Four times out to Hawaii and now four championship trophies for head coach Mike Krzyzewski as Duke defeated Marquette 77-73 on Wednesday to improve to 12-0 all time in the preseason event.
But title number four didn't come easily as the 13th ranked Golden Eagles rallied from a seven point halftime deficit and pushed the Blue Devils throughout the second half.
The difference ultimately proved to be the 6'8 Singler who finished with a career best 25 points (7-of-11 FG) along with six rebounds to take home Most Valuable Player honors - joining former Blue Devils Bobby Hurley, Steve Wojciechowski, and Mike Dunleavy as winners of the award.
Senior DeMarcus Nelson added 16 points and a team high seven rebounds for Duke, which improves to 5-0 on the season.
Also reaching double figures for Duke was sophomore big forward Lance Thomas who logged 10 points and five rebounds - his best performance of the season.
For Marquette, Lazar Hayward lead the scoring effort with 14 points, while Wesley Matthews (12) and Jerel McNeal (11) also reached double figures.
After scoring 25 points against Duke exactly one year ago in the finals of the CBE Classic in Kansas City, Mo., Dominic James was held to just 4-of-16 shooting from the field.
Duke, which will return home to Durham, N.C. tomorrow morning, will host Eastern Kentucky on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 PM in a non-conference match-up before Big 10 power Wisconsin comes calling to Cameron Indoor Stadium as part of the annual ACC-Big 10 Challenge. Ironically, another event in which Duke has never lost.