Were it not for late clutch free throws from Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler, Duke's unexpectedly close 82-79 win over Rhode Island Sunday might have been a tale of tragedy instead of a story of survival.
Now, after three days to analyze their brush with disaster, the Blue Devils step onto the biggest stage in basketball with a golden opportunity to showcase their resolve.
No. 10 Duke (3-0) tips off against Southern Illinois tonight at 7 p.m. in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The winner will play either UCLA or Michigan Friday night, but Duke knows it can't afford to look past the Salukis after Rhode Island almost brought an end to the Blue Devils' 62-game home non-conference winning streak.
"Going into New York and the rest of the season, I don't know if anybody's played a game like [that] yet," Scheyer said. "To beat a team like that this early and get tested at home... [was] a great thing for us."
Southern Illinois (2-0) promises to present Duke with a test just as difficult as the one posed by Rhode Island, if not more so. The Salukis' appearance in the National Invitation Tournament last postseason snapped their string of six straight NCAA Tournament berths, a run in which they played their way into the Sweet 16 on two separate occasions.
"Over the years, they've had a really rich basketball tradition," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "They've developed a tournament-type program based on terrific defense."
On the defensive end, Duke will have to stifle Southern Illinois point guard Bryan Mullins, the defending Missouri Valley Conference defensive player of the year as well as the quarterback of the methodical Saluki offense. The 6-foot-1 senior, whom Krzyzewski was quick to praise as "one of the most efficient players in the country," spearheaded his team's come-from-behind 80-73 win in the 2K Sports Classic subregional over Massachusetts Nov. 12, tallying 16 points and 13 assists.
"He's such a good leader for them," Krzyzewski said. "I think he epitomizes the type of player that Southern Illinois has had over the last 10-15 years."
It will, however, take more than a solid defensive effort to get past the Salukis. The Blue Devils must find a way to consistently breach Southern Illinois' traditionally suffocating man-to-man defense.
An offensive outburst from forward Gerald Henderson might be the right prescription. The junior has been uncharacteristically quiet in his first three games-having scored in double figures just once-but might benefit from a return to the Garden, where he paced the Blue Devils with 17 points in their overtime loss against Pittsburgh last year.
"Once he gets into a good rhythm with what we're doing and the guys he's doing it with, he has the chance to be one of the better players in the country," Krzyzewski said. "Hopefully, Madison Square Garden will bring out the best in him."
In the arena where Southern Illinois' most famous alumnus, former New York Knicks point guard Walt Frazier, used to dazzle audiences on a nightly basis, Henderson and Duke will look to channel the extra excitement that comes with playing in the Big Apple into a winning effort.
"New York is such a great basketball town, and there's such electricity in the city," Krzyzewski said. "It's still, to me, the Mecca."
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