To emerge atop a group of hundreds of Cameron Crazies, it took more than a few nights and countless hours of sleeping outside.
Especially after the Blue Devils' Monday night defeat at Virginia Tech, there remains plenty to be answered in the regular-season finale.
Costly turnovers, bricked free throws and a nonexistent presence in the paint all resulted in Duke heading home searching for answers.
The true identity of this Blue Devil team has been a mystery to everyone surrounding the program throughout the season.
The Blue Devils have held their last four opponents to 52, 57, 56 and 44 points.
As they have consistently in a Duke uniform, graduate students Rebecca Greenwell and Lexie Brown carried the Blue Devils against their rival.
Bagley appeared to be fully recovered, moving naturally and fluidly without any sort of brace or pad on his right knee.
For Mike Krzyzewski, all of this week's unraveling may not necessarily have been a surprise, but it was clear that the 71-year-old was disheartened.
Against one of the greatest zone coaches in college basketball history, it was only fitting that Duke's suffocating defensive unit came to play.
A lot of what Mike Krzyzewski knows about the 2-3 zone, he learned from Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim.
The Blue Devils were named as one of at least seven schools who may have given "impermissible benefits and preferential treatment for players and families of players."
The Blue Devils may not be decisively better without Marvin Bagley III, but one thing is clear: Grayson Allen has been significantly more effective.
As little as two weeks ago, Duke’s defense was porous. But oh, how the tide has turned.
With Marvin Bagley III once again a game-time decision, Duke will face a Cardinals team that has lost four of its last six games.
Marvin Bagley III is a truly special talent—on offense. But as it has shown recently, Duke is better served without him on defense.
After withstanding a 5:35 scoreless drought and watching their 10-point lead vanish, the Blue Devils got big contributions from their freshmen late.
No. 11 Duke edged out No. 12 Clemson 66-57 to pick up its 10th conference victory of the season.
Road matchups with the Tigers have been the Blue Devils' kryptonite ever since an embarrassing 74-47 defeat in February 2009.
The only thing missing from the program's illustrious tradition is a player who became a Hall of Famer.
No. 12 Duke will get a shot at its third win in a row Sunday afternoon at Littlejohn Coliseum
