POSTGAME: With the Blue Devils wearing 2K Sports Classic champion T-shirts, Gerald Henderson walks up to shake hands with Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis as part of the all-tournament team. One minute later, Singler is named tournament MVP--the second time in two years he's taken home the honor. Singler was the Maui Invitational's MVP last year. "Glory Days" blaring on the P.A. system. We are near Jersey, after all--but Duke hopes its glory days will come in March, not November.
DUKE 71, MICHIGAN 56, FINAL: Hail to the victors--the Blue Devils. Duke takes the 2K Sports Classic, its second consecutive preseason tournament championship. Still waiting to hear about tournament MVP--our money's on Henderson--but we're headed down to the locker room. More later.
DUKE 71, MICHIGAN 53, 1:42: Henderson, Singler, Scheyer and Smith out, having combined for 50 of Duke's 71 points. Czyz, Pocius, Williams and Plumlee join Paulus on the floor. Now the only question is whether Jordan Davidson or Steve Johnson will make an appearance.
DUKE 65, MICHIGAN 53, 2:33: Wrong about that one. Smith checks back into the game, but we have a brief question: Why? Duke's up 12, and the game isn't in question. If Michigan cuts the lead to within single digits, then Smith can come back. But why now? Doesn't seem to make much sense.
DUKE 65, MICHIGAN 50, 3:36: This is the type of news Duke fans didn't want to hear in the last few minutes of a blowout. Nolan Smith went down hard after going up strong for a dunk. He made both of his ensuing free throws, but was immediately replaced by Paulus. Smith walked to the bench clutching his right wrist or hand (we couldn't tell from press row), but either way, we'd be shocked to see Smith return to the game. If he doesn't, he'll finish with 12 points and seemed to have develop (or finally display) the type of swagger the Blue Devils need of him.
DUKE 61, MICHIGAN 44, 6:51: Recall for a second the theme of last night's game: Henderson, Singler and Smith are unstoppable in the second half, Duke wins big. Same thing tonight--and it could be the same the rest of the season. The Big Three have combined for 35 of Duke's 61 points, led by Singler's 15. The other two have 10. What's more impressive, though, is the way Henderson is still fighting for rebounds and outhustling Michigan's post players--this coming from a kid who was so out of shape his freshman year that Duke thought he had asthma. We would say he's breathing pretty well now.
DUKE 55, MICHIGAN 41, 11:33: Yawn. With the exception of a few plays from Smith and Henderson, neither of Duke's two games in the Garden have had any sort of "oomph" factor. Both have been lethargic contests in which the Blue Devils' talent level has been too much for Southern Illinois and Michigan. That doesn't mean tonight's game should be more lopsided. It's just a bit boring, especially in comparison to Duke's contest in the Garden last year. Maybe that's what this hushed buzz in the stands is: boredom.
DUKE 53, MICHIGAN 38, 13:36: Sometimes, Kyle Singler looks lost on the floor. With Duke in transition, Singler took a pass from Paulus at midcourt, faked a pass to Elliot Williams in the corner and seemed to not know what to do. So he shot an NBA-range 3-pointer. And he made an NBA-range 3-pointer. Duke up 15, Michigan timeout. Haven't heard Hail to the Victors in a while...
DUKE 47, MICHIGAN 38, 14:46: Scheyer gets fouled shooting a 3-pointer on the first play out of Krzyzewski's timeout, which leads into the media timeout. Twenty seconds of play in 10 minutes--it's the NCAA on TV! Something to watch for in the next 15 minutes is Smith's lower back. A trainer has been rubbing it throughout the game, and now Paulus has replaced Smith, who has played one of his best games of the season.
DUKE 47, MICHIGAN 38, 15:04: Just when the Blue Devils had established a comfortable 14-point lead and just when it looked as if they might finally pull away from Michigan, Manny Harris nails a deep 3-pointer and flushes home a dunk to cut the lead to nine and force Krzyzewski to call a full timeout. Earlier in the half, Smith and Henderson barely missed on an alley-oop connection. This time around, they worked out their kinks. Smith dribbled up court and, still about five feet behind the NBA 3-point line, lofted a pass to Henderson, who flew over his defender, slammed it home and was fouled in the process. He hung on the rim for a bit and as soon as he landed, pointed directly at Smith. It's always good to be gracious.
DUKE 39, MICHIGAN 31, HALFTIME: Michigan went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to five, but Duke--really, Nolan Smith--responded yet again. Smith's line at half: eight points, four rebounds, three assists. The Blue Devils haven't exactly been perfect against the 1-3-1 zone, but they have managed to break it enough times to be proficient, and have tried to push the ball in transition to preclude the Wolverines from setting up. Smith did that near the end of the half, when he grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast for an easy layup. Going to get some cookies in the press box--just another perk of the job.
DUKE 31, MICHIGAN 24, 3:56: Remember that pre-game prediction our friend made, that Duke needed someone to run the baseline instead of simply relying on penetrate-and-kicks? Well, the Blue Devils have favored the latter, but in their last two sequences, Singler has jogged up and down the baseline while Duke overloaded one side to counter the 1-3-1 defense. Paulus and the Blue Devils still look somewhat confused by the zone, but the lead is still intact, and they've been able to break it (or the defense has broken down) enough where it's not a practical problem right now.
DUKE 25, MICHIGAN 17, 7:42: When Duke sent out Smith, Zoubek, Dave McClure, Marty Pocius and Elliot Williams, Gabe Starosta turned to me and asked if Krzyzewski actually wanted the Blue Devils to score. It was a peculiar lineup, to say the least. And then Duke went on an 8-0 run--of course it did. Smith was in the middle of the action, hitting two short-range jumpers and finding Williams on a backdoor layup. After Smith's second jumper, Michigan head coach John Beilein was forced to call a 30-second timeout with his team down 10. Sidenote: We forgot to mention that Paulus hit an open three in the corner in the last segment, which gave him his first points in New York. Now, the starters are back in with an eight-point cushion that wouldn't have been possible without a solid stint from the cast of reserves.
DUKE 17, MICHIGAN 15, 11:02: The Wolverines haven't had trouble scoring, mostly because they've been able to take advantage of the vulnerabilities associated with Duke's tough man-to-man defense. The Blue Devils are overplaying and face-guarding defenders, allowing Michigan's players to slip backdoor for easy layups. It's a variation of the Princeton offense UCLA fans know and love. The Blue Devils' defense, on a whole, is particularly interesting tonight because some of the post players are defending guards. Kyle Singler and Lance Thomas have taken turns guarding Michigan point guard Stu Douglass, for one. Looks like Smith will replace Greg Paulus at this media timeout, and while he's on the bench, Paulus might want to think about not picking up his dribble at midcourt against the 1-3-1, which Smith was wont to do earlier in the game, as well.
DUKE 9, MICHIGAN 4, 15:38: Contrary to last night, the Blue Devils come out ready to play, which was evident from the game's first play, when Gerald Henderson elevated for an easy baby hook. Duke has had little trouble countering the Wolverines' 1-3-1 zone by quickly rotating the ball around the perimeter to open shooters in the corner and by playing a triangle offense that has resulted in two Brian Zoubek layups. Henderson has already brought the crowd to its feet with an authoritative block, but he missed his chance for an encore when he couldn't quite oop Nolan Smith's alley. It looks like he'll have plenty more chances.
PREGAME: Looks as if Duke's managers were busy doing laundry Thursday night. The Blue Devils are sporting their black threads for the second straight night.
PREGAME: The Garden is much fuller tonight than it was last night--after all, Duke is in the second game tonight, and Friday night games are usually more popular than Thursday night affairs. Both bowls are, for the most, part full, even if it's not entirely loud yet. These neutral court games are typically more subdued. Duke starting lineup was just announced, and there are no surprises: Scheyer, Singler, Henderson, Smith and Zoubek. Ready for tip.
PREGAME: Twenty-four hours, a few cups of coffee and one major upset later, and we're back to live blog No. 10 Duke's 2K Sports Classic final against No. 4 UCLA Michigan. Few saw this surprise coming, but perhaps UCLA's struggling with Miami (Ohio) in the subregional was more of the norm than the exception for the young Bruins, who are now embroiled in a slugfest with Southern Illinois. Instead, the Blue Devils will tangle with the Wolverines and their vaunted 1-3-1 zone defense that gave UCLA fits last night. The armchair analysis from one of our loyal readers: "Duke's going to need to run the baseline tonight to break that defense, because the drive and kick, as UCLA tried to do, won't work." Predictions, anyone?
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