BLACKSBURG -- Zabian Dowdell has had this game circled on his calendar. Coleman Collins brought it up during an interview before Christmas.

Now it's here. For the first time since The Shot, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team will have another shot to win at Duke. The Hokies (10-4, 1-0 ACC) visit the fifth-ranked Blue Devils (13-1, 0-0) at noon today on ESPN.

"I've been waiting on it a long time," Tech senior guard Jamon Gordon said.

The last time the Hokies (10-4, 1-0 ACC) visited Cameron Indoor Stadium, on Dec. 4, 2005, they nearly pulled off the biggest win in their history. But Sean Dockery made about a 40-footer at the buzzer to give then-No. 1 Duke a 77-75 win.

"I watch the game all the time," Gordon said. "I just stop it before The Shot comes on."

Sometimes the Hokies can't avoid seeing The Shot. ESPN showed it again during its telecast of Duke's win over Temple on Tuesday.

"I turned to my wife and said, ... 'It's just a matter of time before they show The Shot,'" coach Seth Greenberg said.

"Every game they play on TV, they're going to show that shot," guard Zabian Dowdell said. "I've seen it so many times. ... He made a great shot, but it still hurts."

But that near miss, as well as a home win over the Blue Devils two seasons ago, gives the Hokies confidence.

"A lot of our guys are not in awe of Duke," said Dowdell, whose team was 0-7 against ranked foes last season. "We don't see them as the great program that they are. We just see them as another team.

"We've had success against them in the past."

The Hokies would love to knock off the Blue Devils, especially with a visit from second-ranked North Carolina looming next Saturday. "This is the kind of game that gets you over the hump. This is a game for the program, not just the team," Gordon said. "We kind of need this game because we've got one of the best teams in the nation coming up after this."

Duke is 112-2 against unranked foes at Cameron since 1997-98, but Gordon is looking forward to his final visit there.

"It's the place you dream about playing," Gordon said. "That's like the Garden or something like that."

Duke swept Tech last season, but J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams have since moved on to the NBA. Dockery is in the NBA Development League.

"Without Shelden Williams and J.J. Redick, they're a much easier team to guard right now," Dowdell said.

This game could be determined by how well Collins fares in the paint against 6-foot-10 sophomore Josh McRoberts. Collins has struggled this season but had 25 points and eight rebounds in last season's loss at Duke.

McRoberts, who threw the inbounds pass halfway up the court to Dockery to set up The Shot, is averaging 12.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.6 blocks.

"He's as good a passer as he is a scorer," Greenberg said. "He sees things before they happen. He's like a point center."

Of late, Tech has not played as well as Greenberg would like. The Hokies lost 59-58 on the road to a then 3-8 Marshall team last weekend after falling behind by 21 points in the first half. When the Hokies got back to campus last Saturday night, Greenberg immediately showed them the tape of the first half.

Greenberg didn't start the senior trio of Gordon, Dowdell and Collins against Richmond on Wednesday.

"The people who started, they outplayed us in practice," Gordon said. "They deserved to start."

Tech beat lowly Richmond 65-53 but didn't take its first lead until there was 8:40 to go. It was the fourth time this season Tech trailed at halftime and the sixth time Tech scored 30 or fewer points in the first half.

"We can Knute Rockne them to death, but I can't tell you why" Tech struggles in the first half, Greenberg said.

Dowdell and Gordon said the lack of focus and energy that sometimes plagues the Hokies in the first half won't be a problem today.

"If you can't get up for Duke, then you shouldn't even be playing the sport," Dowdell said.