DURHAM, N.C. _ Going to Cameron Indoor Stadium is natural for Jeff Capel.
Walking into Duke's venerable arena, heading to the visitors' locker room and coaching from the bench at the opposite end of the court from Mike Krzyzewski will be a far different feeling for him, though.
That's what will happen when Pittsburgh plays at No. 9 Duke on Tuesday (9 p.m., ESPN) and Capel faces his mentor, Coach K, for the second time.
"I'm excited about the challenge," Capel, the Pitt coach, said Monday on the ACC coaches teleconference. "Any time you get a chance to play against one of the best teams and one of the best programs in the history of college basketball, you should be excited about the challenge. I am. I'm excited to bring our team and I hope that we can play well."
A year ago, during Capel's first season as the Panthers' head coach, the Blue Devils and Pitt played at Petersen Events Center. Duke won 79-64 on Pitt's home court.
This year's lone regular-season meeting is at Duke, where Capel played four seasons under Krzyzewski in the 1990s and was an assistant on his staff from 2011 until leaving for Pitt's top job in 2018.
The year before Capel's move, Pitt went 8-24 and lost all 19 games it played against ACC competition. Its coach, Kevin Stallings, was fired.
