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November 20th, 2008
by Fairway Jay
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Nov 20 2008 - 6:59am
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Preview & Prediction: By Fairway Jay |
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Southern Illinois (2-0) and Duke (3-0) meet at Madison Square Garden in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic. Duke is ranked #10 in the AP poll and has four returning starters led by forward Kyle Singler, who has scored 59 points in three games this season after averaging 13.3 ppg last year. Outside of Singler, Duke lacks front court strength without a true big man and relies heavily on a ‘drive and kick’ offense with plenty of 3-point shooting. Duke was pushed to the limit by Rhode Island and their solid set of shooters in the Blue Devils recent 82-79 home win. Senior point guard Greg Paulus played just 11 minutes in that contest as he’s battling an arm injury. He’ll be more ready to contribute and get guards Jon Scheyer and Gerald Henderson involved in the offense with Singler.
Southern Illinois has been an annual participant in the NCAA Tournament this decade until last year’s appearance in the NIT. Head coach Chris Lowery’s teams pride themselves on high-pressure and tenacious man-to-man defense and have a solid experienced floor leader in senior point guard Bryan Mullins. He was the Missouri Valley defensive Player-of-the-Year last season and has been instrumental in getting all players involved in the offense while distributing 21 assists in two games this season. He also leads the team in steals and Southern Illinois has forced 42 turnovers in two games. Southern Illinois is a very young team outside of guards Mullins, Wesley Clemmons and forward Tony Boyle. However, sophomore forward Carlton Fay is primed for a breakout season and he along with some of SIU’s best recruiting talent will need to provide strength and rebounding inside after the team lost most of it’s top rebounders from last year. Southern Illinois did a solid job of pressuring the ball handler and slowing down the quick outlet passes and fast break chances while rallying from a 15-point deficit to beat UMASS. It will be a tougher task against Duke with their quickness and better ball handlers.
Southern Illinois may find the Madison Square Garden environment and the hype of playing Duke a bit overwhelming, and mounting a rally against a more talented and together team will be a real struggle if they fall behind early.
Winner: Duke Margin: 10+ points.
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Who Will Win?:
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About Fairway Jay
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Previews & Predictions
Contact
fairwayjay@cox.net
Background
Jay Ginsbach, also known as "Fairway Jay’"joins the CHN team and staff this season from Sportsmemo.com. He’ll provide his insight and expertise covering the college basketball scene with periodic thoughts from a Las Vegas perspective.
Location
Las Vegas
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Comments
Don't Listen
Don't listen to this guy. Salukis gonna shock the WORLD tonight.
I wouldn't bank on the upset
I wouldn't bank on the upset tonight. Unless Dillard or Clemons really gets hot from outside, I don't see how you'll put enough points on the board. Looking forward to the game though, havent watched SIU this season and want to see how good Dillard really is.
Bob Knight
Should not be allowed to announce a game, ever.
i admit he got a lot better
i admit he got a lot better btw
Bob Knight Improved
I didn't think Knight was as awful as he was last year. It was still not the greatest college basketball watching experience, but it is not as bad as what Dick Vitale is doing with UCLA. 10 of the 20 minutes of the first half of the UCLA-Michigan game has been about how amazing Jrue Holliday is. Great player, yes. Worth half the first half, no.
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