DUKE EXTENDS WIN STREAK TO FIVE
Duke took down a pair of league foes this week to extend its winning streak to five games, winning big over N.C. State at home and squeaking out a nail-biter on the road at Boston College. On Thursday, the Blue Devils handled N.C. State 98-85 in Cameron thanks to a 30-point explosion by Mason Plumlee and some sharpshooting by guards Quinn Cook, Seth Curry and Rasheed Sulaimon on the perimeter. Those four scored 88 of Duke's season-high 98 points in the victory while Duke hit 10 three-pointers and scored 32 points from the free throw line.

Sunday's trek to the snowed-in Northeast to face Boston College proved to be a more difficult task, however, as Boston College took Duke down to the wire before some clutch free throw shooting by Plumlee propelled Duke to the 62-61 victory. The Blue Devils trailed the Eagles 61-56 with 2:15 remaining before Cook hit a clutch three-pointer to cut the deficit to 61-59 with 1:58 remaining and Plumlee sank two free throws with 46 seconds left to tie the game. The Eagles then missed on the go-ahead three-point attempt and Plumlee grabbed the rebound, only to be fouled again for another trip to the free throw line. After missing the first, Plumlee came through with a make on his second shot to push Duke into a one-point lead. A late jumper by Boston College freshman Olivier Hanlan - who scored 20 points on the night - clanged off the rim with three seconds remaining and rolled out of bounds as the clock expired.

ANOTHER CHANCE AT NO. 1?
Duke is once again in line to ascend to the top spot in the Associated Press and Coaches Polls following losses by the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5 teams in the nation. Duke was the only top-five team to make it through week 14 of the season unscathed, narrowly edging Boston College 62-61 to avoid what would have been the first time since Feb. 17-23, 1992, that the top five teams in the AP Poll all lost in the same week. If the Blue Devils reclaim the No. 1 spot, it would be Duke's third time atop the poll. Duke is 5-2 this season when ranked No. 1.

RENEWING THE TOBACCO ROAD RIVALRY
It may be 15 weeks into college basketball season, but the season doesn't quite feel officially underway until Duke and North Carolina square off for the first time. Duke and North Carolina fans - and all college basketball fans, for that matter - will get their first look at the 2013 edition of the rivalry this Wednesday, Feb. 13, when the Blue Devils host the rival Tar Heels in Cameron Indoor Stadium for a 9 p.m. tipoff on ESPN and the ACC Network. As is par for the course, Wednesday's meeting will be the sixth straight in which at least one of the teams owns a top-five ranking in the AP Poll. While North Carolina leads the all-time series 132-102, Duke owns a 22-11 record since the 1998-99 season, but - as the series always seems to prove - previous records have no weight once the ball hits the court.

Blue Devil Network will host a special pregame show prior to the game featuring interviews with Duke players, members of the Duke coaching staff, members of the media as well as video packages highlighting the big wins and stories of Duke's 2012-13 season so far. Be sure to tune in to GoDuke.com Wednesday to get ready for the game.

PLUMLEE A FINALIST FOR SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Mason Plumlee was named one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award, an honor presented to the basketball student-athlete that excels four areas - community, classroom, character and competition. Not only is Plumlee is the ACC's leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, he was a 2012 Academic All-America first team and a Capital One Academic All-District III selection this season. The owner of a 3.36 grade point average as a psychology major, he is actively involved in several community service efforts, including the Read with the Blue Devils program and the Emily Krzyzewski Center.

Fan voting plays a major role in determing the winner of the award, so be sure to give Mason your votes here: http://www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/DI_mens_basketball_2012-13/

DUKE TO WEAR NEW NIKE UNIFORMS FOR MARYLAND GAME
The Blue Devils will wear some new threads next Saturday during the Feb. 16 game at Maryland, sporting specially-designed Nike Hyper Elite road uniforms for the showdown with the Terps. Duke is one of 13 teams in the country chosen to wear the state-of-the-art uniforms, which feature lightweight performance through sustainable materials, a 3D-structured Dri-FIT fabric that pulls sweat away to help reduce cling, Nike Aerographics construction that provides lightweight ventilation, heat-transferred, sublimated lightweight twill logos, numbers and graphics and several other features. For more information, visit the Nike website at: http://nikeinc.com/news/twelve-teams-set-to-challenge-home-court-advantage-in-new-nike-hyper-elite-road-uniforms.

NBA ALL-STAR GAME ON THE HORIZON
Former Blue Devils Luol Deng and Kyrie Irving will represent Duke in the 2013 NBA All-Star Game this Sunday, Feb. 17, continuing a longstanding tradition of Duke's success in the NBA. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. in Houston, but Irving will be a busy man during all three days of all-star festivities. First on Friday, Irving will participate in the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge where last year he put on a clinic by finishing with a line of 34 points, nine assists, 12-of-13 shooting from the floor and 8-of-8 shooting from three-point range to earn MVP honors. After the BBVA Challenge, Irving will take part in Saturday's Foot Locker Three-Point Contest alongside league sharpshooters Paul George, Steve Novak, Ryan Anderson, Matt Bonner and Stephen Curry. Then, if he hasn't spent all his game in the first two events, he will play a prominent role as the leading point guard for the Eastern Conference All-Stars alongside Deng and a plethora of other NBA stars including LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Garnett.

DUKE BASKETBALL RADIO SHOW ON TUESDAY
The Duke Basketball Radio Show, hosted by associate head coaches Chris Collins and Steve Wojciechowski, moves to Tuesday, Feb. 12, this week instead of its usual Monday time slot. The show begins at 7 p.m. and airs live from the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club. Fans are welcome to attend the show live in the Vista Restaurant. Fans may submit questions for the show at www.goduke.com//quest/Questionaire.dbml?QID=73996&DB_OEM_ID=4200.

BLUE DEVILS TO ADDRESS MEDIA BEFORE UNC GAME
Members of the Duke basketball team and head coach Mike Krzyzewski will spend time speaking with local and national reporters Tuesday, just one day prior to the North Carolina game in Cameron Indoor Stadium Wednesday at 9 p.m. Blue Devil Network will be there to provide sound bytes and video highlights of the media availability. Be sure to check GoDuke.com Tuesday afternoon to hear what the Blue Devils have to say heading into the biggest rivalry game in college basketball.

LINKED IN

Fast starts key for Duke (Gaston Gazette)
http://www.gastongazette.com/sports/colleges/fast-starts-key-for-duke-1.93046

Duke has learned to play without Ryan Kelly (ESPN.com)
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/75307/duke-has-learned-to-play-without-kelly

Miles Plumlee adjusts to double hoops life (News-Sentinel)
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130208/SPORTS/130209595

Single succeeding in multiple roles (Detroit Free Press)
http://www.freep.com/article/20130207/SPORTS03/302070202/Pistons-Kyle-Singler-succeeding-in-multiple-roles

Smith showing promise coming off Trail Blazers' Bench (OregonSportsNews.com)
http://www.oregonsportsnews.com/team-news/portland-trail-blazers/nolan-smith-showing-promise-coming-off-portland-trail-blazers-bench.html

TWEETS OF THE WEEK

Stephen Curry ‏@StephenCurry30
Proud of @sdotcurry 4 the work he put in at Liberty and Duke. Happy to be half of the highest all time brother duo scorers in NCAA history.

Seth Curry ‏@sdotcurry
Me and @StephenCurry30 started as 2 kids playing 1on1 wherever there was a hoop and the highest scoring brother duo in NCAA history#blessed

Chris Collins ‏@coach_collins
Proud of our guys for gutting out the win tonite. Big congrats to @sdotcurry and @StephenCurry30 for becoming best scoring bros in NCAA!!!

Adam Gold ‏@AGoldFan
Quinn Cook makes a lot of big shots.

Kyrie Irving ‏@KyrieIrving
Excited for the rising stars challenge, Team @Shaq bringing the W home, #letsgo

Blue Devil Network ‏@BlueDevil_NTWRK
Check out our highlights from @Duke_MBB's huge 98-85 win over NC State! http://www.goduke.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?catid=65612&id=1556607

STAT OF THE WEEK
Seth Curry and his older brother Stephen, who played at Davidson from 2006-09, became the NCAA's all-time leading brother scoring tandem on Sunday after Seth scored 18 points in Duke's win over Boston College. With Stephen's 2,635 points at Davidson and Seth's 1,858 - including 1,151 as a Blue Devil - the duo has combined for 4,493 points, surpassing the previous record of 4,485 points held by brothers Tyler (North Carolina) and Ben Hansbrough (Mississippi State & Notre Dame).

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"That one was for all the old guys. That one was for all the suburban dads out there, who have been told they are over the hill, and they are a step slow, not as good as they once were. I may release a DVD of that. It's like Halley's Comet, you may never see it again in your lifetime."
-Former Blue Devil Shane Battier after his "rare" dunk against the Bobcats on Monday, Feb. 4 (Detroit Free Press). According to sources, it was the 35-year-old Battier's first dunk in four years.

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