The Blue Devils remember what happened on spring break last year, when their trip to Buffalo and the NCAA Tournament was abruptly cut short by Eric Maynor and VCU.
This year, Duke spent spring break in the gym, making sure history does not repeat itself.
Head coach Mike Krzyzewski ran some of his hardest practices of the season last week, all in hopes of preparing his team for the NCAA Tournament.
The results of that hard work will be on display tonight, when the second-seeded Blue Devils (27-5) take on No. 15 Belmont (25-8) at 7 p.m. at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
"We've got a good plan, and I think a lot of it has to do with how we approached last week," Krzyzewski said. "We got a lot in last week-a lot in. I think we used our time wisely last week."
Duke enters the NCAA Tournament with a little bit of extra rest since the Blue Devils did not advance to Sunday's ACC Championship game. Krzyzewski and his team see that as a beneficial byproduct of the semifinal loss to Clemson.
"Not having played on Sunday helps us," Krzyzewski said. "If we had played against North Carolina on Sunday, if we had won we might have that adrenaline, but we'd still be knocked back, and we'd almost need [to not play until] Friday. Our team would. Believe me, our team would. We're not the bodybuilding type team."
That doesn't mean Duke hasn't worked hard in hopes of erasing the memory of that final defensive possession last March 15. Maynor's pull-up, foul-line jump shot capped VCU's comeback from 13 points down and highlighted all the little things the Blue Devils could have done to put the Rams away.
Duke has talked about being one possession away a season ago and how it doesn't want to finish this year with the same empty feeling.
"The whole experience of last year is to show up every time and take advantage of the opportunity. It's the NCAA Tournament, and nothing's given to you," junior guard Greg Paulus said. "The motivation that you get from that feeling makes you not want to have it again."
The Blue Devils' roster doesn't have too many players with pleasant experiences in the NCAA Tournament. Paulus and senior captain DeMarcus Nelson are the only upperclassmen and Duke's only players with wins in the Tournament.
Nelson, in particular, is in danger of becoming the first Blue Devil in 10 years to graduate without having advanced to the Final Four. Duke hasn't been to college basketball's ultimate weekend since 2004, and the Blue Devils have lost to a lower-seeded team each of the last four seasons.
"DeMarcus and I talk a lot about this is our time and this is our chance. He's a senior, and hopefully we have a few more games to play together," Paulus said. "We're kind of living in the moment now."
The moment now consists of Belmont, the Atlantic Sun's regular-season and tournament champions. This is the Bruins' third straight NCAA Tournament and their third straight 15-seed. Belmont lost to eventual runner-up UCLA in 2006 and national semifinalist Georgetown last year.
The Bruins are very similar to Duke in makeup, as they lack size and rely heavily on the 3-point shot. Belmont made more 3-pointers than any team in the country, knocking down 349 this season-an average of 10.6 per game.
"Their style of play is similar to ours in a way where they have five guys who can shoot the ball from the perimeter of the court," sophomore guard Jon Scheyer said. "It's probably the first time all year we've prepared for a team that's similar to us in that way."
The Blue Devils are ready, however, for one of the few teams even more perimeter-oriented than themselves. And despite its two losses in the season's final eight days, Duke is as confident as it has been all season heading into the NCAA Tournament.
"We really feel good about where we are," Scheyer said. "We feel that we're a dangerous team and that any night out we can beat any team in the country."
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