The top-ranked Blue Devils will certainly be favored when they take on the Davidson Wildcats tonight at 7 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
To put the matchup in perspective, the Blue Devils are coming off two straight victories, the last a 25-point demolishing of a talented Temple squad. On the other hand, Davidson is 2-3 and coming off a loss to Elon.
Despite having a strong-willed team, Davidson coach Bob McKillop simply lacks the firepower to hang with the Blue Devils.
But he is not alone: most NCAA coaches just can not hope to compete with Duke. With a tight defense, mystifying outside shooting and a legitimate inside presence, the Blue Devils have a well-rounded game that is very tough to beat, even when the outside shots are not falling.
"We are very happy with the way we are playing," junior center Matt Christensen said. "Happiness is performance-based, and because of that, we measure success independent of success against an individual team. We are looking more long-term here."
Sophomore guard Jason Williams has exploded on the offensive end of the floor in the last two contests, putting up 23 and 30 points, respectively. In addition to his increased scoring, the New Jersey native has created countless opportunities for his other teammates by compiling an assist-to-turnover ratio better than two-to-one.
After Williams' stunning performance behind
If McKillop decides to double-team Williams, the Wildcats will be forced to free up other Blue Devils, which is a problem when all five players on the floor are legitimate offensive threats.
History is not on Davidson's side either. Duke has won 78 of the teams' 95 meetings, including the last 13. In addition to these one-sided figures, the Blue Devils have accumulated a 130-29 record against Southern Conference teams and a 77-1 mark against their last 78 unranked opponents.
Nevertheless, the Wildcats are not a completely lost cause. Despite losing over 40 percent of its points and rebounds over the summer when Landry Kosmalski and Stephen Marshall graduated and lacking even a single senior on its roster, Davidson has some scattered talent.
"Clearly there are a lot of question marks," McKillop recently said in a press release. "Those question marks revolve around the lack of experience we'll be putting on the court. They will not be relevant, however, to the effort, to the commitment, nor the willingness to sacrifice to play a role on the team."
Junior co-captain Emeka Erege, finally healthy after two years of knee problems, has averaged a team-leading 14 points and 6.7 boards per game at small forward. Also, backup shooting guard Wayne Bernard has a double-digit scoring average in the backcourt.
Seven-foot-two center Martin Ides might present the most problems for the relatively short Blue Devils on the blocks. With a five-inch height advantage over Boozer, Ides could exploit Duke's lack of height under the boards, even when Casey Sanders checks in.
"I'm not too worried about him," Boozer said. "I played him last year and everything was all right. I also went up against a 7-4 dude in the exhibition season, and that wasn't a problem either."
Despite the Blue Devils' confidence, there is always the potential for a let-down after emerging victorious against two consecutive ranked opponents. Additionally, a tough non-conference matchup against Stanford looms on the horizon after exams.
"That's what we have to work on against Davidson," Boozer said. "We cannot have a let-down effect. Against a team like this, we're still looking to win. We're looking to go out and play Duke basketball regardless of who is on the other side of the ball."
The Blue Devils will certainly have to play tougher games this year than what it will take to beat the likes of Davidson, but the small victories add up when the time comes to play the Stanfords of the world.
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