New Devils visit New York

at St. John's, 1 p.m. Sunday, WRAL, WNCT, WDNC-620, WKIX-102.9

New Devils visit New York

The last time Duke went to the New York City area, the team took a turn for the worse.

Freshman point guard Kyrie Irving, in a homecoming game for him at East Rutherford, N.J., suffered a toe injury Dec. 4 against Butler that still has him sidelined indefinitely.

Nonetheless, coach Mike Krzyzewski likes taking the Blue Devils to New York and Madison Square Garden, the storied arena that is the site of Sunday's game. With a national TV audience on CBS tuning in, he will be able to show off a team that has adjusted to life without Irving, who was one of the best players in the nation before he was hurt.

"This is a lot better team than when Kyrie went down," senior guard Nolan Smith said Thursday.

Duke (19-1) has won its past four games heading into the meeting with St. John's (11-8), which has lost five of its past six. Under first-year coach Steve Lavin, though, St. John's starts four seniors and has posted quality wins at West Virginia, at Providence and at home against Notre Dame.

But Duke post players Ryan Kelly, Mason Plumlee and Miles Plumlee are improving rapidly, and Blue Devils guard Seth Curry is coming off a season-best, 20-point effort Thursday against Boston College.

The new-look Blue Devils are rounding into shape just in time to return to the area where their season suffered a jarring setback eight weeks ago.