Duke to play Southern Illinois in Garden game

By: By Bill Cole | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: November 20, 2008

Duke will plays its first game of the season away from Cameron Indoor Stadium when it meets Southern Illinois at 7 p.m. today in New York's Madison Square Garden, in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic Benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament.

Duke is 3-0. Southern Illinois is 2-0.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski said he considers the neutral-site game in front of an impartial crowd an important step for his developing team, particularly after Sunday's hard-fought 82-79 win over Rhode Island.

"To beat a team that played pretty much a perfect game, showed that we have to perform under pressure," Krzyzewski said. "I was proud of my guys. It was a great high-level game. Any games in the Garden will be high level."

UCLA and Michigan will play in the second semifinal, and the winners will meet Friday for the title.

Krzyzewski is hoping that senior point guard Greg Paulus will be fully recovered from an arm injury that limited his play against Rhode Island. Paulus was injured two days before the game.

"He's doing better," Krzyzewski said. "You could tell that he was not close to being 100 percent on Sunday. He went on guts alone. We need him. Greg is an integral part of who we are as a basketball team."

Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer have carried Duke in its first three games. Singler has been the steadiest player, and Scheyer has adjusted quickly to a starting role after playing as the sixth man last season.

Scheyer scored 23 points, and Singler had 21 against Rhode Island, and Krzyzewski said he wants those two, with Gerald Henderson, to be the Blue Devils' main cogs all season.

"What we've tried to do is build our team around Singler, Scheyer and Henderson and complement them," Krzyzewski said. "Those are our three best players."

Southern Illinois advanced by beating California of Pennsylvania 66-52 and Massachusetts 80-73. Carlton Fay, a 6-8 sophomore forward, had 16 points and 11 rebounds in the first game and 17 points in the second game.

Bryan Mullins added 16 points and 13 assists against UMass. Mullins is a senior guard, but Coach Chris Lowery of Southern Illinois is concerned that his team started slowly in both games and needed strong second-half performances to win.

"Obviously we're a very young team and it's shown at times," Lowery said.

■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.