Duke Blue Devils, Basketball | featured news

Surprisingly, juggernauts Duke and North Carolina were not picked to win the Atlantic Coast Conference at the beginning of the season.

Defending national champion Duke was a runaway No. 1 in The Associated Press preseason Top 25 men's basketball poll.

After tossing a big, wet blanket on one feel-good story, Duke gets to go after another. They don't call 'em the Devils for nothing. Jon Scheyer scored 23 points Saturday night to lift Duke, the team so many folks love to hate, to a 78-57 victory over West Virginia and set up a meeting against tiny Butler - a classic matchup of big vs. little, with the national title on the line.

Four teams are left on the road to the national championship. In a matchup between bluebloods and the blue-collared, South Regional champion Duke will face East Regional champ West Virginia. And in a meeting of Final Four veterans and never-beens, it will be Midwest Regional champ Michigan State against West Regional champion Butler.

Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer rescued Duke in the second half, heating up from the field after a miserable first 20 minutes and lifting the top-seeded Blue Devils to a 70-57 victory over fourth-seeded Purdue in the South Regional....

Kyle Singler scored 19 of his 25 points in the decisive first half and No. 4 Duke routed North Carolina 82-50 on Saturday night.

Jon Scheyer scored 24 points and eighth-ranked Duke pulled away in the final minutes to beat North Carolina 64-54 on Wednesday night.