Duke hasn't felt this good going into the NCAA Tournament in years.
Duke will enter tonight's first-round game against Binghamton in Greensboro fresh off winning the ACC Tournament, and fresh is a key word. There's a bounce in this team's step, an energy and confidence that far surpasses anything recent teams have taken into March Madness.
The Blue Devils are 28-6 and have won eight of nine since Coach Mike Krzyzewski changed his starting lineup in mid-February and found this team's proper chemistry.
"I think it's a lot different this year," guard Jon Scheyer said. "It's not a false sense of security. We feel really good about where our team is right now. I think we've done the right things leading up to the tournament, and we're in a good state of mind."
Duke had lost two of its previous three going into last year's tournament, struggled to beat Belmont 71-70 in the first round, then lost to West Virginia in the second round.
In 2007, Duke went into the NCAA Tournament on a three-game losing streak and lost to Virginia Commonwealth in the first round.
"I just think we're in a lot better place mentally and physically," center Brian Zoubek said. "We're not as worn down as we were (last year), and we're ready to go."
Duke's Big Three of Scheyer, guard Gerald Henderson and forward Kyle Singler seem particularly energized.
Scheyer won the Everett Case Award as the ACC Tournament's most-valuable player after averaging 21.7 points in three games. He scored 29 points, one off his career high, in Duke's 79-69 win over Florida State in the championship game.
Singler fell one vote shy of Scheyer in the MVP voting. He averaged 18 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots in three games and carried the team early in each game. He also played all 120 minutes over the three days.
Henderson struggled with his shooting some. But he scored the winning basket in Duke's 66-65 victory over Boston College, erupted for 27 against Florida State and wound up averaging 17 points over the three games.
Singler leads the Blue Devils in scoring (16.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg), and Henderson (16.6 ppg) and Scheyer (15 ppg) aren't far behind.
Duke's late-season surge can also be attributed to the presence of freshman Elliot Williams. He moved into the starting lineup in a win at St. John's on Feb. 15, igniting the spark. His presence has given Duke
better defensive pressure on the ball. It also has moved Scheyer into more of a playmaking role, where Scheyer has thrived.
Guard Nolan Smith has also fit back in well after missing three games because of a concussion suffered at Maryland on Feb. 25. He played a total of 73 minutes in the ACC Tournament and had six assists against just one turnover in the three games.
Duke limited its turnovers to four in the championship game.
"A couple of the games we had against BC and Maryland (in the ACC Tournament), we might have lost them last year," Zoubek said. "And especially we would have lost them two years ago. Just to have that experience of not panicking when they hit a few shots or they get back to being close.
"We were down against BC at the half, and we didn't worry about it. Obviously we weren't playing well, but we had to move on and move past it. I think that shows our maturity a little bit."
Despite being seeded No. 2, the Blue Devils face a relatively difficult path to go far. They'll be decided favorites against Binghamton tonight, but they would play the winner of the Texas-Minnesota game in the second round.
Other high seeds in the East are No. 1 Pitt and No. 3 Villanova.
The players fully understand that they can't look ahead, though. That's for fans and media. The loss to Virginia Commonwealth in 2007 and the scare against Belmont last year tell them all they need to know about first-round upsets.
"If we haven't learned from the last two years, it's pretty stupid of us," Zoubek said. "I think this is a different year, obviously, because of what we've accomplished so far. We're not done. We're ready to move on."
■ John Delong can be reached at jdelong@wsjournal.com.
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