Duke will be at home today resting while the first round of the ACC Tournament is played in Greensboro.
But when the Blue Devils finally take the court Friday, they'll start trying for another ACC title after sharing the regular-season title with Maryland.
Senior center Brian Zoubek thinks that the ACC Tournament title can be a springboard for Duke to the NCAA Tournament and a No. 1 regional seed.
"It's extremely important," Zoubek said. "Last year we wanted to win the tournament title after not winning the regular-season title. We won it, and we don't want anyone else to feel like that this year. We want to make sure that we put the exclamation point on our ACC season."
Duke, 26-5 and seeded No. 1, will play Friday's first game, against the Boston College-Virginia winner. Duke has two wins this season over Boston College, including a 66-63 road win, and one win over Virginia.
Senior point guard Jon Scheyer is confident that Duke can repeat as the ACC Tournament champion and secure a No. 1 seed for the NCAA.
"We're just a hungry team right now," Scheyer said. "You win one championship, and you want to win one more. And then you want to win another.
"We've been there before, and we know what it takes. Going into the ACC Tournament, our expectation is to win it. The same thing with the NCAA Tournament."
Duke was unbeaten at home in 17 games this season and unbeaten in four neutral-site games, defeating Arizona State and Connecticut in New York in the NIT Season Tip-Off, Gonzaga in New York and Iowa State in Chicago. The average margin of victory in those games was 19 points.
"The atmosphere on the team is really positive right now," Zoubek said. "We're all working towards the next goal. That's shown a lot of maturity for our team.
"You can kind of relax after the regular season and think, ‘OK, we had a great season,' but we started right over. This is a clean slate. This is a whole different season. And we've got to take care of business."
To beat Duke, opponents will have to limit the nation's No. 2 scoring threesome. Scheyer, forward Kyle Singler and guard Nolan Smith averaged a combined 52.5 points in the regular season-- 66.5 percent of Duke's scoring.
Even if opponents succeed there, they will have to solve a smothering defense. Duke has won 18 of 19 games when holding opponents to less than 50-percent shooting from the field.
"Defense for us is everything," Smith said. "Defense and rebounding all year have been our backbone. It's kept us winning games. When we've shot the ball terrible, we've been able to win games."
Smith believes that last year's ACC Tournament experience will be a benefit. Three freshmen will be playing in their first ACC Tournament, but the veterans recognize what is needed to win three games in three days.
And last season's tournament should help when Duke gets in a tight game, Scheyer said.
"It wasn't easy for us to win last year," Scheyer said. "Boston College had a shot to beat us in the first game. We can't look ahead, assuming we're going to be playing on Sunday. We have to take it one game at a time. And Friday at 12, we have to be ready to go."
Smith wouldn't mind another shot at Maryland in the title game. The teams split in the regular season, with each winning at home.
"Neither one of us wanted to share (the regular-season title)," Smith said.
"I remember as a kid I didn't really like sharing. My mom made me share. I wasn't real happy about sharing, but they're a great team, and if I had to share with anybody, it was (good it was) them."
bcole@wsjournal.com
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