Roundball Notebook: Ringing in the New Year

DUKE GRINDS OUT TOUGH WIN OVER SANTA CLARA
The Blue Devils welcomed the Santa Clara Broncos into Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday and got their most difficult test since taking over the nation's top-ranked spot in the Associated Press and coaches polls. Santa Clara staked a 45-41 lead four minutes into the second half, but Duke pulled away following a 21-3 run over the next 6:30 that gave Duke a 62-48 lead. Seth Curry scored 12 of his career-high 31 points during a 16-3 run within that stretch.

As has been the trend all season, Curry and fellow seniors Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee propelled Duke to the victory by combining for 63 points in the 90-77 victory. Curry's 31 points were the most since Nolan Smith scored 34 against North Carolina on Feb. 9, 2011, while Kelly and Plumlee both notched double-doubles. Kelly finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Plumlee dominated the interior with 22 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. To date, Curry, Kelly and Plumlee have combined for at least 40 points in 11 of Duke's 12 games this season.

NON-CONFERENCE HOME WIN STREAK REACHES 101 Another non-conference opponent in Cameron and another win for the Blue Devils. Santa Clara became the most recent addition to a long line of non-conference victories for Duke on Coach K Court, as the Blue Devils extended their non-conference home court winning streak to 101 consecutive games. The streak is the longest active run in the nation and the longest in school history, besting the previous Duke record of 95 wins from Feb. 2, 1983 to Dec. 2, 1995. Duke has not lost to a non-conference opponent in Cameron Indoor Stadium since an 83-82 defeat at the hands of St. John's on Feb. 26, 2000. Since the streak began the following season on November 25, 2001, eight Duke classes have come and gone without losing a home game to a non-league foe.

DUKE RENEWS LONGEST NON-CONFERENCE SERIES ON WEDNESDAY
Duke will renew one of the oldest series in program history on Wednesday when the Blue Devils head to Time Warner Arena in Charlotte, N.C., for a 7 p.m. meeting with the Davidson Wildcats. The Blue Devils and Wildcats have met 105 times since 1909 with Duke holding an 88-17 advantage in the all-time series. The 105 meetings are the most Duke has played any non-ACC team in school history and the seventh most meetings of any opponent Duke has faced since the program's inaugural season in 1905-06. Here is a look at the most-played series in Duke history:

Opponent	Meetings	First Meeting
NC State	290	1912
Wake Forest	237	1906
North Carolina	234	1920
Maryland	173	1926
Virginia	163	1911
Clemson	133	1926
Davidson	105	1909
Georgia Tech	88	1922
South Carolina	76	1914

PLUMLEE NETS 1,000TH POINT
Mason Plumlee entered Saturday's contest against Santa Clara with 981 career points and in need of 19 more to reach 1,000 for his career. Plumlee got his 19 and then some to become the 61st Duke player to reach the 1,000-point plateau. By scoring his 1,000th career point, Plumlee moved Duke into sole possession of third place on the NCAA's top 1,000-point scorer programs, trailing only North Carolina (66) and Louisville (65) and moving ahead of Kentucky (60). Plumlee's senior classmate Seth Curry is in line to be the next Blue Devil to score his 1,000th career point, standing just shy of that mark with 970 career points following his 31-point effort on Saturday against Santa Clara.

STAT OF THE WEEK
The new year has been kind to the Blue Devils who have won their first game after the turn of the calendar in 16 consecutive seasons. Duke is 29-3 all-time under head coach Mike Krzyzewski in the first game of the calendar year. Duke's last loss in the first game of the new year came on Jan. 3, 1996 against Clemson.

JONES, DESOTO WIN SUMMIT HOSPITALITY CHAMPIONSHIP
Duke signee Matt Jones guided his DeSoto High School squad to the Summit Hospitality Championship on Friday in Raleigh, N.C., scoring nine points in a win over St. Joseph's. Jones grabbed five rebounds against St. Joseph's in the culmination of a tournament that saw him score 17 points against North Carolina powerhouse Kinston in the opening round and 18 against Hampton in the semifinals. Jones, a 6-4, 180-pound guard from DeSoto, Texas, is a consensus top-40 recruit by the major scouting services and is ranked as high as No. 30 by Scout.com. He is one of two members of Duke's 2013 freshman class, joining Ottawa High School (Ottawa, Kan.) forward Semi Ojeleye who is ranked as high as the No. 25 overall prospect by Scout.com.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"I don't understand the people who say Duke has hit its ceiling and that the Blue Devils aren't going to get any better. Um, why not? Rasheed Sulaimon is a freshman who has played 12 college basketball games. Sophomore Quinn Cook, who saw limited action last season, is seven weeks deep into his first season as the Blue Devils' point guard. Why would anyone think those players wouldn't improve as the season progresses? With Cook and Sulaimon trending upward and with Mason Plumlee increasing his lead in the national player of the year race -- he had 22 points, 13 boards and 5 assists in Saturday's 90-77 win over Santa Clara -- I think Duke will continue to get better. And that's scary."
- Jason King, ESPN.com
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/71296/kings-saturday-observations-2

LINKED IN

The Making of Kyrie Irving (ESPN.com)
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8766642/cleveland-cavaliers-point-guard-kyrie-irving-next-big-nba-star-espn-magazine

Jerry Palm's Early Bracket Projections (CBSSports.com)
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology

TWEET OF THE WEEK

grant hill ‏@realgranthill33
I didn't know @deandrejordan was such a big Duke fan pic.twitter.com/iQ4c5AZv

-d-u-k-e-