BC-Ya!

The Blue Devils took care of the BC Eagles 75-61 earlier tonight in front of a packed house to see Shelden Williams jersey retired. To pay tribute to Shelden, they put on a block party whether it was Josh or DeMarcus. In years past, Duke has struggled with teams that play physical and rebound well but the Blue Devils matched BC's physicality and actually outrebounded them, a trend that has developed over the past few games. When was the last time a Duke team had 40 points at halftime when they didn't hit a 3 and 32 of the 40 points came inside the paint?

This team got big contributions from guys who haven't been heard from in a while. Lance Thomas was huge with 10 points and 9 rebounds and he played great defense. My main man, Marty Pocius, gave Duke some tremendous minutes scoring a couple of baskets but most of all, bringing energy and enthusiasm to the court. Give Marty the PT!!!

Josh was amazing tonight. He ran the floor, he scored inside, he blocked shots, he grabbed a number of key rebounds, he was Mr. Everything again tonight and I'm almost starting to take him for granted out there. Greg and Jon were both solid as well throughout the game and DeMarcus, although undersized, dominated the paint tonight.

On a serious note, David McClure came down holding his knee late in the game and we here at BRB can only hope its a hyperextension at worst. You hate to see this happen to any of these kids, most of all McClure who has been Mr. Intangible all year long and battled so hard last year to get back from a serious knee injury. I will keep you guys updated.

Next up for Duke is Virginia at Virginia. They are coming off a miracle win against Clemson where they scored the remaining 15 points of the game to pull off the upset. With Virginia and Duke even at 5-2 in conference, this game is of extreme importance to both teams. I like Duke to use their defense to pressure the quicker, more athletic guards of Virginia. I think Coach K and the Dukies realize how important these games are considering the murderous schedule they will play starting February 7th against UNC.

Prediction: Duke 74 Virginia 69