Chronicle Blogs

FINAL, Duke 72 – Hampton 37:

Joanne P. McCallie will be pleased with her team’s performance today, especially on the defensive end. In the first half, the Blue Devils were suffocating on defense, often times for the full 90 feet of the court. Duke’s starters were able to spend most of the second half resting on the bench, as the reserves led Duke for the majority of the final 20 minutes. Duke will certainly face a tougher test in LSU on Monday, but for now, the Blue Devils can rest easy.

Duke 63 – Hampton 27, 7:25:

This game has long been decided, but Duke reserves Chelsea Hopkins and Kathleen Scheer have put in solid performances today in relief. For what it’s worth, the Hampton band has also been top class.

Duke 55 – Hampton 25, 11:35:

Duke’s press has been very effective tonight, as it should be against a team like Hampton, but even when the Lady Pirates have thrown over the top of the press, Duke’s defender in the post has usually kept the Hampton press at bay. Allison Vernerey has done an especially good job tonight of sealing players out of the post, and when necessary, taking charges.

Duke 49 – Hampton 23, 15:15:

Hampton has come out of the locker room calm and looking to execute on offense, and thanks to a lapse in defensive intensity by the Blue Devils, the Lady Pirates have made the score look a bit more respectable. Melanie Warner scored a quick five points , and leading scorer Quanneisha Perry slashed to the hoop for a layup — all in all, you can tell the Lady Pirates are likely very tough to beat within their league.

AT THE HALF: Duke 40 – Hampton 14:

Duke is making it look easy against an increasingly dejected-looking Hampton squad. In the final 10 minutes and 13 seconds of action, the Lady Pirates were only able to score three points — a testament to the level of defensive intensity McCallie expects out of her team. The second half looks to be an opportunity for McCallie to empty the bench, and get her starters some rest before the second round game on Monday. Perhaps more important for Duke long-term has been the resurgence of Jasmine Thomas. After struggling a bit in the latter half of the season, the star point guard has looked phenomenal tonight. After Christmas’s  stunning and-one, Thomas snapped off seven consecutive points of her own, highlighted by an incisive spin move into the lane that allowed her to bury a one-handed floater over the defense. If Jasmine Thomas can maintain this form throughout the Tournament, Duke will prove a very tough out.

Duke 29 – Hampton 11, 3:55:

There’s a reason Hampton is a 15-seed, and we’re seeing it right now. The Lady Pirates just simply don’t have the personnel to keep up with Duke, and the Blue Devils are looking focused on the defensive end. Karima Christmas just had a Sportscenter worthy finish at the hoop — the junior double-clutched to avoid having her shot blocked, absorbed the contact AND hung in the air long enough to get up the shot.

Duke 23 – Hampton 11, 7:55:

While Duke still doesn’t quite look itself offensively, the Blue Devils have been playing some hard-nosed defensive basketball, and the No. 2 seed is slowly but surely separating itself from the Lady Pirates, who look completely out-of-sorts offensively– Hampton hasn’t scored from the field in just under four minutes.

Duke 17 – Hampton 10, 10:13:

Duke came roaring out of the first television timeout looking to push the ball and apply pressure, and went on a quick 5-0 run in the first minute or so. The Blue Devils ran a full court press against the Lady Pirates, looking to take advantage of Duke’s superior athleticism, and forced a few turnovers that shifted momentum in the game. In the offensive halfcourt, Duke still hasn’t found its rhythm, and is without a cutting edge at the moment. The Blue Devils have had success pounding the ball into the post, but the finishing around the rim has been less than stellar.

Hampton 8 – Duke 7, 15:23 left in the first half:

Hampton has come out swinging in the first couple of minutes, and a fairly divided crowd has gotten behind the underdog. Duke has struggled from the field, and if the Blue Devils weren’t getting to the line the way they have been, the game wouldn’t be as close. The Lady Pirates have been torching Duke in the post, especially Melanie Warner. Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie has countered by bringing Allison Vernerey off the bench, hoping the size differential will curb the Lady Pirates success in the post.

Pregame: This afternoon in Cameron Indoor Stadium, the No. 2 seed Duke (27-5) will look to take its first step towards San Antonio against No. 15 seed Hampton (20-11). This is the second game of the day at Cameron, and the winner will take on No. 7 LSU, who earlier today clobbered No. 10 Hartford, 60-39. The Lady Pirates are led by junior forward Quanneisha Perry, who averages 13 points and 9.3 rebounds a game for Hampton. Though not nearly full, there is a good atmosphere in Cameron, and fans of both teams are ready for a first-round battle.

Starting lineups for the Lady Pirates: Warner, Perry, Fortune, Lewis,  Jackson.

Starting lineups for Duke: Christmas, Cheek, K. Thomas, J. Thomas, Jenkins.

Check out Chronicle photographer Melissa Yeo’s coverage of Duke’s 73-44 win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

3/19/10 Duke Men’s Basketball vs Arkansas-Pine Bluff – Images by Duke Student Publishing Co. Duke Chronicle

Check out The Chronicle’s summary of Duke’s 1st round victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff at dukechronicle.com.

Duke easily dispatched Arkansas-Pine Bluff 73-44 Friday night to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament—but the victory was also Duke’s 30th win of the season, giving the Blue Devils back-to-back 30 win campaigns. That prompted Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski to say:

“That’s a lot of wins, so that’s a good thing. Actually, the best thing is to have 31 and to move on…. it’s a good thing for these kids to have two 30-win seasons in a row.

Runner-up Quote Of The Game: Despite only scoring one point and committing five personal fouls, Coach Krzyzewski was encouraged by freshman Andre Dawkins’ confidence in his first NCAA Tournament game:

“The fact that he’s aggressive and just to get the experience of being in the first NCAA game is huge, and he’s been playing really well. So hopefully on Sunday he’ll not commit five fouls and look for his shot a little bit more.“

EPILOGUE: Even in Jacksonville, Duke fans continue to jump around to the sound of Cascada—even if they are the only one’s in their section participating. An interesting sight ot say the least.

Duke 70, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 39 2:41 2nd Half: As action resumes, the arena is actually now more full than it was at the beginning of the game, probably anticipation of the Louisville-California matchup to follow that will likely be a much more competitive matchup than this one. Duke starts to go into slow-down mode, an extend their possession twice with offensive rebounds off of threes, including one very impressive one by Ryan Kelly. All that leads to a possession that takes at least a minute off the clock, as well as a Kyle Singler trey. And it’s more of the same by Singler on the next possession, giving Singler 22 poitns on the night and extending Duke’s lead to a game high 27.

Kelly has played solidly in garbage time here with a couple of nice rebounds, and then a solid pass into Thomas in the post, who uses a nice spin-move to score two more. After another turnover by the golden lions, both Plumlees and Dawkins enter the lineup, leaving Scheyer and Smith as the only Blue Devil starters left in the game. Smith makes an easy floater to extend the lead to 29, and Jordan Davidson prepares to check in for the first time, all but signaling the end of this as a highly-contested game.

With under four minutes to go and Duke well in control, we’re going to call it a night from The Chronicle Sports Blog. Check back here tonight for some quotes and reaction from this contest, and be sure to go to dukechronicle.com tomorrow morning to read my full game story.

Insert Johnson!

Duke 58, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 37 7:22 2nd Half: The general disinterest from the Blue Devils is starting to seep onto the court, as Miles Plumlee misses two free throws out of the timeout and Allen Smith hits a three on the other end, followed by an uncharacteristic Scheyer turnover leading to another fastbreak bucket. All of a sudden, Duke’s lead is down to a much less comfortable 20.

Andre Dawkins does his best to answer on the offensive end, just missing a contested three and being called for another charge after aggressively taking the ball to the rim. Even though the results haven’t necessarily been there for the freshman guard, his increased confidence after a fine ACC Tournament is conspicuous here in the 1st Round, which can only be a good sign for the Blue Devils.

The lethargic play on the court is translating into the crowd, as the biggest cheer this whole half just occurred when an elderly fan just barely was able to pass the ball back onto the court after it was deflected into his lap. As the teams seem to continue trading turnovers, Weathers finally breaks the streak with a three, cutting the lead down to 21. Lance Thomas responds by traveling while attempting a turn-around move in the post, and another media-timeout is called.

Duke 53, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 28 11:02 2nd Half: Arkansas Pine-Bluff comes out of the timeout strong, as Washington takes the ball to the hole and draws an and-one foul from Zoubek, although he misses the subsequent free throw. Sloppy play continues for Duke on the offensive end, as Kyle Singler gets caught in mid-air with no one to pass to, and turns the ball over on the travel.

Nolan Smith gets Duke back on the right track on the next possession, though, pump faking two defenders into the air before putting in an easy layup. The next time down the court, though, Smith seemed to trick himself with his dribble moves, as the junior fell to the floor and seemed to clutch his knee for a brief moment.  However, Smith has stayed in the game and seems healthy on the defensive end, skying for a rebound on the next possession, leading to a Jon Scheyer jumper from the corner that is all net.

After yet another Golden Lion turnover, Mason Plumlee skies to the basket—and is anticlimactically fouled, sending him to the line for two shots. The freshman makes one of two for his first career point in the NCAA Tournament.

The game continues to go back and forth, though, as a fastbreak layup by Townshend is answered by an open three from Scheyer. As we head into the media timeout, Duke has its largest lead of the game at 25 points.

Duke 45, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 22 15:50 2nd Half: The Golden Lions start off the second half shooting as coldly as they did in the first, with Smith clanking a wide-open three, followed by an airballed layup by Barnett. Lance Thomas scores Duke’s first points of the half off of a nice cut (and a goaltending call), putting Duke up 21 points early in this half.

As the action goes back and forth, the game is quickly dissolving into a sloppy affair, as the Golden Lions continue to turn the ball over at an astounding rate, but now Duke is beginning to do the same. Still, the Blue Devils are able to stretch their lead to its largest of the game—23 points—after Zoubek puts back a missed Singler layup before the media-timeout.

Duke 39, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 20 20:00 2nd Half: As the second half is about to begin, some stats of note: Duke is shooting 44 percent from the field compared to Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s 25 percent; Duke has shot 20 free throws to Arkansas-PB’s six; Duke has out-rebounded Arkansas-PB 20-11; and Arkansas-Pine Bluff has 10 turnovers to Duke’s five.  In short, it has been domination for the Blue Devils thus far.

Duke 39, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 20 0:00 1st Half: Even if the Golden Lions haven’t been all that impressive on the basketball court, their band is certainly picking up the slack—bravo, fellas. But the Golden Lions aren’t able to capitalize on any inspiration from the band, as Singler quickly scores on the inbounds play, and Lance Thomas draws a charge on the defensive end. As Duke tries to break the press, 7-foot-1 Brian Zoubek sets a pick on 5-10 Allen Smith—a humorous image if I’ve ever seen one.

Duke easily breaks the press, and Thomas gets the ball in the post and draws yet another foul. Thomas is having one of his best offensive games as a Blue Devil, as the two free throws now give him eight poitns in the first half of this contest, second only to Singler’s 11.

Duke regains possession after a nice hustle play by Smith, even though it prompted some boos from the upset-hungry crowd over the possibility of a foul. duke gets the ball back to Thomas in the post, and a solid post-move from the senior just rims out. Duke remains solid on D, though, after a Zoubek block leads to another turnover for the Golden Lions.

Coach K once said in a press conference that Brian Zoubek “can’t jump”, but someone may need to remind Nolan Smith. Perhaps thinking Zoubek was one of the Plumlee brothers, Smith tried to set the senior up for an alley-oop jam, but a surprised Zoubek was unable to corral the high pass. A nice attempt, nonetheless.

After the Golden Lions are able to sink a few free-throws, Singler draws another foul downlow off of two nice passes from Zoubek and Smith. Singler came up clutching his eye, indicating he might be hurt or bleeding, but he goes to the line regardless. He sinks the first, Coach K calls his first half timeout (presumably to check on his star), and then Singler returns to sink the second free-throw before Ryan Kelly gives the junior a rest.

Kelly is quickly exposed on the defensive end by a driving Hugh Barnett, but the Golden Lions are unable to capitalize on the open kick-out jumper, and Miles Plumlee skies for the rebound. After a nice pass by Kelly to Thomas downlow, the senior will go to the line again. Thomas misses his first two free throws of the night, but the subsequent Duke press forces Arkansas- Pine Bluff to burn their third timeout of the half to try to set up their final possession.

In other news, this blog is now nearly 2300 words, and we still have a half to go—whose having fun out there, folks?

The final possession of the first half is much like every other for the Golden Lions, as sloppy play leads to a loose ball, a turnover, and a missed opportunity. Duke heads into the break up 19, and assumedly very happy with their effort thus far.  More to come after the half.

Duke 33, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 18 3:43 1st Half: Don’t tell the Blue Devils mascot that Duke is already up 14 in this contest—he is now making the rounds to young Duke fans in the crowd, taking pictures and exhibiting his usual intensity. The two young fans sitting directly behind me certainly seem happy after his visit.

Duke comes out of the timeout lacking the intensity of its mascot, though, throwing the ball out of bounds in an attempt to break the press. That ambivalent attitude doesn’t last long though, as Singler dives on the floor for a loose ball to force a jump ball, and then an Arkansas-PB player dribbles the ball out of bounds, turning the ball over to Duke once again. The Golden Lions now have five turnovers, and if air-balls were counted that stat would be significantly higher.

Smith sinks two free-throws on the offensive end, stretching Duke’s lead to 16. Dominick Moore airballs another three pointer for the Golden Lions, but in the ensuing mayhem Arkansas-PB retains possession— only to miss another ill-advised three. A surprisingly easy put-back by Singler, giving him nine points in the first half, stretches Duke’s lead to 18, but that lead is short-lived as Tavaris Washington hits an and-one over Miles Plumlee, prompting Associate Head Coach Chris Collins to remind the sophomore to play defense “side-to-side.”

In a familiar site for Duke fans, a nice-looking drive by Mason Plumlee doesn’t find its way into the net, and neither does his athletic put-back attempt. The Golden Lions answer with another and-one on the offensive end, as Dawkins commits the cardinal sin of fouling a jump shooter. The crowd gives its loudest cheer of the night, seeing a possible upset brewing. Hoping to gain momentum, the Golden Eagles turn on the full-court press, but the decision quickly backfires as Scheyer makes a wide-open three point jumper.

As Zoubek and Thomas reenter the game, one would have to think Duke’s defensive intensity would improve—and one would be right. Thomas and Zoubek proceed to trap an Arkansas-Pine Bluff driver, forcing him to travel and giving Duke back the ball. A questionable foul call sends Smith to the line on the bonus, and he calmly sinks both shots for his third and fourth points of the night.

Townshend, though, continues to provide a spark off the bench for Arkansas-Pine Bluff, making a pretty layup after absorbing some contact from Zoubek to cut the lead back down to 15. While a 15 point margin is certainly nothing to laugh at, it is interesting to note Duke’s inability to truly blow this 1-16 matchup open, thanks to increased intensity from the Golden Lions.

Duke 24, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 10 7:49 1st Half: Zoubek steps to the line after the break, and sinks one of two. Savalance Townshend finally sinks a three for the Golden Lions (what a name, no?), and a Duke turnover gives Arkansas-Pb the ball back as the Plumlees and Scheyer reenter the game. Mason immediately makes an impact too, blocking a long Golden Eagle jumper.

Duke certainly has done a solid job taking the ball to the rim, and are already in the bonus as a result. Singler takes advantage, sinking two free throws—the junior now leads the game with seven points. the Blue Devils may be getting slightly overconfident though, if an ill-advised one-on-one Nolan Smith layup attempt on a 3-on-1 break is any indication.  Still, Duke’s defense does not relent, forcing the Golden Eagles to turn the ball over on the subsequent possession, leading us into another media-timeous.

Duke 21, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 7 9:36 1st Half: As action resumes, the Arkansas-PB cheerleaders start to chant “Let’s Go Lions”—which, as someone from the city of Detroit, I find moderately offensive.  Why must they bring up memories that hurt a Detroit Lions fan so, why?

Duke’s defense remains stiflying, as the Golden Lions put up another airbal, and Singler takes it to the rack in transition and buys another trip to the line. Singler makes one of two, and Nolan Smith reenters the game to give Singler a breather. An interesting three guard lineup in now for Duke, with Scheyer, Smitha, dnd Awkins all in.

On the defensive side, Duke remains dominant, as Mason Plumlee rejects an errant Arkansas-PB shot and Scheyer runs down the rebound.  Andre Dawkins then takes it to the rack in transition, and gets bailed out of a questionable shot selection with a foul call. Dawkins only makes one of two, but regardless of the results it must be a good sight for duke fans to see Dawkins taking it to the rack with confidence.  Indeed, DAwkins does so again on the subsequent possession, but after getting to the rim is called for a charge.

The Golden Eagles finally end their streak of cold shooting with a corner jumper from Weathers, but Miles Plumlee answers on the offensive end by putting back his own errant post-shot. Duke is out-rebounding the undersized Golden Eagles seven to three in the early going, and with the return of Zoubek, Singler, and Thomas, they are now only more overmatched down low.

The Golden Lions seemed to have stepped up the defensive intensity, trapping Nolan Smith out past the three point line, but they neglected to account for Smith’s court vision, as the junior hit a wide-open Lance Thomas under the basket for an easy dunk.  Indeed, Duke seems to be getting their shots at will here early, as Singler gets a wide-open three followed by an easy put-back opportunity—but misses both.

Duke’s defensive intensity, though, can’t be questioned here early, as Zoubek forces his man to pick up his dribble and the Golden Lions call another timeout with 11:26 remaining. The timeout allows the Blue Devils to put freshman Ryan Kelly into the game for the first time to give Scheyer a breather. This gives Duke a tremendously tall lineup, with the 6-foot-8 Singler playing shooting guard and the 6-foot-10 Kelly at the small forward spot.

The timeout certainly didn’t seem to energize the Golden Lions, as after another lackluster offensive possession Thomas is able to convert on an athletic layup after getting his man in the air with a pump fake. Interesting to see an opposition respecting Thomas’ jump shot enough to bite on the pump fake, considering that was once a weakness of the forward’s game.  And another Arkansas-PB shot that doesn’t even hit the rim, Zoubek grabs an offensive rebound and will go to the line after the media-timeout.

Duke 13, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 5 15:39 1st Half: The Golden Eagles take over after the timeout, but the result is the same, as Tavaris Washington travels trying to take it to the basket.  Kyle Singler answers with a mid-range jumper on the offensive end, but Lebaron Weathers answers right back with a three.  If The Golden Eagles’ center can shoot from the outside, that could create a mismatch for the slower Zoubek—but Zoubek seems to be creating a mismatch of his own downlow, schooling Weathers once again with that same turn-around hook shot, this time from a little farther away.

Arkansas-PB is stymied again on the offensive end, and once again Singler imposes his will on his shorter defender, taking in to the rack for an easy floater.  After a ticky-tack foul on the Golden Eagles extends a Duke posession, Scheyer sinks a three off of a touch pass from Zoubek off of the inbounds play, and Duke is quickly up eight.  Zoubek, though, is called for a questionable foul of his own the defensive end, sending Gavin Montgomery to the line in hsi first minutes off the bench.

On the offensive end, an offensive rebound by Lance Thomas leads to a trip to the line and two more points for the Blue Devils, and Duke makes its first substitutions of the game—sending in the Plumlee brothers and Andre Dawkins. Interesting to see Coach K use his bench so liberally so early in this contest—either he is very confident his team will easily win this game, or he is taking the media’s *cough, cough* concern’s about fatigue more seriously then we think.

Regardless, Duke is up eight at the first media-timeout, and the arena is starting to fill up a little more—it is now probably a bit more than half full, specially as some Louisville and Cal fans trickle into their seats.

Duke 2, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 0 18:55 1st Half: And we’re underway!  Zoubek easily wins the tip from the much shorter Arkansas-Pine Bluff center, and the tone is immediately set on the offensive side of the ball, as the play is run through Zoubek in the post who makes a pretty turn-around hook for two.  Duke’s mild press then forces the Golden Lions to throw the ball right into the press, and Duke quickly takes over again.  Zoube, though, can’t take advantage of his height a second time, missing an open-layup off the inbounds pass.

On the defensive end, Nolan Smith is hounding Arkansas-PB guard Terrence Calvin, forcing the senior to pick up his dribble and burn the team’s first timeout of the contest.

Duke 0, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 0 20:00 1st Half: As the starting lineups are introduced , the arena is still not even half full.  Still, I would say there is a 3-to-1 ratio of Duke fans to Arkansas-Pine Bluff fans, if the general color of the stands and the cheers during the starting lineups are any indication (I didn’t even notice when the Golden Lions took the court since the cheer was so quiet).  Perhaps the second game of the night will be more full, if the amount of Louisville fans in my hotel is any indication (and assuming Blue Devils fans plan on staying to see Duke’s possible second round opponent).

The Golden Lions are trying to get pumped up in some sort of circle dance—really, I’m not the best guy to describe such things.  Regardless, Duke’s NCAA Tournament run is about to begin!

PREGAME: Welcome to lovely Jacksonville Veteran’s Memorial Arena, everyone!  I’m here at the very corner of press row to bring you The Chronicle’s Live Blog of the 1st Round of the NCAA Tournament. (But not without hassle, mind you—my trip here involved my taxi getting in an accident, my press pass being under the wrong name, and having to pay an exorbitant amount for wireless internet access.)  Still, the environment here is pretty awesome—I was gently pushed aside by Brian Zoubek as the team entered the arena while I was trying to find my seat, and Jim Nantz just walked by and said hello to us lesser media-types.

As we approach gametime, the starters for Duke are as expected: Nolan SMith, Jon Scheyer, Lance THomas, Kyle Singler, and Brian Zoubek. The Golden Lions will counter with Allen Smith, Terrence Calvin, Tavaris Washington, George Davis, and Lebaron Weathers. Something to keep an eye on is Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s lack of size– Weathers is the tallest of the starting lineup, standing at only 6-foot-8, and point guard Smith stands at only 5-10.

The stadium is not even half full, but there is a significant cheer as the Blue Devils take the court with less than five minutes before tip-off, and Duke fans crowded around the entrance to greet their beloved team.  Stick with The Chronicle’s Sports Blog tonight for all the highlights and analysis from tonight’s game.

Loyal readers of The Chronicle’s Sports Blog: get used to seeing my name this weekend.  You see, I’m sitting in lovely RDU airport, using some surprisingly free Wi-Fi, and preparing to head down to Jacksonville to cover Duke’s first weekend in the NCAA Tournament.  As I’m the only Chronicle reporter doing so (thanks, economic crisis and declining journalism industry!) it will be my most cherished responsibility to keep you all updated on the goings on down in Florida, both in terms of Duke’s contests this weekend and any other games that I’m privy to watch at the Veteran’s Memorial Arena.  You know what that means: lots and lots of lovely blog posts!

As we look forward to Duke’s contest versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff (or, as a friend has dubbed the team abbreviated Arkansas-PB, Arkansas Peanut Butter), a couple things immediately stand out. First, Duke should in no way be over-confident heading into tonight’s game, especially after the chaos that was day one of the NCAA Tournament. In a day that featured a No. 3 seed in Georgetown being handily beaten by No. 14 seed Ohio (which was the No. 9—nine!—seed in their own conference tournament), as well as No. 4 seed Vanderbilt being upset at the buzzer by No. 13 seed Murray State, there were also a rash of near upsets—No. 2 seed Villanova needed overtime to take down No. 15 seed Robbert Morris, and No. 3 seed New Mexico, No. 3 seed Baylor and even No. 1 seed Kansas had some trouble dispatching their first-round opponents. But all indications are the Blue Devils are focused on the game tonight, and if that is indeed the case the Golden Lions shouldn’t pose much of a threat to Duke.

Second, how Duke plays in this game, and especially how Coach Krzyzewski utilizes the bench, could set a tone for the rest of the NCAA Tournament. One of the most encouraging results of the ACC Tournament was the reemergence of freshmen Andre Dawkins and Mason Plumlee as legitimate offensive threats off the bench—which, not so surprisingly, was directly correlated with their increasing minutes in the Tournament.  If the Blue Devils are able to run away from Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the last five minutes or so of garbage time still could hold critical importance for Duke fans, as they could serve as crucial confidence boosters for both of these freshmen.

Stay tune to The Chronicle’s Sports Blog throughout the weekend for more posts from Jacksonville (i.e. whenever there is a break in the Tournament or I just get bored in my hotel room), as well as my Live Blog tonight and my game-story on dukechronicle.com tomorrow morning.

Embrace the Madness, folks!

We live-Tweeted America's Next Top Model last night. To see how #Simone fared. In this time of March Madness, here is a different reason to cheer on (or resent?) Duke.

Check it out @chronicleRecess. Will Duke's Simone get the boot or make it to the next episode.

Live! Blog! Oscars! All in one place.

film editor Charlie McSpadden provides his predictions for Hollywood's big night

Catch an advanced screening of the new White Stripes tour documentary at the Coffeehouse tonight

Krzyzewskiville residents, batten down the hatches. The National Weather Service is predicting gusts of up to 55 miles per hour tomorrow and sustained winds of 25 to 35.

After Duke's women's basketball team beat UNC at home on Wednesday, students gathered on the main west quad to celebrate the victory by burning some benches. Here's a photo slideshow from photographers Courtney Douglas and Michael Naclerio.

We filmed the entire Young Trustee Debate. Watch it here.

Duke's Fuqua School of Business has been ranked 20th in the Financial Times 2010 Global MBA rankings, up two spots from last year.

Check here to see clips from Tuesday night's Young Trustee Town Hall forum.

A friendly reminder to join our challenge on ESPN here. You have until noon tomorrow to fill out your bracket and join the group. Winner gets space on the blog to trash talk to his or her heart’s desire. Plus a picture, if you want.

Is your basketball knowledge greater than ours? Here’s your chance to find out!

In a continued effort to support the victims of Haiti, various campus organizations are coming together for a benefit showcase on March 2 to raise money for relief.

Duke earned a 1-1 draw against the MLS club New England Revolution in a scrimmage played Wednesday morning at the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC. As part of its preseason schedule, the Revolution are spending a week in North Carolina, playing three games including this morning’s match versus the Blue Devils.

New England opened the scoring in the 13th minute when forward Zack Schilawski slotted one past Duke goalkeeper James Belshaw. Just a minute later though, the Blue Devils equalized as Nick Sih headed headed home a Blue Devil corner kick. Though just a scrimmage, the game became chippy at points with a couple of hard challenges that got players yelling. Each team had plenty of chances throughout the remainder of the match, but none found the back of the net.

The game marked the return of Revolution players Darrius Barnes (Duke ‘08) and Mike Videira (Duke ‘06). Barnes did not see any action in the contest while Videira played the final forty five minutes for New England in the center of its midfield. Videira had one of New England’s best chances in the second half as he nearly scored on a header in the 76th minute.

The game marked the third of seven spring matches for the Blue Devils. Duke fell 3-2 to the Carolina Railhawks on February 20 and 2-1 to N.C. State on March 4. The Blue Devils’ spring practices continue for the upcoming weeks with their next match not coming until April4 against CSN Cork. For the full spring schedule, click here.

President Obama filled out his NCAA tournament bracket with ESPN senior writer Andy Katz today at noon on SportsCenter.

The President predicted that Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky and Villanova would all reach the Final Four.

A minor problem for Mr. Obama, however, was his misspelling of “Syracuse” when he chose the Orange to edge out Butler in the Sweet 16. When Katz informed the President that he forgot the “r” in Syracuse, Mr. Obama laughed at his mistake and joked that his daughters would tease him for the error.

Mr. Obama is an staunch supporter of North Carolina and even played in a scrimmage with the Tar Heels during his presidential campaign in 2008.

Even though his personal aide, Reggie Love, attended Duke and played on the basketball team, President Obama refused to put the Blue Devils in the Final Four and instead advanced the Wildcats.

“I finally break away from Reggie Love and pick Nova,” Mr. Obama told Katz.

Last year, President Obama picked eventual champion North Carolina to win the NCAA tournament. Do you think his predictions are right this year?