It’s been almost two years since Duke lost two games in a row.
Tomorrow night, the Blue Devils will try to make sure that the number stays the same. After their disappointing loss to Florida State Wednesday, ending a 25-game winning streak, No. 1 Duke (15-1, 2-1 in the ACC) returns to Cameron Indoor Stadium, hoping to avoid back-to-back losses in conference play. The team takes on Virginia (10-6, 1-1) Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Blue Devils enter the game with what appears to be an unbalanced offense. Against the Seminoles, Duke attempted 35 three-pointers, making only 11. The also relied heavily on its guard play, with its big men scoring a mere six points throughout the game.
While the statistics look daunting for the Blue Devils, their fans can be comforted by the program’s success in dealing with past adversity. The last two Duke teams that won the national championship all suffered early losses against ACC competition.
Senior Nolan Smith believes these early season losses may have paved the way for these teams to go on and win the NCAA title. In an interview last August, he attributed last season’s success to the early losses against Georgia Tech, N.C. State and Georgetown as important learning curves for the team.
“Those three losses, in particular, brought us together as a team, brought more focus to the team… that really helped us through the NCAA tournament,” Smith said. “If we can win every game this season that would be great—if we’re learning from those games. But if we don’t, then we need to learn from those losses. That’s the most important thing.”
After Wednesday’s defeat, head coach Mike Krzyzewski echoed these sentiments and urged his team to grow from this unexpected setback.
“Each team has to learn from going through tough experiences,” Krzyzewski said. “That’s why playing conference games makes you better because we’re going to get everyone’s best shot.… We haven’t been in a game like that all year.”
The contest against Virginia pits two opponents attempting to bounce back from defeats, with the Cavaliers playing for the first time since suffering a six-point loss to North Carolina.
Virginia has also been set back by news that senior forward Mike Scott will be out for the season after undergoing surgery on his left ankle. Scott leads the team in both scoring and rebounding.
Like Scott and the Cavaliers, Duke also continues to deal with the loss of its own vital player, Kyrie Irving. Saturday, the Blue Devils will continue to learn what kind of team it is without its phenom point guard.
“I’ve said all along, we’re not a great team since Kyrie’s injury,” Krzyzewski said. “We’ve got a chance to be a good team. We have to learn what this team can do.”
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