bstrickland@heraldsun.com; 419-6671
DURHAM -- The Duke Blue Devils have reeled off seven consecutive conference victories, yet their hold on first place in the ACC will be up for grabs for the second time in eight days tonight.
And this Duke team -- especially seniors Jon Scheyer, Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek -- has no intention of letting go.
"We haven't won the regular season in my four years here," Zoubek said. "To have a chance to be able to do that, that's the best feeling."
It's been two decades since a senior class departed Duke without an ACC regular-season title in hand. Alaa Abdelnaby, Robert Brickey and Phil Henderson -- the class of 1990 -- finished second twice and third twice, though they probably barely noticed given their three trips to the Final Four.
Win or lose when Virginia Tech visits Cameron Indoor Stadium tonight (7:45 p.m., Fox Sports), the Blue Devils will wake up Monday morning in first place. But the Hokies could catch them in the loss column and claim the tiebreaker over Duke if it comes down to that.
A Duke victory, on the other hand, would put the Blue Devils (22-4, 10-2 ACC) in the driver's seat and leave Virginia Tech (21-4, 8-3) in the rear-view mirror.
"That's why Sunday is such a big game for us," Scheyer said. "That's something the senior class has talked about wanting to do since we've been here. It would mean a lot to us."
Tonight's game will be the latest "big game" for the Blue Devils. They handled rival North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Feb. 10, and three days later they dispatched Maryland with first place on the line.
"We want to be in these type of games, playing for first place," Scheyer said. "We need to continue to keep winning to make the next game even that much bigger."
All that being said, it's at least as big a game for Virginia Tech, which sports the kind of record that almost always lands an ACC team in the Top 25. Yet thanks to an underwhelming out-of-conference schedule, the Hokies are not ranked and aren't even considered a lock for the NCAA Tournament by some observers.
A victory over the No. 6 Blue Devils would erase any lingering doubts.
"They're going to come in here and play hard, especially as big a game as this is for both teams," Duke junior Nolan Smith said. "It's going to be a very hard-fought game. They're going to be physical with us, and we're going to be physical right back."
The Hokies have a history of physical play against Duke, and this team has that capability as well with scrappy but skilled post players such as Jeff Allen, JT Thompson and Victor Divila just as willing to go through a defender as over them.
The Hokies, however, are built around a pair of perimeter players who excel at going around defenders.
Malcolm Delaney picked up where he left off a year ago and leads the ACC with 20.2 points per game, while running mate Dorenzo Hudson came seemingly out of nowhere, going from 4.6 points in 2008-09 to 14.0 this season. Hudson scored 41 against Seton Hall.
"It's a huge matchup," Smith said. "They have a great perimeter. We've played against some great perimeters this year, and we're ready for it.
"It's another big game, and we're going to have to step up and defend them."
The Hokies have been nearly as hot as Duke, reeling off five consecutive victories. They've won at Cameron before and would be 2-2 there since joining the ACC if not for Sean Dockery's famous 40-footer that saved Duke in 2005.
Duke, however, has been dominant at Cameron this season, going 14-0 with an average victory margin of 27.6 points. Their closest home ACC game was a 14-point victory over Florida State.
The Blue Devils will have to protect homecourt yet again if they're to maintain first place.
"I feel like it's a must-win," Smith said. "We can separate ourselves for first place, and they can get closer to first place.
"Both teams are going to play as hard as they can."
