WINSTON-SALEM - As the men's basketball team exited the Dean Smith Center Feb. 5, 1998, the Blue Devils' heads were down as they wondered how they'd just fallen victim to a 24-point thrashing at the hands of the Tar Heels.
Amazingly, three of this year's Blue Devil regulars were merely juniors in high school when that loss occurred. They may have watched the game on television or read about it in the newspaper.
But the last 28 times the Blue Devils' players have taken the court for a regular-season ACC contest, their heads have been held high when leaving the court.
Only Chris Carrawell and Shane Battier have played in all 28 games of "the streak." And so, coach Mike Krzyzewski was proud of his team's victory, but he put things in perspective.
"It's certainly a terrific thing," the coach said. "We really have never talked about it with this team, just because this team-except for Carrawell-they're not going to relate to that. They have a hard time relating back to [last week's game against] Florida State."
While it was nothing spectacular Saturday, the Blue Devils continued what has become a regular occurrence-finding a way to win in the conference.
The Demon Deacons gave Duke everything it wanted, and more, but the Blue Devils managed to pull away late in the second half for the 75-61 victory.
There was no fanfare, no celebration. The small band of "Crazies" in attendance chanted "28! 28!" but that was about it. Wake Forest coach Dave Odom was not at all surprised by this reaction.
"I'm sure they will make light of [the streak] at this moment," he said. "But I can tell you that as an opposing coach, it's quite an achievement. In this league, to do what their coaching staff has done and the way their players have handled it [is] truly remarkable."
The ability of the Blue Devils to win despite the complete reshuffling of players in the offseason is quite impressive.
Carrawell and Battier combined for a dismal 6-of-18 shooting from the field Saturday afternoon, but a freshman, Jason Williams, rarely missed en route to a 19-point effort.
The total team effort-five players scored in double figures-has characterized the Blue Devil program throughout its 1,600 wins and, in particular, over the last 23 months of winning in the conference.
"We've had guys here who really care about carrying on the Duke tradition," Battier said, "especially this year with the veterans.... That's what Duke's all about-excellence."
Being that the majority of the Duke team was still in high school for the streak, here are some numbers that display just how dominating the Blue Devils have been since that tough loss in Chapel Hill:
Twenty-four of the 28 wins have been by double figures.
Fourteen of the wins have been by 20 or more points, six by more than 30.
The average margin of victory during the streak is 21.1 points per game.
Duke has scored 85 or more points in 15 of the games.
Seven regulars who played during the streak have since left Duke.
Seven different freshmen have provided significant contributions during the streak.
The record was previously held by N.C. State, which won 27 straight games from 1972-75 behind superstar David Thompson. The fact that the conference win streak had held up for 25 years makes the Blue Devils' accomplishment seem that much more impressive.
While the streak is nice for sportswriters and enthusiasts to marvel at, this year's Duke squad is most concerned with this year.
"We stand alone," Carrawell said. "It's an honor. There have been some great teams in the past. But we want to keep it going.... I don't care about streaks, I care about winning. That's the streak I care about."
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