Miami (Ohio)-Duke Preview

Following Duke's opener, the opposing coach said "there might be 10 teams in the country" that can play with the Blue Devils.

Miami of Ohio doesn't figure to be one of them.

Having strengthened their hold on the No. 1 ranking, the reigning national champions look for another dominant effort at both ends of the floor Tuesday night when they face the RedHawks for the first time.

The Blue Devils were at the top of the preseason AP Top 25 and remained there after the first week of the regular season, but with an additional three first-place votes. They opened the season Sunday with a 97-60 win over Princeton, which gave up its most points in nearly 42 years.

"I don't know how many teams are going to be able to play with Duke," Tigers coach Sydney Johnson said. "There might be 10 teams in the country that can handle all the things that they throw at you. So, good luck to those guys, because Duke's pretty good."

The Blue Devils forced 27 turnovers, the most by Princeton since 1998, and that came against a team picked to win the Ivy League.

Miami of Ohio was picked to finish fourth in the Mid-American Conference's East Division, the same spot it ended last season after going 14-18 overall.

The RedHawks were the division's lowest-scoring team in 2009-10 at 62.4 points per game and failed to crack that average in their opener, holding on for a 60-57 win over a Towson team that only won 10 games last season.

Now they face a Duke squad which appears committed to defense, having made 10 steals in the opener and scoring 36 points off turnovers.

"We definitely played the defense we wanted to play," said Nolan Smith, who had 22 points and was 10 of 15 from the field.

Backcourt mate Kyrie Irving had 17 points and nine assists in his debut, becoming the first freshman to start a season as Duke's point guard since Jason Williams in 1999. Fellow newcomer Seth Curry - a transfer who is Golden State guard Stephen Curry's younger brother - added 14 points off the bench.

"A lot of people stepped up and I think that's what's going to separate us from a lot of teams in the country – just our togetherness," Irving said. "We instill brotherhood here. This team is really special."

Coach Mike Krzyzewski is employing a more up-tempo attack offensively this season and it seemed to work very well. His Blue Devils had 26 assists, one shy of their best effort from last season, and shot 55.4 percent from the field.

"If we just continue to have that energy, we'll get better," Krzyzewski said.

Preseason All-American Kyle Singler added 16 points as the Blue Devils posted their 20th straight home victory. They have won a nation-best 78 consecutive non-conference games at Cameron Indoor Stadium and 43 in a row at home against unranked opponents.

Miami has lost 14 straight to ranked teams since beating Boston College on Dec. 20, 2001.

Allen Roberts led the RedHawks with 20 points in the opener and Julian Mavunga added 14 with 11 rebounds, but he could have a tough time on the glass against Duke's 6-foot-10 brothers Miles and Mason Plumlee.