Blue Devils end losing streak

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Even legendary football coach Knute Rockne would have been proud of the men's basketball team's 87-74 victory over Notre Dame Tuesday night at the Joyce Athletic and Convocation Center.

On the campus where Rockne's saying "Win one for the Gipper" became famous, it was fitting that Duke finally won one for its own "Gipper," injured head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

"We wanted to win for our team, and Coach K's still a big part of our team -- a very big part," guard Jeff Capel said.

This was the first game of the year that the Blue Devils knew for sure that Krzyzewski would not be back for the remainder of the season. Krzyzewski made that announcement last Sunday.

And the players were finally able to concentrate on just playing basketball without the distraction of guessing when their coach would return.

"We obviously want to have Coach K around," senior center Erik Meek said. "But if it's out of our hands, what we have to do is come together and say, `This is what we have, and let's do the best with what we have."'

The victory put the Blue Devils into double-digits in the win column at 10-6, while the Fighting Irish fell to 11-7 and lost on their home court for the first time this year. Duke snapped its six-game losing streak and won for the first time since a Jan. 2 victory over South Carolina State.

It was the longest losing streak for the team since the 1938-39 season.

"Tonight, my recall was that we had had some good wins before Christmas with Ricky in there. He's getting back to being. . . explosive."

The game was close for the first 20 minutes, as the two teams entered the locker room at halftime tied at 34-34. Even so, Duke seemed to be in control of the game and looked much more comfortable on the floor as compared to its first five games with Gaudet at the helm.

"It was one of those games where you go into halftime and the score is tied, but you feel that if you played the way you were capable of playing, you should have a 10- or 12-point lead."

The biggest problem for the Blue Devils was the team's inability to stop the Irish's big men on the inside. The Blue Devils often gave Notre Dame a wide-open lane, leading to numerous uncontested layups.

"I think the story of the first half was that we let too many easy buckets come around the basket," Gaudet said.

Another problem was Duke's inability to hit free throws, a factor that has plagued Duke all season. The charity strip proved to be unfriendly to the Blue Devils, as they went 4-of-11 from the free-throw line in the first half. Duke finished the game 18-of-34 from the foul line.

But on the positive side, the Blue Devils were able to find a consistent balance between their outside shooting and their inside game.

As he has done in several recent games, Capel paced the Duke outside attack, hitting trifectas in the first half for nine points. At the same time, the Blue Devils found the inside game that had been missing during its six-game skid.

Senior forward Cherokee Parks shot 6-of-12 from the floor in the first half alone.

"We used [an inside-outside game] earlier in the year, and that's why we were so successful in December," said freshman guard Trajan Langdon, who finished the game with 12 points. "The last two weeks, we haven't had that. Some games the inside game would be real effective, some games the outside game would be real effective.

"Finally tonight, in a big win for us, they both came together, and we just have to build on that."

In the second half, the Blue Devils took control of the game, again relying on a strong inside game. With Duke ahead 48-42 at the 13:52 mark, a double-technical foul was called on Notre Dame's Ryan Hoover and Duke's Kenny Blakeney. Hoover hit one of his two free throws, but that would be the Irish's last point for four minutes, when Jason Williams' three-point play cut the defict score 61-46.

During the Blue Devils' run, Duke would use a balanced offense, with Parks hitting two treys and Meek contributing six inside points.

"Erik did a really good job," said Parks, who tied a career-high with 29 points. "Any time Erik has 16 points and 12 rebounds, we have a really good chance of winning."

But just when the Blue Devils seemed to have the game won, the Fighting Irish held true to their name and cut a 18-point deficit to five with 6:24 left in the game. The ghosts of the haunting double-overtime loss to Virginia -- in which blew a 23-point second half lead -- began to creep back into the minds of the Blue Devils and their faithful.

It was at that point that Duke remembered how to shoot free throws. The Blue Devils nailed 9-of-12 free throws in the last six minutes to help seal the victory.

"They made the free throws at the end," Gaudet said. "I guess that's the most important thing."

"It shows that we can win in tough situations when people are making a run at us," Capel said. "It shows a lot of character for this basketball team. It shows a lot of improvement. We weren't able to [hold a lead] against Virginia."

The win at Notre Dame was a huge step in the right direction for the Blue Devils and the reconstruction of this year's season. But the players realize they can not afford to revel in any celebration too long before they have to get back to work again.

"This win feels great, but we have to keep this in perspective," Langdon said. "We have the two best teams in the league coming up [in Maryland and North Carolina]. We have to just go and build on this win."