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DURHAM — Duke's 98-72 win against Elon on Monday night had all the makings of a typical out-of-conference Duke shellacking.

With an early 14-0 run, Duke took a double-digit lead it maintained throughout the game.

But Monday night's win wasn't typical. The victory was the 879th of Mike Krzyzewski's coaching career, tying him for second all-time with former North Carolina coach Dean Smith.

"You know, it's an honor to have won that many games," Krzyzewski said. "I'm sure Dean would say the same thing. It was an honor for him to win that many games. I have the utmost respect for Dean.

"I know it's like a milestone, but I'm more interested in how we become a better team this year."

Krzyzewski has always been one to focus on the now and not where he stands in the pecking order of coaches. On Monday, in addition to gaining career win No. 879, the Duke coach was named the 2010 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year, but he and his team didn't talk about the milestone.

"Coach K wants it all to be about us," Nolan Smith said. "He never wants it to be about him or any record he's close to beating. It's always about Duke and what this Duke team is doing."

But the milestone win is certainly considered a big deal Krzyzewski and Dean Smith stood at opposite ends of the court in many classic Duke-UNC battles. Though Smith holds a 24-14 advantage against Krzyzewski, the two met toe-to-toe following each of those 38 meetings. And that's where they are until Dec. 29 when Duke plays UNCG — toe-to-toe, with 879 wins in their 36th seasons coaching.

"I think he's been really special for the game of basketball," Krzyzewski said of Dean Smith. "To share something with him for this moment is a good thing, is a really good thing."

Not all of Krzyzewski's 879 wins have come at Duke. The coach spent five years as the head coach at Army and guided the Cadets to a 73-59 record before moving to Duke. Krzyzewski still trails Smith by 63 ACC wins, but it's certainly not unreasonable to think that the Duke coach can pass him there as well.

"When Dean left the game, I mean, he could have won more games if he lingered," Krzyzewski said. "And somebody like him or somebody like me will not linger, because we didn't get in this to linger. We got in it to go for it."

Krzyzewski talked a good deal about his friendship with Smith and said UNC's former coach was just one of many from whom he's learned.

"The league was amazing, and the head of it was Dean," Krzyzewski said of the ACC when he arrived at Duke. "I think we all made each other better because you have to be good to survive. Each game, well you guys, those of you who were old enough, were there."

Krzyzewski paused while speaking after the game as a competitive smile overtook his face, like he was staring across the court at Dean Smith again.

"As intense as you might think today's game is, I don't know, the '80s and early '90s, I mean, pretty intense."

With one more victory, Krzyzewski will stand alone in second place all-time behind Bob Knight. Krzyzewski's played basketball under Knight at Army and served as an assistant coach under Knight at Indiana.

"We know it's an unbelievable accomplishment, and we also know he's going to be No. 1 at some point, but we congratulated him," Duke's Ryan Kelly said. "He's not one to take those accolades so well, but he's an unbelievable winner, an unbelievable competitor and he's the best coach there ever was -- and is."

Coming off a nine-day exam break, Duke looked flat and a step slow against a program that had never played the nation's top-ranked team since moving to Division I in the 1999-2000 season. Outside of that 14-0 spurt that gave the Blue Devils a 21-8 lead on Kyle Singler's 3-pointer with 12½ minutes before halftime, Elon (4-7) played Duke even over the next 26 minutes and trailed just 75-62 after a pair of free throws from Chris Long with 6:34 to play.

The Blue Devils finally closed it out with an 8-0 spurt led by Smith, who sat for about 9 minutes of the second half after picking up his fourth foul.

Singler scored 24 points for Duke. Nolan Smith added 22. Jack Isenbarger scored 21 points to lead Elon.

"What we just said to our players in the locker room is: We are proud of you, but we want more and that's where we are as a program," Elon coach Matt Matheny said.

Duke played its third consecutive game without freshman point guard Kyrie Irving, who is out indefinitely with a toe injury.

Krzyzewski said Irving recently met with a specialist and the team is getting updates on his condition roughly every 10 days, but he again said "it'll be a long time" before Irving can return — if at all — this season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ELON (4-7)
Dugas 3-7 3-3 11, Grable 1-1 0-0 2, Spradlin 2-8 0-0 6, Birdette 2-6 0-0 4, Long 4-8 4-5 14, Isenbarger 6-12 8-8 21, Beaumont 1-4 0-0 2, Watts 0-0 0-0 0, Koch 1-2 0-0 2, Troutman 5-10 0-0 10, Ervin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 15-16 72.

DUKE (11-0)
Ma. Plumlee 1-3 0-0 2, Singler 6-16 9-11 24, Mi. Plumlee 3-7 0-1 6, Smith 9-11 2-3 22, Curry 3-8 2-2 10, Thornton 0-0 4-4 4, Hairston 0-1 0-0 0, Dawkins 5-9 4-5 17, Kelly 4-8 4-4 13, Peters 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-63 25-30 98.

Elon 31 41 — 72
Duke 49 49 — 98

Percentages—Elon (FG .431, FT .938), Duke (FG .492, FT .833).

3-point goals—Elon 7-19 (Long 2-3, Spradlin 2-4, Dugas 2-5, Isenbarger 1-4, Koch 0-1, Birdette 0-2), Duke 11-23 (Singler 3-5, Dawkins 3-6, Smith 2-2, Curry 2-6, Kelly 1-3, Ma. Plumlee 0-1).

Fouled out—Birdette, Long.

Rebounds—Elon 26 (Spradlin 5), Duke 41 (Mi. Plumlee 8).

Team rebounds—Elon 0, Duke 1.

Assists—Elon 12 (Long 5), Duke 21 (Kelly 6).

Blocked shots—Elon 3 (Troutman 2), Duke 1 (Kelly).

Turnovers—Elon 18 (Long 4), Duke 14 (Smith 4).

Steals—Elon 4 (Troutman 2), Duke 10 (Singler 2, Curry 2, Dawkins 2, Ma. Plumlee 2, Mi. Plumlee 2).

Total fouls—Elon 25, Duke 20. A—9,314.

A—9,314.

Officials—Jamie Luckie, Earl Walton, Tim Comer.