Visiting teams rarely win at Cameron Indoor Stadium, but when they do, they tend to go a bit overboard in their celebrations.
On Feb. 4, 2007, current Philadelphia 76er Al Thornton and Florida State did just that, pulling out a dramatic 68-67 win against the Blue Devils and then yelling at the Cameron Crazies and holding up their scarlet-and-gold jerseys. As if to further taunt Duke fans, J.J. Redick's fabled No. 4 jersey was retired at halftime with the Blue Devils up three.
Tonight, No. 7 Duke gets the opportunity to avenge one of last season's most difficult ACC losses when it travels to Tallahassee to take on the Seminoles at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
"In my career, I'm 0-1 against [the Seminoles], so obviously I really want to beat them," sophomore Jon Scheyer said. "That was a tough loss against FSU last year. It was very hard and I remember it, so when we go down there, I think having that in the back of our minds will be a good thing, and we'll be ready to play them."
The two teams enter the contest in nearly opposite situations. Sunday, the Blue Devils (13-1, 1-0 in the ACC) managed to control All-ACC guard Sean Singletary in an 87-65 home win over Virginia. The Cavaliers never led in the game, and Duke's deep bench allowed nine Blue Devils to log significant minutes.
Florida State (12-5, 1-1), meanwhile, suffered a crushing double-overtime loss at Clemson Saturday. In that matchup, five Seminoles played more than 40 minutes, and only one bench player truly contributed. The team's top four scorers all played at least 47 minutes, including junior guard Toney Douglas, who played an astounding 49. Because of FSU's lack of depth, Duke will look to advance the ball as quickly as possible to wear out the Seminoles and get easy transition baskets.
The trip will also mark the first conference road game for the Blue Devils' three freshmen. So far this season, Duke has played just one true road game, a 74-64 victory against Temple in Philadelphia.
"I think it's going to be a tough place to play obviously-they will be ready for us and the crowd will be into it-but the main thing is we should love to be in that environment," Scheyer said. "[The freshmen] should be really excited for their first game and we should come out with a lot of energy because the crowd should initiate that."
To keep the Seminoles' fans in check, the Blue Devils need to continue to play suffocating defense and rebound well despite their lack of size. Against Virginia, the top rebounding team in the nation, Duke outrebounded the Cavaliers and forced 19 turnovers. Florida State will provide a different kind of challenge-the Seminoles are a perimeter-oriented team that often plays four guards at a time, similar to the Blue Devils.
Senior DeMarcus Nelson could prove key in taking on the backcourt-heavy Seminole attack. The captain has been leading the team in scoring over the past five games averaging 18.6 points per contest to go along with 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists. If Nelson pulls down more than four boards tonight, he will become only the sixth player in program history under 6-foot-5 to reach the 500 career rebound mark. The last player of such stature to accomplish the feat was current assistant Johnny Dawkins over 20 years ago.
With strong guard play from Nelson, Nolan Smith and Greg Paulus-who has not committed a turnover in four of his last six games-Duke believes it can impose its tempo and style Wednesday night.
"We need to play to our strengths, and I feel like we're a very good team when we do that," Scheyer said. "As long as we push the ball, play tough defense, and rebound, I think we can make it tough on them."
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