No. 1 Duke hears the noise, hosts Eastern Michigan
DURHAM, N.C. -- The noise could become louder for Duke. The Blue Devils hold the No. 1 ranking again. "There was a different level of noise, and that's what I'm saying," coach Coach Mike Krzyzewski said, realizing that the ever-present hype around his team would grow after last week's victory against No. 10 Kentucky. The Blue Devils (2-0) jumped three spots to the top ranking in the second poll of the season. They'll take their new, yet familiar status into Wednesday night's home game against Eastern Michigan at Cameron Indoor Stadium. This will be another chance to gage how the Blue Devils handle the scrutiny. "There's a lot of noise," Krzyzewski said. "For us, it's not always good noise but in this case, it was exceptional noise, where, as an 18 or 19 year-old, when you've got four freshmen and you don't have veterans, you have to be mature about listening to that." This is the 135th time that Duke has held the No. 1 ranking, breaking a record that it shared with UCLA. After a tussle Sunday against Army, the Blue Devils realize that opponents will be fired up to show what they can do against Duke. "It's one thing for somebody to tell you that everybody's going to bring their best against you and that all their shots were going to feel like they're going in," Duke freshman forward Zion Williamson said. "But until you truly experience it, I think you have to go through it to fully understand." The Blue Devils held the top spot in the Associated Press poll for the first five weeks of last season. But this is a largely new cast of players, with four freshmen in the starting lineup. Williamson was named the ACC Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week. RJ Barrett (56 points) and Williamson (55) have scored the most points by freshmen through the first two games in Duke history. Cam Reddish hit seven 3-point baskets against Army, setting a single-game program record for a freshman. Eastern Michigan (3-0) will take its first road trip for the game against Duke. Two of the Eagles' first three games came against non-Division I teams, with only a 66-62 victory against Drexel against a team on the Division I level. "We had to gut it out and find a way to get it done," Eastern Michigan coach Rob Murphy said. Murphy is in his eighth season, coming off a 22-13 record for the best mark across his first seven years on the job. After the first week, it's clear the schedule is about to toughen. "It's good to start like this," Murphy said. "We have to continue to find ways to get better." Fifth-year senior guard Paul Jackson leads Eastern Michigan with 18.7 points per game. Eagles sophomore guard Kevin McAdoo didn't play in the opener before scoring 10 points in each of the next two games, bagging 4 of 8 shots from 3-point range. Eastern Michigan hasn't defeated a ranked team during the regular season since Dec. 10, 1994, against a visiting Wisconsin team that was rated No. 14. Duke and Eastern Michigan have met twice with Eastern Michigan winning in the 1996 NCAA Tournament's first round in Indianapolis and Duke winning at home in December 2013. |