bad if we lose this one. It would be really awesome if we won this one and made things right again.”