The festivities were underway.

And over the next two hours the crazies in the stands unleashed a nonstop barrage of chants and slogans.

"BEAT HARVARD, BEAT HARVARD" in the game's early stages became "WE AIN'T GOT NO STARTERS IN" as Duke's second-stringers more than held their own in the second half.

For awhile, the Cameron crowd lowered itself to the familiar "asshole, asshole" chant, but it obediently stopped when Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski came over to the fans at halftime and requested a cessation of the obscenitites.

"The fans have been great," Krzyzewski said after the game, which saw the Blue Devils triumph, 89-52, "but I don't want them to do that.

"Hey, we're going to beat Harvard no matter what you call them," he continued confidently, "but if you do that against a good team, it will get them real fired up."

And while the fans promoted Duke basketball from the stands, the Blue Devil players themselves were doing a pretty good job of it on the court as well.

Despite sub-par performances by stars Johnny Dawkins (an All-American) and Mark Alarie, the Duke cagers showed why they have been consistently in the top five in national polls throughout the year.

And come NCAA tourney time, this sedate town in northern North Carolina might well harbor the collegiate national basketball champion.

Maybe then, Durham can change "Tree City USA" to a more impressive--and more deserved--slogan.