LIVE BLOG: No. 10 Duke 83, SIU 58 (FINAL)

DUKE 83, SIU 58, FINAL: Down to the locker room for postgame interviews. Wrapup of tonight's game, quick preview of Duke's next opponent and a photo slideshow to come in the next few hours. Thanks for tuning in.

DUKE 76, SIU 53, 2:59: Plumlee, Elliot Williams and Dave McClure come in for Scheyer, Thomas and Henderson. As Henderson walks to his seat to start resting for tomorrow night's 2K Sports Classic final, Krzyzewski grabs him and gives him a hug--a sign of affection he typically reserves for only marquee performances. And despite a shaky first half, that's exactly what tonight was for Henderson. Krzyzewski had hoped that Madison Square Garden would bring out the best in Henderson. After tonight's performance, I'm not sure he could have asked for more.

DUKE 75, SIU 51, 3:30: Welcome to Gerald Henderson's world. Henderson has scored Duke's last seven points, and he, Singler and Smith have combined for 39 of Duke's last 46 points. Henderson's up to 20 by himself, all in the second half. The Blue Devils have made just two turnovers in the second half after committing 15 in the first half. And, oh yeah, Duke's up 24 in a game that was once close.

DUKE 66, SIU 49, 6:40: Finally, some fireworks. Singler picks off a pass at midcourt and dribbles the rest of the floor for an easy dunk. As he goes up, Tony Boyle nudges him from behind and Singler flies into the basket support, causing Krzyzewski, his assistants and the Blue Devils on the bench to jump out of their seats as if someone had told them UNC's injury bug was puttering around the bench. Krzyzewski had to be restrained by one of his assistants, who grabbed his jacket. Singler calmly knocks down the free throws, giving him a 6-0 run by himself and putting Duke in firm control of this game. Henderson makes a three to put Duke up 15, and we'll start writing our stories right now.

DUKE 55, SIU 47, 7:59: Want to know the reason Duke has already scored 26 points in only 12 minutes after posting only 29 in 20 in the first half? Henderson and Singler have combined for 17 of them after both going scoreless before the break. Both have been in the middle of almost every play after the break, and the Blue Devils are better for it.

DUKE 50, SIU 43, 10:34: Stat of the night: Lance Thomas is 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. Not bad for a kid who entered the contest 3-for-13 from the line, including a 1-for-8 performance against Georgia Southern.

DUKE 48, SIU 43, 10:46: SIU's Carlton Fay has made two field goals in a row to contribute to his game-high 13 points, forcing Krzyzewski to burn his first real timeout of the game (as he usually does, he called a 30-second timeout at the end of the first half as it would have gone to waste otherwise). Singler and Henderson re-entered the game after the break, and Henderson immediately draws a foul to stop the clock and bring on the 12-minute media timeout. The Salukis are up to six fouls, mostly because they haven't been able to corral Singler and Henderson. Duke will be in the bonus with SIU's next foul, which will likely pay dividends in the latter portion of the game.

DUKE 39, SIU 29, 15:53: Add Henderson to the equation. The dynamic forward just swished a 3-pointer right in front of Krzyzewski to push Duke's lead to 10, easily its biggest of the day. Henderson, Singler and Smith have now combined for Duke's last nine points--and, not surprisingly, the Blue Devils have a comfortable advantage for the first time all game. Looks like we do know something about basketball here.

DUKE 23, SIU 19, 3:47: And finally, Duke seems to find its step. After seven straight free throws, Paulus fakes a three at the top of the key, draws the defense and fires a past to Lance Thomas in the post for an easy dunk to cap off a 9-0 Duke run. Nick Evans breaks up the run with a short shot off the glas, and Paulus throws away his second pass of the night as he tries to drive right and kick a pass back out to the left. Despite the turnover, the past four minutes have been a good sign for Duke and, once again, Zoubek, Paulus and Scheyer have been in the middle of it. So much for the big three of Smith, Henderson and Singler--at least for now.

SIU 15, DUKE 14, 7:45: Someone should probably tell the No. 10 Blue Devils that they're not in Cameron Indoor Stadium anymore--and they're not playing Presbyterian or Georgia Southern, either. Duke looks completely flat right now, but the Salukis don't look much better. Smith has struggled in his first appearance on the big stage, and when backup point guard Greg Paulus replaced him, he managed to settle the team down. Enter Smith again, and enter Duke's troubles. Mike Krzyzewski hoped Madison Square Garden would bring out the best in Gerald Henderson, who has struggled in a season that he was expected to serve as the breakout player. Instead, Henderson has been subpar again and has yet to tally any points. Jon Scheyer's two 3-pointers have kept Duke in the game so far.

DUKE 10, SIU 9, 11:20: Must be something about being back in the Tri-State area, but junior center Brian Zoubek just played some of the best four minutes of his career. The 7-foot Zoubek has three points, two rebounds and has drawn several fouls to bump Duke up to the bonus with more than 10 minutes remaining in the opening period. Most importantly, though, Zoubek is displaying a confidence that's been missing in his game since his first exhibition, when he dropped 27 points in the Blue-White scrimmage as a freshman. It's particularly scary to watch him scream at an opponent trying to inbound the ball, which says something about the late-arriving crowd and volume of fans' taunts. (Except, of course, for the section of drunken Duke fans next to press row, one of whom has three full beers lined up on the slab of concrete in front of him. Should make for a fun second half.)

SIU 7, DUKE 3, 15:53: It all starts with the point guard, and there's a reason Duke looks hesitant right now--Nolan Smith hasn't found a rhythm yet and, moreover, looks completely out of sync. The Blue Devils have preferred a five-out approach on offense, and it's resulted in a bevy of contested shots. One thing to watch out for tonight (and possibly tomorrow, if Duke makes it that far) is the confusion of 3-point lines. In Cameron, there are two--one for the men, and one for the women. Here in the Garden, there are also two--one for college, and one for the NBA. A few college threes have already been attempted with the players' foot on the NBA line, and having only watched games in Cameron this year, I was at first surprised to see the referee's hand go up to indicate a 3-point attempt.

PREGAME: Crowd is filing in, albeit slowly. You'll have to excuse Duke's I-banking corps--it has an economy to save, and perhaps only that takes priority over Duke Basketball.

PREGAME: A few more gray hairs than usual in the 25-member Duke University Marching Band near the floor. Why? It's composed solely of alumni, as it usually is when the Blue Devils play in New York over break. If they're a bit out of tune or off beat, please excuse them. They might be rusty--although they seem just as loud as the regular band.

PREGAME: Just went down to the floor to watch the Blue Devils warm up. Only thing of note: Greg Paulus, who was limited to 11 minutes in Duke's last game with an arm injury, is still wearing an Iverson-esque sleeve on his right arm. Tonight, though, it's black, to match Duke's dark threads.

PREGAME: On the train into the City this afternoon, I leafed through the copy of ESPN the Magazine that was waiting for me in Casa de Cohen in New Jersey. In the inside college basketball section at the back of the book, Doug Gottlieb has about a paragraph to riff, and riff he did, especially on Duke: "PG Nolan smith gives Duke twice the ball pressure on D of ousted starter Greg Paulus, who never worked to improve his strength or speed..." Um, what? That sounds pretty biased and, well, straight-up untrue. It's easy to say that Smith is better than Paulus right now, which he may well be--but it's not because Paulus never worked on his strength or speed. How does it relate to tonight's game? Smith and Paulus will have their hands full with Saluki point guard Bryan Mullins, who posted 16 points and 13 assists in the team's win over Massachusetts in the subregional of the 2K Sports Classic. Paulus was injured in Duke's close win over Rhode Island Sunday, which could put even more of the burden on Smith. Luckily for the Blue Devils, Smith works on his strength and speed--at least according to one ESPN analyst.

PREGAME: Greetings from Madison Square Garden, the World's Most Famous Arena that also happens to double at Cameron Indoor Stadium North. Duke always travels well to New York (surprise, surprise), but the last time I was in this press box to cover the Blue Devils, Pitt's Levance Fields made a last-second 3-pointer over Dave McClure to hush the Duke faithful. Of course, the Panthers had a decent showing that day, too, because of their fan base's proximity to the Garden. Southern Illinois? Not so much. Expect a loud, pro-Duke crowd tonight, and if our predictions hold, the cheers will be just as raucous when the final buzzer blares.