After a quick break for two easy non-conference games, it's all uphill from here for the men's basketball team. Duke's schedule now gets much tougher as 12 out of its last 13 regular season games come against fellow Atlantic Coast Conference teams, a conference which is arguably the toughest in the nation.
Saturday evening at 7:30 the Blue Devils (13-4, 2-2 in the ACC) face the unranked but highly volatile Virginia Cavaliers (11-5, 2-3) in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke is coming off a big win over UNC-Greensboro, while Virginia is recovering from a tough 58-54 road loss to No. 2 Wake Forest.
The Blue Devils will have to wrestle with the fatigue factor, having played five games in 11 days. Though Duke blew lesser teams out of the water-racking up an average point spread of 20 points per game-the Blue Devils still struggled during their ACC matchups, losing to No. 3 Clemson and the Demon Deacons.
Assistant coach Tommy Amaker feels that those losses have not dampened Duke's confidence. To the contrary, Amaker says that playing two of the best teams in the nation has given added strength and confidence to the Blue Devils.
Duke is going to need more than confidence if it is going to be able to defeat the charging Cavaliers. Virginia defeated UNC last week and came close to having the biggest upset of the young season last Wednesday against Wake Forest. Simply put, there are no easy teams to play in this year's ACC conference.
"We're really looking forward to getting back to and playing in the conference," junior Steve Wojciechowski said. "It's such a tough conference this year, that when we attack it, we've really got to look to go full speed."
The Blue Devils got a much needed day of rest on Thursday, but they are back to the grind on Friday. Duke doesn't look to change up its practice routine in order to prepare for Virginia, however.
"We prepare the same for every opponent," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I think that if you don't do that then you get the bad habit of fluctuating your preparation. There's no question that Virginia is playing maybe their best basketball of the season, and with their perimeter, they probably have the best perimeter in the conference."
Duke must be wary of the entire Cavalier squad. Forward Norman Nolan, who was last week's ACC Player of the Week, scored 13 points against Wake Forest. Senior guard Harold Deane is a big three-point shooter who can always be counted on to make the big shot. But of all the Virginia players, none is as explosive as Courtney Alexander. Alexander, who hails from the Durham area, scored 18 points against Wake Forest, and in last year's contest at Duke he lit up the court with 30 points.
In order to combat Alexander's shooting power, the Blue Devils plan to make him work for everything. Duke hopes to contain him early and not allow the guard to score in bunches.
"We are going to use lots of guys to give him [Alexander] different looks," Amaker said.
The depth of the Blue Devil bench had diminished somewhat in the past few games. Carmen Wallace, Chris Carrawell and Taymon Domzalski all sat out part or all of the UNC-Greensboro game with injuries. Although Domzalski is out for an indefinite amount of time with a knee injury, both Wallace and Carrawell will suit up for Saturday's game. Their playing status will depend on how well they respond to treatment up until game time.
Despite its injured players, Duke still has an abundance of all-around power. Senior guard Jeff Capel scored 19 points against UNC-Greensboro. His contributions did not stop simply with scoring-he also had four assists and five steals on the defensive end.
Junior Ricky Price also was in double figures Wednesday night, scoring 12 points and hitting 2-of-3 from three point range.
Freshman Nate James, who will be playing in just his fourth game on Saturday, has already been a huge contributor. He had 11 points against UNC-Greensboro in his first career start as a Blue Devil.
Saturday's game looms as a crucial contest for Duke. It currently stands in fourth place in the ACC, just one spot ahead of the Cavaliers. The Blue Devils are confident in their ability to get the job done, yet they know Virginia will come out strong.
"Everyone in the ACC is tough," James said. "You've got to come ready to play every game. We can beat Maryland, Maryland can beat Clemson, and so on. On any given night it's up for grabs."
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