For the first time in 380 games, Duke will step onto the court as an unranked team when it takes on the ACC's first-place Boston College tonight in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
The fact that the Associated Press and the coaches left the Blue Devils-who are also in the midst of their first four-game losing streak in 10 years-out of their polls does not concern the players, however.
"We don't pay any attention to rankings," sophomore Greg Paulus said. "When the ball goes up in the air on the opening tip, none of that matters."
The last time Duke (18-7, 5-6 in the ACC) was unranked, No. 21 Boston College (18-6, 9-2) was still in the Big East and was not even on the ACC's radar. Nonetheless, the Blue Devils know what to expect when they face the Eagles tonight after already beating them 75-61 Jan. 28.
In that contest, Duke won the game on the boards, out-rebounding Boston College 41-30. The Blue Devils also controlled the offensive glass, recording more offensive rebounds-15-than the Eagles' 12 defensive boards.
Duke also held guard Sean Marshall to seven points on 2-for-11 shooting. Marshall enters tomorrow's game averaging 14.8 points per contest.
"It will be important for us to play him tough and contest all of his shots," Paulus said. "We can't give him open looks, and we have to keep him off the offensive glass."
The win over Boston College was the last time Duke recorded a victory this season. Since then, the Blue Devils have fallen all the way from one game out of first place in the conference to a tie for sixth. Despite Duke's recent slide, Eagles head coach Al Skinner-who has never beaten the Blue Devils in his career as a head coach-is not surprised that the team has struggled.
"The quality of play in the league dictates that that could happen to any club," he said. "When you play in a league where you have the quality of teams that we have, you are capable of losing on any given night."
While Duke has lost four straight since its victory over Boston College, the Eagles have gone the opposite direction, winning four straight to sit atop the ACC. Forward Jared Dudley is a serious conference player of the year award candidate and leads the league in scoring at 20 points per game.
"They are a veteran team with great poise," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "They're well-schooled in what they do, and they play every possession."
Although Krzyzewski knows it will be a challenge for the Blue Devils to end their current losing skid tonight, he is encouraged with his team's state of mind. If it were not for a few missed shots at the end of games against Virginia and Florida State, Duke could have been at least 7-4 in the conference.
"Losing and how you lose-is it a lack of effort, is it a lack of belief, is it lack of work?" he said. "It's none of those things for our guys. They believe and they work hard. We just travel a narrow road between winning and losing."
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