Duke meets Davidson.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ In Bob McKillop's 13 seasons at Davidson, the Wildcats have beaten N.C. State, Wake Forest and North Carolina. They've beaten Clemson, Massachusetts, Miami and Ole Miss _ twice.

They haven't beaten Duke (11-0), their top-ranked opponent Wednesday night at the Charlotte Coliseum. They've tried seven times, and lost all seven by an average of 37.3points.

McKillop knows why.

"(Duke coach) Mike Krzyzewski traditionally has had his teams mentally and physically prepared, no matter who they're playing," McKillop said. "Physically, teams are always prepared to play us, but mentally some of the bigger names are not always prepared when they go against mid-major and low-major teams. That has never been a fault of Duke's. Duke could be playing a CYO team and they'd want to win by 100."

Which is why Duke players practiced on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, studied film, etc. All for Davidson.

"We spend as much time preparing for a Davidson as we would a Michigan or Connecticut or Stanford," said Duke assistant Chris Collins. "To us every game is important because we're playing. That's what we strive for, that's what we tell our guys. In turn, they've embraced that."

Since restoring Duke to a national power in 1983-84, Krzyzewski has seen his team lose once to a team from a mid-major or low-major conference _ the first round of the 1996 NCAA tournament, to Eastern Michigan.