The men's basketball team should have no problem getting motivated for Sunday afternoon's game at Wake Forest.
All the Blue Devils have to do is remember back to Jan. 13, 1994. On that day, the Demon Deacons waltzed into Cameron Indoor Stadium to face the second-ranked Blue Devils. Duke was undefeated and prepared to take over the top spot from North Carolina, who had lost earlier that week to Georgia Tech.
But it didn't quite work out that way.
Wake Forest used a controversial late three-pointer by Randolph Childress, who scored 24 points, to shock Duke 69-68 in front of its home crowd.
When Duke takes on the Demon Deacons at 1:30 on Sunday at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, it is likely that images of Childress and his teammates celebrating an upset victory on the Cameron floor for the second year in a row will still be fresh in the minds of Duke players.
Wake Forest is one of only two teams (along with North Carolina) that has beaten Duke in each of the last four seasons.
"We're definitely going to remember that game in Cameron where they beat us," Duke senior Antonio Lang said. "That's two years in a row. But I don't think that we like to pride ourself on motivation from stuff like payback."
In that game, Duke took an early 12-point lead, but Wake scraped its way back, and eventually won when Grant Hill missed a jumper as time expired.
"I think that that should make you more focused," Duke associate coach Pete Gaudet said. "They beat us here, and one of our goals every year is to not get beaten in Cameron. Hopefully, we'll internalize that and not like it.
"But more than that, we have a tremendous opportunity here. There aren't a lot of teams in this league right now that look like they're in control of their own destiny."
Thus, while Duke will remember the first matchup, the Blue Devils will also be focused on their quest to win the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. Duke stands at 17-2 overall and 8-2 in the ACC, while Wake Forest is 15-7 and 5-4 in the ACC after Thursday night's 77-69 win over Florida State.
"I think the main factor has got to be, `Hey, we've improved,"' Gaudet said. "If we can't just have such a good feeling about the fact that we have improved and still can improve, we have to be crazy."
The Blue Devils are coming off what head coach Mike Krzyzewski called their toughest stretch of the season, playing three games in a six-day stretch that ended Tuesday with a 66-63 win at Georgia Tech.
Duke rested up by not practicing on Wednesday and Thursday, healing its wounds and preparing for the stretch drive of the season. The Blue Devils are currently tied with North Carolina atop the ACC standings.
"I think this is a great time for us to rest and just regroup and revitalize ourselves," senior Marty Clark said following Tuesday's game. "We're going to come out real strong against Wake. We're 2-0 in the second half of the ACC, and we'll be ready."
The toughest task in facing the Blue Devils will be attempting to contain Wake's Childress. Childress is second in the league in scoring at 19.8 points per game, and he scored 33 points in Thursday night's win over the Seminoles.
He and fellow backcourt starter Charlie Harrison torched Duke for 40 combined points on Jan. 13. The two continually penetrated Duke's defense and created easy scoring opportunities.
"Childress has had something like 50 straight games in double figures," Gaudet said. "How do you stop Childress? You don't stop Childress."
While Wake's strength is the backcourt, senior forward Trelonnie Owens and surprising freshman center Tim Duncan have more than held their own in the middle this year.
Duncan actually had better statistics than Duke center Cherokee Parks in the first meeting, outscoring him eight points to five and equaling Parks' rebounding total of seven.
"One of the dimensions that has given them a plus is that their freshman has done a real good job," Gaudet said. "The thing about Duncan is that he's been consistent -- he hasn't been a slouch."
After Duke's loss to Wake, the Blue Devils went on to play perhaps their best defensive game of the season against Virginia. And since that time, Duke has been playing solid basketball, especially at the defensive end of the court. Against Wake, Duke will be able to measure exactly how far its defense has progressed.
" They're a team that broke us down with penetration," Gaudet said. "They're a quick team. We've got to play better defense than we did the last time."
One thing will be certain on Sunday: Duke will have no problem getting pumped up for the game.
"We've got a score to settle with them at their place, and we'll be ready to play on Sunday," Collins said.
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