By the numbers, Cameron Indoor Stadium is the toughest place in the nation to play NCAA basketball. The Blue Devils have the longest active home-court winning streak at 36 games. Duke’s dominance outside of the ACC also deserves mention, as the team has defeated 86 consecutive non-conference opponents inside Cameron, a streak stretching over 11 years.
Of course, for every top-25 opponent that the Blue Devils beat during this period, Duke also wiped the floor with dozens of non-conference foes from mid-major conferences. Elite programs’ fall schedules usually contain plenty of cupcakes, and the Blue Devils' is no exception. Although Duke front-loaded the early months of the upcoming campaign with tilts against Michigan State and Ohio State (not to mention the Maui Invitational), it will still face sub-.500 teams Presbyterian, UNC Greensboro and Western Michigan before the ACC lineup commences.
Many will also point to the Blue Devils’ season opener against Belmont as a prime opportunity for Duke to place another notch in its lengthy belt of non-conference home victories. Despite the Bruins’ mid-major status, however, they will pose a formidable challenge to a Blue Devil squad still searching for its identity.
The last time Belmont played Duke, in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, the Bruins nearly pulled off one of the biggest upsets of all time. No. 15-seed Belmont rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half and took a 70-69 lead with two minutes remaining. Duke needed a coast-to-coast drive and finger roll from Gerald Henderson with 12 seconds left to seal a narrow 71-70 victory.
Even though the Bruins failed to knock off the Blue Devils three years ago, they will be equally as dangerous when they make the trip from Nashville to Durham November 11. Belmont has secured four NCAA Tournament berths in the past six years and enters this season with high expectations after posting a 30-5 record last year—the school’s best mark in the NCAA era. CBS Sports college basketball analyst Seth Davis called the Bruins “the next Cinderella” in the mold of Gonzaga and Butler. ESPN’s Dana O’Neil also gave the team high praise, tabbing Belmont as a mid-major “you don’t want to see on your schedule this season.”
The Bruins make use of an extremely deep rotation, as 11 players logged an average of 10 minutes or more on the floor last year. The team also returns its top three scorers from last season, in addition to 10 members of the squad overall. The Blue Devils possess a number of veterans as well, but they have yet to determine who will shoulder the scoring load carried by Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler last season.
“We’re going to find out who our go-to player is, because we don’t have any go-to players returning,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said Wednesday at ACC Media Day. “I would hope Seth Curry would step up and do that…. Over the last few years we haven’t had big guys who’ve done that, but I think our big guys can do that also for us."
While Curry has already demonstrated flashes of sublime scoring ability, Miles and Mason Plumlee are entering a pivotal year in their careers. Both have yet to emerge as the dominant post players Duke fans expected they would become much earlier in their development. The Plumlees will no doubt look to make a statement early on in the 2011-2012 campaign, but don’t expect the Bruins to let the brothers turn the season opener into a dunk contest.
Belmont seniors Mick Hedgepeth and Scott Saunders may cause problems for the Blue Devils in the post, as Duke’s interior defense looked shaky at times last season. The 6-foot-10, 250-pound Saunders could get the Plumlees in early foul trouble—last year he finished fifth in the nation in fouls drawn per 40 minutes. The 6-foot-9 Hedgepeth can also step back and knock down 3-pointers, opening up the lane for leading scorer Ian Clark. On the defensive end, Duke’s guards will need to ward off Kerron Johnson, who led the NCAA in steal percentage last season.
And don’t expect Belmont to immediately lose its composure in a hostile environment. The team recorded more road and neutral-site victories last year (18) than any other program in the country. November 11 also won’t be the first time that some of the Bruins experience the mystique of Cameron Indoor. Hedgepeth said he once visited the stadium for an AAU showcase but never actually played on the floor.
“I’m looking forward to comparing [the game] to my experience my sophomore year playing at Kansas,” he said during a preseason interview.
The Cameron Crazies will do everything in their power to make sure Hedgepeth’s time in Durham is just as unpleasant as the 30-point drubbing he and his teammates endured at Allen Fieldhouse in 2009. Nevertheless, recent history suggests a more nerve-wracking result.
Jeff Scholl is a Duke senior and former managing editor of The Chronicle’s sports section. His column runs on a bi-weekly basis.
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