Duke remaining focused despite prior success

OMAHA, Neb. (GoDuke.com) – Ahead of Friday’s Sweet 16 matchup, head coaches and players from both Duke and Syracuse spoke with media at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha.

“We’re obviously very excited to be here,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “I thought we were both a little bit run down [in February], but we’re both better teams right now.”

The Blue Devils and Orange will meet for the second time this season, with the first contest happening in late February, a game that resulted in a 60-44 win for Duke.

This will mark the third all-time meeting between the programs. The Blue Devils bounced the Orange 91-81 in the 1966 East Regional Semifinal in Raleigh and 80-67 in the 1998 South Regional Semifinal in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Blue Devils will take on the Orange this Friday, March 23 at 9:37 p.m. CBS will have the coverage, and in in-game updates can be found at twitter.com/dukembb.