There's just one last monkey on its back.
Over the last two years, the men's basketball team has made its way through the Atlantic Coast Conference, putting an end to a number of unwanted streaks en route to the regular season title last year and a share of the lead this year.
First, the Blue Devils did the Cameron Crazies proud and beat North Carolina in late January of 1997, giving the Duke senior class its first win over the Tar Heels. Next, they finally beat Wake Forest last February after nine straight losses to the Demon Deacons. And on Saturday, they ended a five-game home losing streak to Wake.
Now, the final test comes tonight at 9 p.m. in Littlejohn Coliseum as No. 2 Duke (23-2, 12-1 ACC) seeks its first road win against Clemson (15-10, 5-7 ACC) in four years. Clemson is the only ACC stop from which the current Blue Devil seniors have never walked as winners.
"It's a big thing for us," freshman Chris Burgess said. "Just like against Wake when snapped our streak of having lost five straight here, we're going to Clemson to end that streak."
The last three years have been a nightmare for Duke. The Blue Devils went into all three of those contests as the underdog. In 1995, the Blue Devils were ACC cellar-dwellers, and the Tigers handed them a 51-41 loss in Littlejohn.
Two years ago, another ugly game broke out and Clemson managed a 51-48 win. Last year, the Tigers were ranked in the top 10 and Duke was on the outside looking in. Still, the Blue Devils had Clemson on the ropes, and only a gaffe by Greg Newton could preserve the win for the Tigers. With 1.3 seconds remaining, the senior bobbled a pass from Steve Wojciechowski out of bounds instead of finishing with a dunk to win in regulation. Clemson won, 86-82, in overtime.
Now the tables are turned as the Blue Devils come in on top of the ACC, and Clemson is sitting on the bubble for NCAA Tournament selection. The Tigers began the season as the No. 5 team in the country, but have underachieved for most of the 1997-98 season.
The low point came in late January when the Tigers dropped four straight conference games to fall to 3-7 in the ACC. Included in that streak was an 88-79 loss at UNC in which the Tigers committed so many fouls that they played the last two minutes of the game with just four players.
But a team with this much talent would not roll over and die. Clemson has finally found itself in its last two ACC contests, demolishing Wake Forest at home, 71-46, and similarly embarrassing Florida State on the road, 76-49.
"Now that their backs are against the wall, they're coming up with some quality wins," Wojciechowski said. "They really need to make their mark for the Tournament, and I'm sure they've circled our game as one where they can really show the committee they deserve to be in."
It's likely they've circled tonight for another reason as well: the first game in Cameron this year, where Duke escaped with a 81-80 win as Terrell McIntyre and Iker Iturbe both missed shots at the buzzer for the win. The Blue Devils held on in that game despite blowing a 24-point second-half lead.
Clemson is certainly coming into tonight's game more heavily loaded as McIntyre, who was hobbled for most of the season by an injury, appears finally to be back at full strength.
"Terrell is practicing again so their continuity is a little better," Wojciechowski said. "They're scoring points easier than they were earlier in the season and their defense and physical play have always been constants.
"He is an outstanding player and a clutch player. He always wants to take the shots at the end of the game and he's capable of making them."
And aside from dealing with the hostile crowd that has made quite a name for itself since the arrival of coach Rick Barnes in 1994, the Blue Devils will also be saddled with stopping senior Greg Buckner, who is two points shy of becoming the school's fourth-highest all-time leading scorer.
"I think it's going to be a matter of being able to be as physical as them and keeping Buckner from taking control of the game," Burgess said.
In the first meeting in Cameron, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski utilized his entire 10-man rotation and tried to wear down the Tigers. After the game, however, Krzyzewski admitted that it appeared as though Clemson had actually worn his team down.
After having moved to a predominately eight-man rotation for the last three games, Krzyzewski will have to decide which route to go against the only ACC team that can match Duke's depth.
"I think we'll stick with people who are playing well," Wojciechowski said. "Certainly, everybody's going to be given a chance, but we're at the point in the season where it's not open tryouts for everyone and you need to go with the people who are playing the best on that given night."
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