No. 4 Duke faces Army in home opener

DURHAM, N.C. -- An encore performance might be too much to ask of Duke, but the fourth-ranked Blue Devils are expecting to get better.

Their next chance to show what they can do comes Sunday afternoon in the home opener against visiting Army at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

"Coach (Mike Krzyzewski) has been talking to us about that a lot," freshman guard Tre Jones said of the attention heaped on the team. "We're trying to just ignore all of the outside noise and just keep focusing on ourselves while trying to get better every single day."

Those comments from Jones came a few days after Duke's head-turning 118-84 thrashing of second-ranked Kentucky on Tuesday night in Indianapolis.

Yet Krzyzewski likes the team's confidence and how the newcomers in a four-freshman starting lineup have blended with veterans on the team.

"They are a very confident group and they're very talented," Krzyzewski said of the freshmen. "And also, our upperclassmen have gotten better and so it's a nice mix."

Upon reviewing the game against Kentucky, Duke saw areas where it can be better.

"There were a couple times throughout the game that I felt like we let off on a lot of things," Jones said. "We've watched film on the game already and we have picked out on what we need to improve on from that game in particular, and we'll hopefully do it better next game."

Still, it was difficult to ignore the sterling debuts from freshmen RJ Barrett, Zion Williamson and Cam Reddish, who scored 33, 28 and 22 points, respectively.

"They're smart and they know better than to think every game is going to be like that," Duke junior center Marques Bolden said. "They're a talented group, obviously as everyone saw. They can really play. For us to stay consistent is the biggest key."

So even with one impressive outcome, the Blue Devils realize it's barely mid-November.

"We're only 1-0," Bolden said. "We haven't really done much of anything -- no conference games or anything. We've barely started the season, so our identity is going to be found out later."

Army, which was selected sixth in the Patriot League preseason poll, notched a 73-69 season-opening victory over visiting Marist on Tuesday night courtesy of Tommy Funk's tiebreaking 3-point basket with 3.8 seconds to play.

It was the first victory in an opener under third-year coach Jimmy Allen.

"I thought we walked out (of the first game) having done a nice job," Allen said while pointing out a multitude of areas to work on. "I credit our guys with staying with our game plan and our style."

Being in a tight game right off the bat is bound to pay off for the Black Knights.

"Those situations, just go fast and make a play," Funk said of the last offensive sequence.

Army junior forward Matt Wilson scored a career-high 24 points, aided by 8-of-8 shooting from the field.

Army is Krzyzewski's alma mater. He played for the basketball team and later coached the Black Knights. With Duke, Krzyzewski's teams are 6-0 against Army.

Duke has won 139 consecutive non-conference home games, marking the longest active streak in the country.