Duke Basketball: Blue Devils are gearing up for March

After claiming their fourth straight win over North Carolina and their fifth consecutive win overall, it’s obvious Duke Basketball is gearing up for a run in March.

A few weeks back, the Duke Blue Devils fell out of the top-25 for the first time since 2007. The reason? A stretch in which Mike Krzyzewski’s team dropped four of five games against Clemson, Notre Dame, Syracuse and Miami.

All of the sudden, a ripple of panic began to filter through the hallowed halls of Cameron Indoor Stadium. National media members were openly wondering what was wrong in Durham while Duke’s rabid fan-base found themselves in the rare position of being somewhat muted.

Turns out those misgivings were a bit premature.

The Blue Devils’ 74-73 win over hated-rival North Carolina on Wednesday only reinforced what should have been evident all along. When the chips are down, Krzyzewski’s teams almost always deliver. And they did so in spectacular fashion inside the Dean Smith Center.

There had been indications the Blue Devils (20-6) were snapping out of their funk in recent wins over Georgia Tech and N.C. State. With a fourth-straight win over North Carolina now secured, Duke has also knocked off three consecutive ranked foes in Louisville, Virginia and the Tarheels.

In other words, Duke is back. And they appear to be back in a big way.

Against the Cardinals on Feb. 8, the Blue Devils took a big lead early and then held off a second-half charge from Rick Pitino’s team by knocking down 21-of-28 free throws in a 72-65 win. On that occasion, Duke benefited from a balanced offensive attack led by star freshman Brandon Ingram’s 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Five days later against Virginia, Grayson Allen’s jumper in the final second allowed Duke to claim a nail-biting 63-62 decision over the Cavaliers. Ingram starred again, scoring a game-high 25 points as the Blue Devils eked-out a win despite Virginia knocking down nearly 50 percent of their shots for the game (26-of-54).

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But the best win yet came against UNC, when Derryck Thornton’s deflection of Joel Berry’s last-second floater allowed Duke to run their current win streak to five heading into Saturday’s return matchup with Louisville.

Forgetting for a moment the victory added another chapter to one of college basketball’s most celebrated rivalries, Duke’s win exhibited the kind of poise and grittiness that comes in handy in March.

Rarely are Krzyzewski-coached teams on the wrong side of the favorite-underdog dynamic. But with Jones hurting and Johnson on the way to a stat-line of 29 points, 19 rebounds and 13-of-17 shooting, the Blue Devils were clearly not in a favorable situation.

Most importantly, Duke did just enough. They weren’t great from the field (41.5 percent). They were soundly out-rebounded (46-to-34) and gave up 18 offensive boards. They also trailed for about 90 percent of Wednesday’s game in front of a hostile crowed. But when all was said and done, the scoreboard read: Duke 74, North Carolina 73.

In a one-game scenario, the result could have been chalked up to it simply being the Blue Devils’ night. After all, very rarely does a team find a way to win under such circumstances.

A pattern is beginning to emerge for Duke however.

First, it was holding off Louisville in the final minutes. Then, it was Allen’s shot that took down Virginia. Against North Carolina, Allen’s two free throws and Thornton’s defensive play allowed Duke to win yet again.

Add it up and that’s three straight clutch performances by Krzyzewski’s charges.

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Can Duke continue that trend with rematches against the Cardinals and Tarheels looming? We’ll see. But one thing is certain, Duke is maturing before our eyes. And with March right around the corner, now is the perfect time to do so.