THE CONTENTS: No. 10 Duke (two spots down following Sunday’s survival of Rhode Island) battles Southern Illinois in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic at 7 p.m. at the World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden in New York. You can see the game on ESPN2 with Dan Shulman and Doris Burke (Doris gets the nod at analyst for the first game, as ESPN is limiting Dick Vitale’s minutes early in the season; he’ll be on for the nightcap) and hear it on 620 AM.
THE EXPOSITION: Duke defeated Presbyterian and Georgia Southern handily to advance to the semis, with that squeaker of a win over Rhode Island sandwiched in there last Sunday.
Southern Illinois, meanwhil, took care of business in Carbondale against California University of Pennsylvania (yep, never heard of it either) and Massachusetts. The Salukis established themselves as a second-half team in those two contests, as they turned a tie score into a 14-point win after the intermission against CUP, and outscored the Minuteman by 18 in the second half to overcome an 11-point deficit at the break.
THE PROTAGONISTS: A couple key things coming off of Sunday’s nailbiter (that’s right, I’ve called it a survival, a squeaker, and now a nailbiter):
1. The halfcourt offense: Duke struggled in the first half to not only score points, but also to find quality in-the-flow shots. There was a lot of isolation and individual play, and the result was a 4-for-19 start from the field. If the Blue Devils haven’t fixed this in the last few days of practice, it could be an ugly game tonight. No team over the last five years has played as consistently stingy halfcourt man-to-man as SIU.
2. Gerald Henderson: One of the main reasons Duke struggled in the halfcourt was the perplexing absence of junior Gerald Henderson. Everyone expected Henderson to take the reins of the offense this season, but the co-captain has been somewhat passive early. Combine that with his foul trouble against URI, and he was never really into it. It’d be nice to see him show off his athleticism in the Garden tonight the way he did in the loss to Pittsburgh last season.
3. The frontcourt carousel: In the preseason, all the talk was centered on Miles Plumlee. But Brian Zoubek has gotten the starting nod the last two games, and Lance Thomas and David McClure got a lot of the crunch-time minutes Sunday. Thomas, in particular, was impressive, with 10 points on three dunks, including what I assume is his first alley-oop since his St. Benedict’s days. The Blue Devils just need one–anyone–of these guys to step up this season.
THE ANTAGONISTS: Last season was an unexpected down year for SIU, as the Salukis missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002. They lost Randall Falker, one of the nation’s toughest interior defenders, off that team, and now look to sophomore forward Carlton Fay on the offensive end. Fay leads the team with an average of 16.5 ppg. He’s joined in the frontcourt by Tony Boyle while senior point guard Bryan Mullins, one of the best in the business in assist-to-turnover ratio and currently averaging a double-double with 11.5 points and 10.5 assists per contest, runs the offense.
THE CONFLICT: Tempo, tempo, tempo. Duke will try to push, Southern Illinois will do everything it can to pull. Don’t let the 80 points the Salukis scored on UMass fool you; this is a team that prefers to play its games in the 50s and 60s. If the Blue Devils force turnovers and get out on the break, they’ll cruise. In fact, if they get to 70 points, they’re probably a lock to win.
TIM’S FAVORITE PLAYER IN SIU HISTORY IS…: I know you’re thinking it has to be Jamal Tatum or Jermaine Dearman, but I’m going off the board with current New York Giants’ running back Brandon Jacobs, who I could see as a Barkley-like beast on the block.
SIU WILL PROVE TROUBLE IF…: Mullins takes care of the ball, Duke struggles in the halfcourt, and the Salukis shoot 9-for-14 from beyond the arc like they did in the second half against UMass.
SIU WON’T PROVE TROUBLE IF…: All of the above doesn’t happen.
THE DENOUEMENT: The Blue Devils struggle early from the field adjusting to the bigger arena. SIU struggles more, however, and Duke builds a 10-12 point halftime lead. They maintain it for most of the second half, survive a brief scare, and pull away late. DUKE, 75-60.
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