However, before we start with the ACC and NCAA tournaments, we still have a lot to play for in the regular season. We are coming off two wins this week against St John’s and Georgia Tech, and are currently tied for first place in the ACC. Up until last season, we had won the ACC regular season and/or tournament titles in 10 consecutive years, so our guys are motivated to try to get Duke back on top of the conference. We have two road games coming up before we finish off at home against North Carolina.
It was very important for us to play well in these last two games. We had a tough week last week with the losses against Wake Forest and Miami, and we needed to regain some positive momentum with our team. Certainly we were disappointed with those losses, but we felt we were able to learn more about our team and focus on what makes us successful. For us, it starts with our defense. To go out and hold St John’s and Georgia Tech under 60 points was a big step in the right direction. We will need to keep that going if we want to have the opportunity to be ACC champs.
We head to Raleigh this weekend to face NC State for their Senior Day. It is always a hostile environment over in the RBC Center when we play them, and we don’t expect anything different this time around. NC State hasn’t had the kind of success that everyone had expected so far this season, but we are very aware how talented and physical they are. In our first game with them this year, they were up nine points on us at halftime, so our guys know that we will have to play a great game to beat them.
That’s it for me. I look forward to checking back in with you guys during our NCAA Tournament journey.
