THE CONTENTS: It's the second Top-10 showdown of the season for the No. 6 Blue Devils, who take on No. 7 Xavier at the "neutral" Izod Center (a.k.a. Continental Airlines Arena a.k.a. Brendan Byrne Arena) at the snowy and swampy Meadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ. It is undoubtedly the biggest sporting event to be played at the Meadowlands this weekend. You can see the game on CBS at 2 p.m. with Verne Lundquist and Clark Kellogg and hear it locally on 620 AM.
THE EXPOSITION: Duke (8-1) bounced back from its loss at Michigan with a 99-56 rout of UNC-Asheville.
Xavier (9-0) last played Saturday, winning at crosstown rival Cincinnati 76-66 in a heated environment. The Musketeers also boast neutral-floor victories over Virginia Tech (on a halfcourt buzzer beater) and No. 23 Memphis.
The Blue Devils are already 2-0 against the Atlantic-10 this season, although it's a bit of an understatement to say Rhode Island and Duquesne aren't exactly in the same "league" as Xavier.
Duke is 3-0 all-time against the Musketeers, including an underrated Elite Eight matchup in 2004. Luol Deng carried the Blue Devils that day in arguably their last significant NCAA Tournament win; they haven't won on the second weekend since.
THE PROTAGONISTS: Duke played arguably its best game of the season Wednesday night--albeit against UNC-Asheville. The Blue Devils dissected the Bulldogs' zone with crisp passing and precise shooting from beyond the arc, along with some work on the offensive glass.
It is tough, however, to take a whole lot away from that game. It is UNC-Asheville, after all (sorry, Bulldog fans). Additionally, Duke hasn't been able to have that kind of shooting night outside of Cameron all season. Is it possible that the Blue Devils are this year's Notre Dame--a team that lights it up at home but plays completely differently anywhere else?
THE ANTAGONISTS: Xavier lost a lot from last year's Elite Eight squad, including guards Drew Lavender and Stanley Burrell and do-everything forward Josh Duncan. However, they return seniors B.J. Raymond and C.J. Anderson along with junior Derrick Brown, who leads the Musketeers in scoring at 14 per game.
Xavier, though, is defined by its balance, just like last year. It's a team saturated with athletic wings that can get to the bucket and shoot the rock; in other words, it's the kind of team that gives Duke trouble.
THE CONFLICT: Can Duke find its stroke outside of Cameron? And will their pressure defense be exposed by a team with athletic enough wings to beat them backdoor?
WHAT WAS THE DEAL WITH THAT STARTING LINEUP WEDNESDAY?: At the risk of being reductive (since I wasn't at the postgame press conference and didn't read any game stories), I'd say it was a "We're playing Asheville, let's get some of the other guys some time" situation and not a "We need to send a message to the starters, and what better way to do it than against Asheville?" situation.
In other words, expect Smith, Scheyer, Henderson, Singler, and Zoubek gracing the court at 2:00 Saturday.
WHAT THE LOCAL MEDIA ARE SAYING: From Friday's Cincinnati Enquirer:
Xavier is reaping the benefits of the program's evolution under Miller. The Muskies are one of only nine schools that have made the Elite Eight multiple times in the last five years. They've won at least 20 games in three straight seasons, and 11 times in 12 years.The success helps Mercurio, who's always on the lookout for a marquee matchup: a game against a high-major on a neutral site with national television coverage. That Xavier achieved it against Duke is another feather in its cap.
"It shows you how far along we've come and the markets we're able to attract," Mercurio said.
WHAT THE NATIONAL MEDIA ARE SAYING: From Mike DeCourcy at The Sporting News:
Xavier will face a hostile environment and a team that is more fully realized than the Musketeers.
TIM'S FAVORITE PLAYER IN XAVIER HISTORY IS...: The Muskies don't go back too far in terms of quality players, but they're chock-full of them the last few years, including James Posey, David West, and Romain Sato. I'm going, however, with Sato's backcourt running mate, Lionel Chalmers, who spearheaded that '04 run to the Regional Finals.
OTHER NOTABLE X-MUSKETEERS: Baseball HOFer Jim Bunning is the best of a mediocre bunch of Wikipedia's Notable Alumni.
XAVIER WILL PROVE TROUBLE IF...: It shows up.
THE DENOUEMENT: Expect another tight one in the NY/NJ area. Last year it was Pitt knocking off Duke in OT, the year before the Blue Devils took care of Gonzaga down the stretch, and in '05 they escaped Drexel and Memphis in the NIT Season Tip-Off before blowing out Texas at the Meadowlands.
Duke has to come out aggressively on offense, forgoing relatively good three-point looks to press the issue inside the arc. Xavier isn't exactly a big team, and it's about time Gerald Henderson asserts himself early and often in a contest.
Xavier is a good team, but this isn't the No. 7 team in the country. The Musketeers have some nice wins already, but they're not exactly blowing away the competition. If this were last year's X-Men, they'd leave with a program-making statement win. This year's version? I'm not so sure.
I think it's tight throughout, with both teams struggling from outside early (a somewhat unusual start time in a new venue). Behind a rejuvenated Henderson and the secondary efforts of Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer, the Blue Devils build a four-point cushion at the half, and trade the lead back and forth after the intermission. In the last five minutes, though, Duke executes URI-style to escape with a big non-conference victory. DUKE 72-68.
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