Duke Roundball Notebook: Feb. 20-26, 2012

Last week featured one of Duke's most memorable comebacks in recent memory and one of the Bleu Devils' biggest ACC blowouts of the last 10 years. On Thursday night, Duke battled back from a 20-point deficit in the second half thanks to 21 second-half points from Seth Curry and pulled out a remarkable 78-73 win over rival N.C. State in Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was a much different story on Sunday night, however, when the Blue Devils made short work of Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass., by handing Eagles a 75-50 defeat on the road. The 25-point win was Duke's largest in an ACC road game since Jan. 22, 2005 and the biggest margin of victory in any of Duke's ACC games this year.

The two victories kept Duke in a three-way tie with Florida State and North Carolina for first place in the ACC. Those three teams boast matching 10-2 records and will all play each other over the final three weeks of the season. Florida State has beaten both Duke and Florida State, but the Blue Devils defeated the Tar Heels 85-84 on their home court less than two weeks ago, so the race to the ACC regular season championship is still tight. Duke and Florida State will square off this Thursday in Tallahassee with the Blue Devils looking to avenge a 76-73 buzzer-beating loss on their home court.

CURRY ON FIRE
Junior guard Seth Curry is in the midst of one of the best streaks of his Duke career. The 6-2 combo guard has led Duke in scoring in four of his last five games while averaging 20.0 points and shooting 51.5 percent from three-point range during that span. Curry has at least three three-pointers in all five of those outings and a pair of 20-point games, including a career-high 26 points in a heroic effort in Thursday's 78-73 win over N.C. State. Against the Wolfpack, Curry scored 21 points in the second half as Duke overcame a 20-point deficit with less than 12 minutes remaining in the game. What you don't see in the box score is that less than one minute into the game, Curry suffered an ankle injury that required him to head back to the training room to get treatment. He admitted it took him a while to get both feet back under him when he returned, but once he did, the Wolfpack had no answer for him.

HURLEY BROTHERS HAVE SEAHAWKS FLYING HIGH
We touted former Blue Devil Tommy Amaker's success at Harvard in this spot a couple weeks ago, but one of the all-time Duke greats Bobby Hurley is doing a phenomenal coaching job of his own at Wagner this year. In only their second year together, Hurley and his younger brother and head coach Dan have coached the Seahawks to school-record 23 wins this season including a 14-2 mark in conference play. The Seahawks are currently second in the Northeastern Conference with two regular season games remaining before the NEC Tournament begins on March 1. Under the Hurleys, the Seahawks have won 16 of their last 17 games and are in line to make a strong run at the second NCAA Tournament berth in school history.

KYRIE IRVING TAKEN NO. 2 OVERALL IN BBVA RISING STARS DRAFT
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, Kyrie Irving was selected to play in the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge during NBA All-Star Weekend. With former NBA greats Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley serving as opposing general managers, Barkley chose Irving with his first pick as the No. 2 overall selection. O'Neal grabbed Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin No. 1 overall and then followed with New York Knicks rookie Jeremy Lin with next choice after Irving left the board. Notable selections by Barkley to serve as Irving's teammates include Washington guard John Wall, Sacramento center DeMarcus Cousins, Utah Forward Gordon Hayward and Arizona forward Derrick Williams. Irving will most likely be tasked with guarding opposing point guards Lin and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio during the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, which this year features rookies and sophomores on the same squads. The game will air Friday, Feb. 24, at 9 p.m. on TNT.

DUKE BASKETBALL RADIO SHOW ON TUESDAY AT 7 P.M.
Only five editions of the Duke Basketball Radio Show remain on tap this season at the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club. This week's show airs Tuesday at 7 p.m. live from the Vista Restaurant, and fans are welcome to join associate head coach Steve Wojciechowski and assistant director of athletics Art Chase for dinner and the live show. If you can't make the show, be sure to tune your radio to 620 AM WDNC The Buzz to hear Wojo and Chase break down last week's wins and dish about the college basketball landscape. Fans can also submit questions to Wojo and Chase here:
www.goduke.com//quest/Questionaire.dbml?QID=73996&DB_OEM_ID=4200.

ZAFIROVSKI INVITED TO TRY OUT FOR MACEDONIAN NATINOAL TEAM
The Macedonian Basketball Federation has extended a tryout invitation to Duke reserve forward Todd Zafirovski. A 6-8 junior who was a walk-on freshman during Duke's 2009-10 NCAA Championship run, Zafirovski has appeared in five games this season.

FROM THE BLUE DEVIL VAULT
With Duke taking on Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla., this Thursday, this week's Blue Devil Vault looks back at the Feb. 4, 2006, meeting between those two teams in what became an instant classic in the 57-year series. Duke, ranked No. 2 in the country at the time, entered the game with a perfect 8-0 ACC record but nearly came out with its first ACC loss of the year. Duke rallied from a 45-43 halftime deficit to force overtime, and seniors J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams provided the late heroics by outscoring Florida State 13-12 by themselves in the final period for a narrow 97-96 win. Redick and Williams combined for 63 points in the victory with Redick hitting eight three-pointers and Williams putting up 27 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks and four steals. Their combined performance was just enough to offset the production of Florida State forward Al Thornton, who scored 37 points and grabbed 15 rebounds while attempting a remarkable 32 field goal attempts. To check out the photo gallery, box score, notes and quotes from that epic game, visit the GoDuke.com archives here:
http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=234583

VOTE FOR COACH K IN INFINITI CHALLENGE
Help Coach K and the Duke men's basketball team raise $100,000 for the Emily Krzyzewski Center by voting in the Infiniti Coaches' Charity Challenge. Coach K is one of 48 prominent college basketball coaches participating in the contest, which will hand out over $300,000 to selected charities across the nation. The first round of voting lasts six weeks and features four brackets of 12 coaches separated by region. To vote for Coach K (East Region), follow the link below:
http://promo.espn.go.com/espn/contests/infiniti/2012/?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&DB_OEM_ID=4200

PICK THE CAMERON CRAZIES FOR STUDENT SECTION OF THE YEAR
The world famous Cameron Crazies are among nearly 80 schools selected to compete in the Naismith Student Section of the Year voting. The heart of the toughest basketball arena in the nation, the Crazies are up against student sections from other programs including Arizona's "Zona Zoo," Gonzaga's "Kennel Club" and Kentucky's "eRUPPtion Zone." All voting is done through Facebook, so be sure to send in your votes for Cameron Crazies at http://www.facebook.com/ilovecollegehoops.

STAT OF THE WEEK
In Duke's 58 years since joining the ACC, only five Blue Devil teams have won their first six ACC road games. This year's squad is off to a 6-0 road start in league play, joining the 2005-06 (7-1), 1999-2000 (8-0), 1998-99 (8-0) and 1962-63 (6-0) Duke teams as the only groups to win their first six ACC road games.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"I thought our fans were terrific. They never let us die. The fans and the players were one and that was a huge part of the game."
-Head coach Mike Krzyzewski after Duke's 78-73 win over N.C. State on Thursday

LINKED IN
Kyrie Irving radio interview on Baskin & Phelps (92.3 The Fan - Cleveland)
http://cleveland.cbslocal.com/2012/02/17/cavs-rookie-superstar-kyrie-irving-on-baskin-phelps/

Miles Plumlee realizes 'You've got to make the most of it' (The ACC.com)
http://www.theacc.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/021612aaa.html

Miles Plumlee motivated by Zoubek in Duke win (Raleigh News & Observer)
http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/02/12/1848262/mi-plumlee-motivated-by-zoubek.html#storylink=rss

Toughness and encouragement made Curry Duke's Hero (Durham Herald-Sun)
http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/17574340/article-Toughness--encouragement-made-Curry-Duke%E2%80%99s-hero

TWEETS OF THE WEEK
@WFNYKirk Kirk
Kyrie Irving will never be Lebron James, but he doesn't have to be. The kid is unbelievably freaking special, folks. We're going places.

@KyleSingler Kyle Singler
It was a good week of preparation for the cup in Barcelona! This is going to be fun #halamadrid #Copadelrey pic.twitter.com/jf8nqXbk

@NdotSmitty Nolan D. Smith
If you want something go get it.. Don't wait for it to come to you! You might be waiting for a long time..

@TobaccoRdMayor TobaccoRdMayor
Check out the Old School Duke pictures especially the 1930's mascot of @The1BlueDevil predecessor flickr.com/photos/dukeyea...

BILAS TWEET OF THE WEEK
@JayBilas Jay Bilas
I've been informed my flight is delayed outta Detroit tomorrow morning. Apparently, I'm so cool, I will need to be de-iced before departing.

-d-u-k-e-

Duke Roundball Notebook: Feb. 20-26, 2012

Players Mentioned

Seth Curry

Kyrie Irving

Miles Plumlee

Kyle Singler

Todd Zafirovski

Duke information

Duke Roundball Notebook: Feb. 20-26, 2012

Related News

Players Mentioned

Seth Curry

Kyrie Irving

Miles Plumlee

Kyle Singler

Todd Zafirovski

Related Videos

Duke information