Duke Now is your place for Blue Devil hoops and football. Beat writer Laura Keeley has up-to-the-minute news and analysis. Columnist Luke DeCock also contributes. Follow us on Twitter at @laurakeeley or @accnow.
Duke and North Carolina will have Thursday off in the ACC Tournament, N.C. State will not.
Virginia's 61-58 overtime win over Maryland on Sunday night clinched the No. 4 seed, and the final opening-round bye, for the Cavaliers.
N.C. State, which finished 11-7 in the ACC and in fifth place, will play on Thursday against 12th-seeded Virginia Tech. The other three games on Thursday in Greensboro will be: Boston College-Georgia Tech, Maryland-Wake Forest and Florida State-Clemson.
Tyler Thornton and the rest of the Blue Devils crashed UNC's senior day. Credit: ROBERT WILLETT
CHAPEL HILL Well, that was unexpected. Duke thoroughly dominated UNC from the opening tip until the final buzzer, and Andrew Carter details the in between in the game story here. Mason returned to his player of the year form, and—get this—Roy Williams lost for the first time on senior day. Ever. That spans 25 years as a head coach and 10 as an assistant to Dean Smith. Hard to believe, but it's true: Duke hadn't closed out the season with a win in Chapel Hill since 2001, when the Carlos Boozer-less Blue Devils ran all over the Tar Heels.
I'm writing a bigger picture take on what this means for Duke later today, and I'll link it here when it's up. In the meantime, a few quick thoughts I jotted down during the game:
Updated 12:40 a.m.
CHAPEL HILL — Duke’s dominant 69-53 victory against North Carolina here on Saturday night might been expected in the middle of February, when the teams played for the first time in Durham in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Mason Plumlee came alive late in the game when the Tar Heels came to Durham. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY
Duke at North Carolina
When: 9 p.m.
Where: The Smith Center, Chapel Hill
TV/Radio: ESPN/WKIX-102.9 FM
Good morning, folks, and welcome to the second installment of the 2012-13 Duke-Carolina rivalry. As usual, there is plenty of pregame reading:
• In September, Mike Krzyzewski got a call saying Seth Curry might miss the whole year. Now in March, Curry isn't just surviving. He's thriving.
• Andrew Carter, our UNC beat writer, with the big-picture look of how UNC and Duke have arrived just one game apart in the ACC standings.
• My take on UNC's small lineup: no one, not C.J. Leslie and not Alex Len, has taken advantage of the mismatch. Duke needs Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee to be the first to do so.
• Luke DeCock with a closer look at the two critical freshmen, Rasheed Sulaimon and Marcus Paige
And now a full breakdown of the matchups:
Tale of the tape:
POINT GUARD: Marcus Paige vs. Quinn Cook
Mike Krzyzewski has opted to focus on the positives with the media this season. Credit: ROBERT WILLETT
Every Saturday, the News & Observer takes a look around the ACC. That also provides an opportunity to check in with the Blue Devils and look for any emerging trends.
After capping off a perfect home record with a sometimes-ugly 85-57 win over last-place Virginia Tech, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was asked if he was satisfied with his team as postseason play awaits.
“We’re ecstatic about it,” Krzyzewski said.
Mike Krzyzewski subbed out his seniors, like Seth Curry, late in the game, but, other than that, the bench has shortened considerably. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY
DURHAM—Game No. 30 is in the books, just like the home careers of Mason Plumlee, Ryan Kelly and Seth Curry. Read all about it in the game story from Duke's 85-57 win over Virginia Tech.
••• 9 a.m. update With 3:36 left in the game, Seth Currytook a knee to his injured right shin, and he went down in obvious pain. Curry was subbed out and continued to rub his shin on the bench.
"Somebody kneed right into it. That’s not good," he said.
"It just hurt bad for a few minutes. I’ll be alright."
Curry, who injured his shin in mid-September, has only missed one game this year.
••• After not playing at all against Miami, Amile Jefferson entered the game for the first time midway through the first half. Jefferson started six games in Ryan Kelly’s absence, but only two reserves (Josh Hairston and Tyler Thornton) played against the Hurricanes. Jefferson played four minutes Tuesday, finishing with two points and one rebound. Eight Blue Devils (the starters plus Thornton, Hairston and Jefferson) played while the game was still competitive.
Ryan Kelly, along with Mason Plumlee and Seth Curry, said goodbye to Cameron with a 85-57 win over Virginia Tech. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY
DURHAM—The senior night festivities for Mason Plumlee, Ryan Kelly and Seth Curry actually started Monday night, when Mike and Mickie Krzyzewski and their daughters took them out to dinner. Before the game, Plumlee paid attention to every song the pep band played, trying to soak in the sights and sounds of his last game in Cameron. So when the ball was tipped, it wasn’t easy to cancel out the background noise and focus on the game.
“It’s hard,” Plumlee said, “until you realize you’re about to lose. At halftime I think we got our heads on straight.”
No. 3 Duke did play much better in the second half of the 85-57 win over Virginia Tech. After the game, Mike Krzyzewski was asked to reflect on having three great players still around as seniors, and he did so happily. And then a reporter asked him about Duke’s defense on Erick Green.
“We transitioned (that) quick,” Krzyzewski said.
Duke has begun its formal preparations for 2013. Credit: TAKAAKI IWABU
A brief interruption from basketball season to call your attention to a few football-related matters:
••• Spring practice started Monday for the Blue Devils, and there are plenty of changes underway. Here are five questions that need answered, and here's a report from the first day of practice.
A few more notes from that first day:
• OL Takoby Cofield (illness), OL Dave Harding (surgery), early enrollee QB Parker Boehme (surgery), DL Kenny Anunike and S Anthony Young-Wiseman will be limited and/or miss part of spring practice.
• WR Brandon Braxton (surgery), QB/TE/WR Brandon Connette (surgery), DL Justin Foxx and early enrollee LB Dominic McDonald (surgery) will definitely miss all of spring practice.
• The Blue Devils have noticed that they have a favorable schedule next season.
It's senior day for Mason Plumlee, Ryan Kelly and Seth Curry. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY
Before we get to this preview, the above picture goes with < ahref="http://bit.ly/YpoHVh">this story I wrote on the bond between Mike Krzyzewski and Mason Plumlee. Enjoy.
Duke at Virginia Tech
When: 7:00 p.m.
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham
TV/Radio: ESPNU/WKIX-102.9 FM
Projected starting lineups:
No. 3 Duke (25-4, 12-4 in the ACC)
G Quinn Cook, So., 12.5 ppg, 5.4 apg
G Seth Curry, Sr., 16.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg
G Rasheed Sulaimon, Fr., 12.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg
F Ryan Kelly, Sr., 14.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg
F Mason Plumlee, Sr., 17.1 ppg, 10.3 rpg
Virginia Tech (13-16, 4-12)
G Erick Green, Sr., 25.0 ppg, 4.0 apg
G Jarell Eddie, Jr., 11.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg
G Robert Brown, So., 8.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg
F C.J. Barksdale, So., 5.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg
F Cadarian Raines, Jr., 6.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg
Player to watch:
Seth Curry, Duke
"Unconscious" was the word Miami head coach Jim Larranaga used to describe Duke's Ryan Kelly, who scored a career-high 36 points in Duke's win. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY
DURHAM—Excuse the delay, folks—I'm been working on a story for senior day—but, if you missed any of it, here are a few links to our postgame coverage of Duke's 79-76 win over Miami
• The main game story, which focuses on the incredible performance of Ryan Kelly, who posed a career-high 36 points coming off of his right foot injury, limiting him to a grand total of 20 minutes before taking the floor.
• In the immediate aftermath of the game, the Blue Devils were dreaming big about what Kelly's return means for their potential.
• And from Andrew Carter, a closer look at just how close Miami came in the closing seconds.
And here's one more thought:
There were times, Ryan Kelly said after the game, that he doubted he would return from the foot injury that had sidelined him since Jan. 8. But he worked diligently with Duke trainers Jose Fonseca and Nicholas Potter, maintaing cardiovascular shape by running on an underwater treadmill. Kelly also focused on strengthening the rest of his body so that when his foot was finally ready, the rest of him would be, too.
