Duke's seniors are preparing to enter familiar territory.
They'll be making their fourth appearance in the Sweet 16 during a stretch of nine straight years in which the Blue Devils have advanced to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
And although Duke's streak dwarfs that of any other school-the next longest active run is two consecutive appearances in the Sweet 16-the Blue Devils' postseason has disappointingly ended with this game in two of the past three years.
The relaxed demeanor and enthusiasm, as well as the smiles on the faces of the players following practice Monday, signaled that they certainly are not ready for this season to end just yet.
"Being part of Duke and going to nine straight Sweet 16s-of course not being a part of all nine, but the past four-it's something special and it's something you probably can't appreciate until you graduate from here," senior Lee Melchionni said. "But we feel like we're not done yet. We feel like we have some unfinished business."
The Blue Devils will leave tonight for Atlanta, where they will meet LSU Thursday at 7:10 p.m. for a spot in the Elite Eight. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski holds a career 12-4 record in Sweet 16 games, with half those losses coming in the past three years to Kansas and Michigan State in 2003 and 2005, respectively.
"I don't think it's anything about the game, it's about the opponent," Krzyzewski said. "As you advance you're going to face better people."
Despite the stiffer competition, however, senior J.J. Redick has had some Sweet 16 shooting performances he would rather forget.
As a freshman, he shot a woeful 2-for-16 from the field, including 1-for-11 from three-point range, as Kansas eliminated Duke, 69-65. And of the 70 career games during which Redick has scored at least 20 points, none of them have come in the Sweet 16 or beyond.
In the NCAA Tournament, he has scored nearly four points less per game than his career average, which has spurred questions about fatigue and whether playing so many minutes during the regular season has worn him out in the postseason.
But his teammates' confidence in their leading scorer has not wavered, particularly with him shooting .500 percent from the field through the first two rounds.
"The past is the past," Melchionni said of his teammate. "We're not worried about what happened last weekend or last year. As far as we're concerned, J.J. has been an All-American and a Player of the Year, and we know he's going to show up and have a great game for us on Thursday."
Duke will return to the regional sight in which Redick has had the most tournament success-the Georgia Dome. As a sophomore he averaged 15 points in two games en route to capturing the Atlanta Region and securing the senior class' only trip to the Final Four.
"We can't look back and say we only went past the Sweet 16 one time," senior Shelden Williams said. "This is a different team, and this is a team that we think can do something special."
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