Behind 20 points on 6-of-8 three-point shooting from freshman Andre Dawkins, eighth-ranked Duke won its 72nd consecutive home game against a non-ACC opponent. The Blue Devils' 18 threes tied a school record that had previously been set against Monmouth in the 2001 NCAA Tournament, which Duke would later go on to win and hang a third banner in Cameron's rafters.

Nolan Smith added 20 and Jon Scheyer scored another unassuming 18, as perhaps the most underrated player in the country. Scheyer now has 20 assists and 0 turnovers in four Duke wins.

Kyle Singler scored 13 points, grabbed 7 boards, dished out 7 assists and had a block and steal each.

The big story for Duke, however, was Dre Dawkins' official coming out party. The kid continues to shoot away, and continues to drill 'em. Only today, he stole the show. And for anyone who has seen him play, you already know he likes the show. He carries a quiet swagger about him, which should worry anti-Duke fans a bit. Swagger and ultra-shooting skills are never a good combination for a Duke kid if you aren't a fan

I wasn't able to watch the game since it wasn't on TV, but I did listen to it on the Duke Radio Network.

Perhaps swami attended. I'm sure he did. Maybe he can give a little insight as to how the boys looked on the floor tonight. Wish I could have seen it.

Wished I could have seen this game! Duke with Arizona State on Wednesday

Wow. Duke has been impressive so far. Interested to see a potential matchup with UConn in NYC next week.

The UConn meeting (if it should happen) will be interesting. For sure.

I was definitely surprised to see how handily Duke took care of Radford, who is the heavy favorite to with the Southern Conference this season.

This is looking more and more like a national title contending club. A serious one. Hard to believe the Devils are hardly missing a beat without Gerald Henderson. In fact, they're better.

Plus they will get Mason back in the not too distant future

And I can't wait. I've been feverishly waiting his Duke debut since summer, and even more so after I found out he was hurt.

It looks like he might be back for Gonzaga in MSG on December 20. Let's hope so.

rec,

I never dreamed that Duke would be a national title contender before the season started. I knew they would be good, but I just figured they weren't on that level. Still a long way to go, but the Blue Devils have looked as impressive as anyone else in the country to this point. As much as it pains me to say it, they're pretty damn good right now.

iron,

Now you know how I've felt the past couple of seasons!

Since '07, as much as I hated that I knew it, Carolina was no match for us. We could keep games close, and even nabbed a win in the Dean Dome in '08 (behind a marvelous shooting display from Greg Paulus -- 6 triples -- I might add), but Carolina was on another level.

Finally, Duke has the edge. I just hope the Blue Devils can keep improving and prove how good they are come March and, should I be so lucky, April.

Also, as I said Thursday, if Duke doesn't beat UNC in Cameron, I'm resigning from the internet.

I'm glad that Carolina and Duke don't play until February 10th. If that game happened now, it would be ugly. It still might be ugly in February, but I'm confident that the Heels are going to improve a lot between now and then. I'm sure Duke will improve as well, but I just feel like the learning curve may be greater for Carolina since they're going to be a little more reliant on their inexperienced guys than the Blue Devils. We'll see what happens when February gets here.

With Carolina and Duke both bringing in great talent (Duke seems to be in good shape with Roscoe, QMiller, and Rivers), I look for the rivalry to be VERY exciting over the next few years. I can only hope that Carolina's recent success is a trend that will continue.

Ok, I've given Duke too many compliments in this thread. I hate you, Coach K.

Now I feel better.

And I despise you, Coach Cola.

We're even

LOL. Fair enough.

Definitely liking the start but I can't 100 percent throw myself into believing national title contender until I see something different from the last few seasons. They've done very well at the start of the season these last few years,which I have no problem with, but I'd rather they peak at the end of the year than in November/December.

I also can't throw myself into believing the hype yet... Like I said on a previous thread, Duke has seemed "legit" the last few years in November, but the lack of great depth and the lack of toughness has been their demise. Maybe that's changed this year, but I want proof!

Don't get me wrong, right now Duke is 10+ points better than UNC if they played, and while I do think Duke will remain better than UNC the entire season (as they should, seeing how much UNC lost) but I need to see them against another LEGIT contender... I may see that with a potential match-up against UCONN next week.

Radford packed it in yesterday against Duke and really wanted to take away Plumlee, Zoubek, Thomas, and Kelly down low. Duke ended up just driving and dishing out for wide open three point shots. After staring the game trading baskets Duke went on a 20-0 run with Nolan Smith and Andre Dawkins just burying three point shots each time down floor. The Crazies were euphoric yesterday. No one had any idea how many they had made but it felt like they took 30 and only a couple of them were contested by the Radford D (those fired up by Singler who was trying to get in on the action, but was having an off day).

Unfortunately, being a pessimist, this is what irked me. Radford had two bigs who went right at Duke and really pushed their weight around inside. Zoubek fouled out (against Radford) Plumlee had 4 by games end and I think Thomas had 4 as well. They tried to block shots, and the Highlander bigs got them in the air and then got to the line. Definitely something they need to work on. Otherwise Stanley Robinson will have a field day. I guess what is good is that Duke has depth in the front court so they can throw more and more bigs in there.

ASU will be a test for Duke since it will be the Devils first game away from Cameron. I don't put much stock into wins at Cameron anymore. It is a shooters haven as evidenced by yesterday's performance. If they can do that in a dome or NBA arena then I will stand up. ASU will bring the Duke bigs out of the paint if they can and run back door cuts, I wouldn't be shocked if K implements his new 3-2 zone

Thanks for the insight, swami. Solid as usual.

I also think ASU will bring some tough comp, especially with Herb running the show. Despite the "new" style of play Coach K is utilizing, Herb knows Duke. I think Duke wins by doubles when it's all said and done, but it will be a solid test. Had Harden returned to the desert, ASU would be damn good.

I'm also looking forward to the UConn game. If it should happen, you know Calhoun will bring his team charged and ready.

Forgive me for not mentioning him in my previous post. I had not idea what his name was

The bruiser from Radford was Artsiom Parakhouski

he had 23 points and 14 boards. He was impressive down low. built like a brick house.

I'm sure duke fans will disagree, but seriously guys...haven't we seen duke teams of the last 3-4 years run teams out of the gym from November through January? Then they run out of gas, or more likely just run into more talented teams. With the lack of perimeter depth, the reliance on the 3 pt. shot, and questionable post scoring options, I guess I'll just wait to anoint duke as a national title contender.

Even as a huge UNC fan, I will absolutely acknowledge that duke is the odds on favorite to win the ACC this year and should handle UNC in their matchups. However, let's see how they play later on in the year, before we get too crazy with our expectations guys.

Parakhouski is a beast for Radford. Averaging 24 and 15 on the season. He will tear up the Big South even more than last year.

Go Duke

I don't think Duke fans are kidding themselves. This team will probably make it to top 3 in the poll, will win tons of games, but will lose a few nailbiters in the ACC. Then come march they will find a draw against a small guard oriented lineup like Villanova or Tennessee and will bow out. Or if the committee does what they usually do, Duke will get a match-up with Kentucky in a regional in Houston or something like that. Then it will be a free for all.

This team is good, not NC caliber. I am hoping they can make it to a final four. If they do, then it will have been an outstanding year. Gonna really need some favorable bounces come march to get there.

Blue Devils are looking good so far. It will be interesting when the other Plumlee returns on how the minutes play out. If he is as athletic as they say he could cut Zubek's minutes and that would be a great thing IMO.

Mason will most definitely cut Zoubek's minutes. Even without Mason, Zoubek's minutes are going to start to be minimized. Miles is the better option in the paint and Lance Thomas, though undersized, has a much more capable skill set.

Zoubek is one of Duke's most disappointing "projects." I say projects and not "busts" because in Zoubek Duke knew exactly what it was getting, the classic seven-foot college player. Read: a really tall dude with unrefined basketball characteristics. He's been fine for Duke as a situational player and is even starting to come into his own as a nice rebounder and defensive presence, but his offense is still horrible and I'm still not sure he has actual hands. Hands usually grab or catch things.

His athletic ability has alot to be desired.
One of the recruits i was looking forward to being a great play at duke was Boetang. I cant wait to see how he has developed.