Although some Duke fans started chanting "We're No. 1!" the moment the buzzer sounded in North Carolina's upset loss to Maryland on Wednesday, the men's basketball team has a little hurdle called the Clemson Tigers standing between it and the top of the polls.
And Clemson, which visits Cameron Indoor Stadium at 1 p.m. on Saturday, may not be the most hospitable opponent for a team one win away from the No. 1 ranking. After entering the season with great expectations, the Tigers (11-5, 2-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) have lost to the likes of Gonzaga, Illinois and Wake Forest, the latter knocking them out of this week's top 25. But they have also beaten the Terrapins, 14th-ranked South Carolina and, on Tuesday night, 17th-ranked Florida State.
"Clemson is back on track," Chris Carrawell said. "They're really one of the hot teams right now."
Part of the Tigers' resurgence can be traced to a healthy Terrell McIntyre. The junior point guard has been bothered by a bruised right foot which caused him to miss three games earlier in the season, but broke out with 15 points and eight assists in the 86-65 victory over the Seminoles. McIntyre, an All-ACC second team selection a year ago, is averaging 13.8 points and 4.8 assists per game.
Steve Wojciechowski will once again be counted on to shut down an opposing guard for the Blue Devils (15-1, 5-0).
"He's an outstanding player, one of the best point guards in the league," Duke's senior point guard said. "He certainly didn't look hurt against FSU. He's a great competitor and I'm sure he'll rise to the occasion.... I'll try to do the same thing I always try to do, which is to not let him play his game."
Although McIntyre is a talented perimeter player, Clemson's strength is its physical inside game. Tigers' coach Rick Barnes has successfully brought physical Big East-style basketball to Clemson and acquired the players to execute it, though ACC foes no longer seem intimidated by it.
"It doesn't bother me," Carrawell said. "And it doesn't bother the rest of my teammates."
Senior guard Greg Buckner, the Tigers' leading scorer with 17 points per game, plays bigger than his 6-foot-4 frame. The 1997 All-ACC second-team selection's willingness to take the ball inside and challenge bigger players is evidenced by his 53.8 field goal percentage.
Clemson is outrebounding opponents by 6.25 boards a game, thanks mostly to Harold Jamison. The 6-foot-8, 260-lb. junior averages 7.4 rebounds off the bench, with more than half coming off the offensive glass. Pounding the boards alongside Jamison will be versatile 6-foot-7, 240-lb. forward Iker Iturbe and 6-foot-10, 240-lb. center Tom Wideman.
With leading scorer and rebounder Elton Brand out for the season, Taymon Domzalski, Roshown McLeod and Shane Battier have all stepped up their play inside. But Duke was last in the ACC in rebounding margin before Wednesday's game, and its big men will face their greatest challenge thus far.
"We've got to play hard and block out," Carrawell said. "Not just the big guys but the whole team.... Guys like me who usually play on the wing are going to have to help out."
The Tigers' perimeter game, however, is suspect; they are shooting 35.7 percent from behind the three-point arc in ACC play. Junior forward and outside specialist Andrius Jurkunas had knee surgery in October and has yet to see action.
The Blue Devils, then, would seem to have a significant advantage on the perimeter. But the play of Trajan Langdon could determine whether Duke will be raining jumpers on Clemson. The last time the junior guard saw the Tigers at Cameron, he pumped in a career-high 34 points on 11-of-16 shooting as the Blue Devils knocked off Clemson 84-77 last Feb. 18.
Langdon had been mired in a two-game slump before scoring 13 points against Wake Forest on Wednesday, though he was still unable to find the range on his three-point shot, hitting only one of four.
Another career game from Langdon could mean another No. 1 ranking for Duke, but the Blue Devils were quick to downplay the importance of the polls at this point in the season. They also spurned talk of their much anticipated matchup with the Tar Heels on Feb. 5.
"Duke-Carolina won't mean much if we don't beat Clemson," Wojciechowski said. "You have to take it one game at a time in the ACC or you'll get bit."
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