The Clemson Tigers prance into town Sunday at 6:30 p.m. to take on the No. 9 men's basketball team, but after a rapacious triumph over North Carolina Wednesday night, it's the Blue Devils prowling around the ACC with plenty of growl back in their sluggish-gone-tigerish season.
When Duke (15-3, 5-3 in the ACC) beat Clemson (12-6, 2-6) in a battle of the unbeatens Jan. 5, it vaulted itself to No. 1 in the nation the next day, despite head coach Mike Krzyzewski saying after the game that his current team wasn't of the top-ranked ilk.
While the coach's sentiments proved true during Duke's plummet down the polls and the ACC standings in the following weeks, the Blue Devil veterans, defense and fans earned their stripes Wednesday night - more than enough to take on a couple of Tigers.
"When we were down there they were undefeated. They gave us a real tough game down there," said freshman J.J. Redick, who scored 22 points in the teams' first meeting. "I don't really know how they've been playing lately, but we expect them to play us tough. Everybody does. Everybody comes into Cameron and gives us great games, so that's what we expect out of them."
After a scheduled day off yesterday, Duke still has time to revel in everything that went right after a great game in Cameron Wednesday, before translating its newfound momentum into a second-half surge starting with Clemson and, in the coming weeks, Wake Forest and Maryland.
Dahntay Jones found his shot - and his competitive edge as the UNC bench knows all too well - after an uncharacteristic performance against Florida State in which he scored a mere two points.
And Chris Duhon's vision, second-half shooting and a makeshift scoop shot put the fire back in his eyes and more than likely put himself back into the starting lineup.
But it is the Tigers' point guard that will keep the Blue Devils on their heels Sunday. After Tar Heel floor general Raymond Felton crawled his way through a Duke defense that needed to snap and revert to a matchup zone in order to stop him, Krzyzewski will devote much of the weekend preparing for Edward Scott.
Clemson's leading scorer dug his team out of a four-game ACC losing streak with a game-winning jumpshot in a win over Georgia Tech minutes before UNC and Duke tipped off.
"They're going to play tough defense, and they've got a great point guard in Scott," said senior Casey Sanders, who received one of five technical fouls when the January game got a little spicy. "They're really going to try to push the ball up on us. We've just got to get prepared for that in the next day of practice."
And while dealing with that penetration on the defensive end has caused problems for Duke, its offense got rolling in the second half against UNC thanks to an effective mix of post play and outlets to the wing, the same style that spread the floor for Redick, Jones and Daniel Ewing the last time they faced the Tigers.
"I don't think Clemson played a team like us that has the combination of an inside game and a perimeter one," Krzyzewski said after that game.
So while Casey Sanders and Nick Horvath can use their height to combat the inside strength of the 260-pound Olu Babalola and 265-pounder Chris Hobbs, Duke's perimeter committee can look for rejuvenating three-pointers like Redick had at Wednesday's first half buzzer.
And though Clemson shooting guard Chey Christie - assigned to the Duke sharpshooter Sunday night - is stingy on the defensive end, Redick faced up to the basket with a little more ease against UNC after dealing with a nagging foot injury suffered in a loss to N.C. State two weeks ago.
That defeat and the road nightmares like it of weeks past are now in the rear-view mirror for the Blue Devils, back at home with some fire in their eyes, some pounce back in their paws and some Tigers scratching at the door.
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