RALEIGH - It was one of those feel-good moments.
With 1:44 left to play Saturday, head coach Mike Krzyzewski pulled his three captains out of what was, despite N.C. State's last-ditch attempt to stage a comeback, clearly an already-won game at 79-56. Josh McRoberts walked off the court smiling, a spring in his step, yelling "yeah" as he approached the standing bench. Greg Paulus and DeMarcus Nelson followed the sophomore down the line, high-fiving their teammates one by one.
The Duke bench met the trio with a standing ovation. Its excitement, however, was not just because McRoberts, Paulus and Nelson played well-the three combined for 41 points-but because the entire team had something to celebrate.
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After starting off their ACC schedule with two tough losses, the Blue Devils had come back and won their next two matchups going into Saturday's game. And so Duke had every reason to be excited about their solid performance against the Wolfpack-things were finally starting to click.
"Guys are starting to hit some shots, we're playing together, and we're having a lot more fun when we're making those kind of connecting plays when we're driving, we're kicking, we're throwing ally-oops to each other," Paulus said. "Hopefully we can keep getting sharper and sharper."
Since the Blue Devils fell to Georgia Tech in their second conference loss, the team has been working to develop consistency on both ends of the court.
Throughout the season, Duke's offense has been inconsistent. In its two losses in conference play, the team seemed to lack unity on that end of the floor, often turning the ball over or forcing up bad shots.
Even during their three-game winning streak, the Blue Devils' offense has seen highs and lows, with 86 points at Miami and then just 62 at home against Wake Forest last week.
At N.C. State, the best scoring defense in the conference was also able to tie together its offense once again. Led by freshman Jon Scheyer with 20 points, the Blue Devils had 40 points in the paint and 25 off turnovers.
"I think our offense was really good," Scheyer said. "We did a good job of pushing it when things were there, and when things weren't there we set it up and ran our stuff. I think that's what helped us a lot. I think we made some pretty mature decisions."
And maturity is exactly what the Blue Devils are trying to develop. With a roster lacking in upperclassmen, Duke is finding out how to play together against the typically-difficult ACC slate, all at once.
"They don't have anyone teaching them from the team, like older guys," Krzyzewski said. "So it's almost like you have to go through your experiences, and we're going to go through a lot more.... We have to just keep learning. We're a good team, but we know we're not anything great."
Although the Blue Devils do not have numbers in their upperclassmen, the team does not lack ambition. Finally squeezing into the chair next to freshman Nick Sutton to watch the last minute of the game Saturday, McRoberts sat with his arm around the walk-on's shoulders, still smiling.
"We kind of were on a mission when we came over here today to get a win," McRoberts said. "I think it's something that we're slowly developing, just kind of having that attitude that we can come out and win a game is something that we're trying to develop, something that every team should have."
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