One week ago, the nation's first-ranked team lost in Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum just two days after ascending to the top of the polls.
Newly-minted No. 1 Duke will look to avoid that same fate Wednesday at 7 p.m. against No. 6 Wake Forest, which fell to Virginia Tech 78-71 in its first game as the top team in the country.
While the Demon Deacons (16-1, 3-1 in the ACC) are coming off their first loss of the season, the Blue Devils (18-1, 5-0) have won 10 consecutive games since an 81-73 loss to Michigan Dec. 6. But despite its new ranking and improved play, highlighted by a 41-point blowout of Maryland Saturday, Duke understands the challenges that Wake Forest presents.
"We haven't accomplished anything yet," junior guard Jon Scheyer said. "We know how good Wake is, we know they're tough to beat at home and how big the game is."
With a win, the Blue Devils would open up a two-game lead in the loss column over North Carolina, Clemson and the Demon Deacons, giving them an inside track to the ACC regular season title. It would also give Duke a marquee conference road win to pair with its non-conference win at Purdue Dec. 2.
But that victory will not come easily, as the Blue Devils know from previous experience. Duke entered last year's game in Winston-Salem riding a 12-game winning streak, undefeated in conference play and ranked second in the nation.
Wake Forest jumped out to an early lead, and behind a raucous crowd, the Demon Deacons stayed on top for most of the contest, pulling away in the last nine minutes for an 86-73 win. The upset loss, in which all five Blue Devil starters fouled out, started a downward trend for Duke that continued into the postseason.
"It was probably my worst game that I've played here, and probably one of our worst team games," Scheyer said. "I definitely remember it, the crowd coming on the court-obviously those aren't good memories. So going in there, we have an extra added motivation."
Since then, a young Wake Forest team has only improved. Sophomore point guard Jeff Teague has blossomed into one of the best players in the ACC, and the addition of freshman forward Al-Farouq Aminu has given the Demon Deacons another inside presence to pair with sophomore James Johnson.
That balanced attack presents a new obstacle for the Blue Devils, who have generally been able to focus on one opposing player-such as Greivis Vasquez against Maryland and Stephen Curry against Davidson. Against Wake Forest, they will have to shut down many more, including some dominant post players, as the Demon Deacons are one of the tallest teams in the country.
"It's going to be different," sophomore point guard Nolan Smith said. "We're not going to be able to help off them too much. I can't leave Teague. Johnson, Aminu and those guys, they need just as much attention as Teague. So we're definitely going to be playing one-on-one defense, but we'll stick to our principles of helping each other."
"It'll be a team effort," said junior Gerald Henderson, who has averaged 18.8 points per game in his last nine contests, leading all Duke scorers in the last five. "We'll have to really stick to our guns and have a good game plan going forward."
And Duke knows that once it steps onto that parquet floor, its No. 1 ranking will mean nothing.
The Blue Devils' opponent is proof of that.
"We've seen the No. 1 team get knocked off the last two weeks, so obviously you can't enjoy it," Scheyer said. "It's the type of thing that it's great, we enjoyed it for a little bit, but we've got to move on and get ready for Wednesday."
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