Hostile environment and No.1 team await Pack

The past four visits to Cameron Indoor Stadium have been completely bedeviling for N.C. State as the average margin of defeat has risen to more than 23 points.

Another chance to play in historic Cameron Indoor is an opportunity that coach Herb Sendek is looking forward to for both himself and his players.

Sendek said he believes the opportunities to play in such noteworthy games has been a factor in drawing prospects to the ACC.

“Duke has been a renowned basketball program and the opportunity to play in a historic venue like Cameron against a team that has distinguished itself among the very best for so long is something a lot of young kids dream about,” Sendek said. “I think guys typically come to play in this conference because of the opportunity to play in big games against great programs.”

Duke is looking to make the game historic, as a win would give them a 17-0 start to the season, tying the record for the best start in school history with the 1991-1992 championship team led by Duke legends Bobby Hurley, Christian Laettner and Grant Hill.

J.J Redick and Shelden Williams are now the unquestioned senior leaders of the Blue Devils and are both in the running not only for All-American considerations, but national player of the year awards as well.

“J.J.’s one of the truly fine players I’ve had,” Krzyzewski said. “He’s become more of a complete player, not just a shooter, but his defense is outstanding also. He’s had a remarkable year thus far.”

Redick is averaging 26 points per game, which is good for fourth in the nation, shooting a remarkable 50 percent from the field, while playing 36 minutes per contest.

Redick has torched State in the past, with efforts of 24, 28 and 35 points. But the Wolfpack have also shown the ability to contain the senior, as they have held him to 10 points or less twice in his career.

Sendek, however, was not completely sold on the defensive performances, as Duke won both games that State seemed to shut Redick down.

“Appearances can be deceiving,” Sendek said. “Sometimes it might appear you’ve done a great job against an individual player but in order to do that required you to sell the kitchen and the back porch and one of the bedrooms, so though the stat sheets reflects one thing, it requires you to give up some other things, and that’s why he’s a great player.”

Redick’s inside counterpart, Williams, is the other cause of the lack of sleep for opposing coaches, as he is averaging nearly a double-double for the season and four blocks per game, highlighted by a triple-double last week against Maryland.

“Our two main players, J.J. and Shelden, have been very, very good and as a result of that we’ve had a chance to win every game,” Krzyzewski said.

In addition to the two stars, many others have stepped up for Duke, including the two freshmen starters, Greg Paulus and Josh McRoberts.

Paulus has been solid at point guard, and is among the league leaders in assists, while McRoberts has helped Williams on the glass, and has given the Devils another low post scoring threat to help keep double teams off of Redick and Williams.

Paulus’ back court complement is senior Sean Dockery, who has been able to improve his numbers across the board compared to last year’s. Dockery was the hero of the season to this point due to his game-winning desperation heave from half court against Virginia Tech.

Duke’s athletic swingman DeMarcus Nelson was also contributing solid minutes as the defensive stopper before breaking his ankle against Drexel in November. After getting screws placed in his ankle to stabilize it, Nelson made his return against Maryland last week, only to have to leave before halftime with a bone bruise in the same foot.

“He’s still doubtful for Wednesday’s game,” Krzyzewski said. “He’s doing better every day, but as of Monday, it looked like he would be doubtful for Wednesday.”

Duke has been ranked first in both polls the entire season and holds all but one vote for the top spot this week, which went to Florida.