Undefeated at home, winner of five in a row, Duke — as Pete Gillen would say — is finally Duke
Is Greensboro close enough to home to feel like home to Duke? Because if it is, and if it does, the potential fifth seed in the ACC tournament might just be the favorite to win it, even without a double bye.
Eight weeks after Duke was run off the floor, out of the building and into the dark of night by N.C. State in Raleigh, the Blue Devils not only showed just how much they’ve grown since then, they wrapped up an undefeated season in Cameron, something Mike Krzyzewski didn’t do in his final eight seasons at Duke.
With Tyrese Proctor at the point allowing Jeremy Roach to thrive and Dereck Lively growing into his role, better late than never, Duke has become the team it was supposed to be all along. It has another test Saturday, against an all-too-familiar opponent that feels the same way about itself at the moment, but it’s hard to shake the sense after Tuesday’s 71-67 win that Duke, as Pete Gillen would say, is finally Duke.
“We kind of came to a realization of who we are and what we need to do and, like, why we’re here, basically,” Roach said. “We’re not just here for the ride. We’re not just here for the Duke jerseys. But we’re here to try to be great and win championships.”
That said, it took everything the Blue Devils had to shake off the Wolfpack, which never went away, right to the very end, but that probably says as much about N.C. State as it does Duke, and more about both teams together.
Argue if you like about the ACC being down – it is! – but there’s still something that resonates about two original ACC teams beating up on each other in a steamy Cameron, with a surprising number of vocal State fans in the seats and plenty of spice on the floor.
Terquavion Smith picked up a first-half technical for a shove of Tyrese Proctor and Smith and Whitehead wrestled over a loose ball for so long in the second half that both benches nearly emptied and D.J. Burns had to pull Smith away to keep T from picking up another T.
And, figuratively, the Wolfpack never stopped fighting, pulling Duke back every time the Blue Devils threatened to pull away.
“This time of year, the teams I’ve been a part of that have the best chance to move on, they’re really together and they have great belief,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “For us, going through what what we’ve gone through this season, we have both of those at a high level. Can we clean up some things and be better and finish a game? Could we have finished the game better tonight? Can we shoot the ball better? Absolutely. But those things are going to happen.”
That Duke was finally able to put N.C. State away is a statement of progress as much as the home record or the five straight wins since the bizarre overtime loss at Virginia. North Carolina will provide a different kind of test – on the road, laden with history – with Duke still holding a chance to avoid Wednesday in Greensboro, if all goes right.
“To even think about the next week, I’m not there yet,” Scheyer said. “Do you want a double bye? Of course you do. If not, that’s a great opportunity also. We’re going to be in a good spot. It’s just a matter of where and who we’re playing against.
“I told our guys, Saturday and every game going forward, there’s a lot on the line. You’re playing somebody that believes they should win and it’s going to be a tough game. So to win this, I thought it was great preparation for what’s to come in March, no matter what seed we end up getting.”
It was the final day of February but March has arrived for Duke, or perhaps Duke has arrived at March. Either way, the timing is right for the Blue Devils.
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This story was originally published February 28, 2023 at 10:40 PM with the headline "Undefeated at home, winner of five in a row, Duke — as Pete Gillen would say — is finally Duke."
