Duke-Davidson Preview

Seth Curry is much more of a factor now than he was when he last played in his hometown of Charlotte. Curry enters off his best scoring output of the season for No. 1 Duke heading into Wednesday night's matchup against Davidson at Time Warner Cable Arena. Duke (12-0) is one of four remaining unbeaten teams in Division I. Curry, second on the team with 17.1 points per game, scored a season-high 31 in Saturday's 90-77 home win over Santa Clara. The Charlotte native is looking forward to this contest. He was in his first season with Duke in 2010-11 when he last played in this building, totaling nine points and six assists in two victories in the NCAA tournament. "It's going to be a lot of fun," Curry said. "I'm really excited about that game in Charlotte, and we're going to be ready for it. It's a lot of fun for me to have a lot of family and friends in the stands. Every game here at Duke is a big-time game, so it shouldn't be any different." The Blue Devils have taken 23 straight meetings with Davidson (7-5), winning 82-69 last Nov. 18 after trailing by one at the half. Curry scored 17 points and Mason Plumlee added 16 and 13 boards. This is Duke's final game before starting ACC play Saturday at home against Wake Forest. Davidson has all five starters back and is favored to win the Southern Conference again after winning 25 games and going to the NCAA tournament last season. "We continue to play tough teams," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "It's not even close. Our schedule is not even close to anybody's. Everybody we play is good, so good." Krzyzewski was raving about his last opponent as the Blue Devils trailed in the second half against the Broncos before using a 26-5 run to take control. Curry scored 12 points in that surge. "We're going to keep playing teams where our game is their season," Krzyzewski said. "That's something that most people never, ever compete against, where you're always competing against somebody's best. "At Duke, a lot of teams have free money against us because the story is not us winning - the story is us losing, and that's the way it's been for 25 years." Plumlee finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds Saturday for his fifth double-double in six games. Ryan Kelly added 10 and 11 as the Blue Devils held a 40-28 edge on the glass. The 6-foot-10 Plumlee and 6-11 Kelly will enjoy a size advantage over the Davidson forward combination of 6-10 Jake Cohen and 6-7 De'Mon Brooks. Cohen and Brooks both got into foul trouble in last season's matchup and each scored 12 points. Brooks, averaging 15.2 points, is the Southern Conference coaches' reigning player of the year. Cohen, who won that same award in a media vote, scored 19 points and Brooks added 14 in Saturday's 70-64 victory at Richmond. The Wildcats blew a 23-point lead before closing on a 9-3 run. "As soon as it evaporated, we panicked," coach Bob McKillop said. "We need to understand that. We need to understand that when we fight, teams are going to fight back."