You don't tug on Superman's cape. You don't spit into the wind. You don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger. And you don't mess around with Trajan.
Especially not on Senior Day.
So when Clemson's Adam Allenspach elbowed Trajan Langdon on a screen, knocking him on the floor with 7:25 left in the first half, the Blue Devils were none too pleased. And when Langdon finally moved, his hand colored bright red from the blood gushing from his lip, No. 1 Duke (27-1, 15-0 in the ACC) made Clemson (15-12, 4-10) pay to the tune of a 92-65 victory.
"It's like when a mother bear finds out that one of her own was injured by a mountain lion," Shane Battier said. "The mother bear becomes a little incensed."
Duke's anger against the mountain lion, in this case the mountain Tiger, manifested itself in 26 unanswered points after Langdon's injury, which required eight stitches during halftime.
That run included two consecutive three-pointers and a steal from Battier and eight points from Corey Maggette.
"I'm sorry for Trajan's lip, but at that time that was the best thing that could have happened to us," Chris Carrawell said. "It turned the game around."
For the Blue Devils, it was a game that needed to
"We beat a really good basketball team this afternoon," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "To say it was hard-fought would be putting it mildly."
Duke struggled most with the sheer size and physical play of the Clemson team. The Tigers' roster lists five players as 6-foot-8 or over, and seven players over 200 pounds.
"They're a physical team," said Carrawell, who called Saturday's game the fiercest this year in Cameron. "It seems like they should be playing football."
Duke had particular trouble at the beginning of the game with point guard Terrell McIntyre, who finished the contest with 16 points. The Blue Devils were finally able to contain him midway through the game by double-teaming him.
Tiger reserve Will Solomon also gave the Blue Devils a defensive headache, contributing a team-high 17 points in 23 minutes.
But several Duke players had impressive games of their own. Elton Brand narrowly missed his sixth double-double in a row, scoring 22 points and pulling down nine rebounds.
And with three three-pointers, Langdon finished the regular season with 90 threes, surpassing Bobby Hurley's record of 88.
The Blue Devils also equalled a record for most consecutive home wins in school and league history, with 37 straight victories and set a new longest single-season winning streak, at 22 games.
With all these records, the No. 1 ranking and the cover story of Sports Illustrated, Krzyzewski is trying to keep his team's ego in check.
"For me, it doesn't affect me one bit," Krzyzewski said of the SI cover. "But I know it affects you when you're 18, 19, 20. I'd like to have my picture on SI then. At that time, I even would like people to see me in my shorts and a tank top."
What Krzyzewski is much more concerned about is his seniors. He gave each senior-Langdon, Taymon Domzalski and Justin Caldbeck-playing time, and hugged each one as he exited the game.
The players also felt the emotion but left the game feeling that they had given the seniors the best possible going-away present.
"It was a roller coaster; I know I got a little teary-eyed," Battier said. "It would have been a shame if we couldn't have won this last game for Trajan."
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