Wednesday Morning Shootaround

Duke 97, Georgia Southern 54: Kyle Singler once again led the way for Duke with 19 and 8 and Nolan Smith added 13 (including 3-4 from distance) as Duke advanced to the semifinals of the CvC where they will face the winner of SIU-UMass in MSG. A couple things of note from this game: Coach K didn't play the Devil's three freshman (Elliot Williams, Olek Czyz, Miles Plumlee) in the first half; the Devils may want to spend some time in practice this week on free throws as they were 25-49 against Georgia Southern; quote of the night goes to Coach K:

Our guys just hustled, and they made some great hustle plays, and all of a sudden, it was like a pinball machine -- boom, boom, boom. Double bonuses. The lights were going on, and, 'Holy mackerel, we're up by a lot of points.'

As Duke has been the only top 25 team playing the last two days, I've found myself thinking a lot about the make up of their roster. Putting Nolan Smith into the starting line up is going to make a big difference for this team. He is cut from the same cloth as the Chris Duhon's and the Sean Dockery's - a quick PG that will dog the opposing point guard for 94 feet. Nothing against Paulus - he can do a lot of things well - but he is not a good defender. Smith will set the tone for an improved defense. I think the additions of Plumlee and Czyz will be key as well. Plumlee looks like he has spent a lot of time in the weight room, because he has really filled out and looks every bit the 230 lb he is listed at. He will provide Duke with a defensive presence in the paint that they didn't have last year (and don't even think the name Brian Zoubek - he fouled out in seven minutes against Presbyterian). Czyz should be a solid energy guy off the bench, providing some of the toughness they lost with DeMarcus Nelson.

As far as I can tell, the one thing the Devils are missing is a go-to scorer. Kyle Singler is a very good player, but he is more of a guy that makes a living off of mismatches as opposed to someone you can give the ball to and say "go get me a basket". Henderson? Great athlete, still not much more. Paulus? Shooter. If the Devils really want to push the Heels in the ACC, they will need Jon Scheyer to turn into a go-to scorer. Don't get me wrong, the kid is a good player at this level. He's very smart with a high basketball IQ and he showed flashes of being a great scorer last year, but couldn't sustain it for the season. Scheyer can do a lot of things offensively - shoot, penetrate, pass - and I believe he has the ability to be a 15-17 ppg guy, the question is whether or not he has the mental make up to be one. He may just be too much of a team player.

Southern Illinois 66, California PA 52
Michigan 77, Michigan Tech 55
UMass 90, Arkansas Monticello 71: All three losers here were D2 schools, so it is a bit difficult to analyze these games. SIU seemed to struggle a bit with Cal-PA, as they were tied at the half, but I think that is more of a result of the style that the Saluki's play - they aren't going to be blowing a lot of teams out this year as much as they will slowly suffocate them defensively. The back court looked good, as BJ Mullins and Kevin Dillard (off the bench) combined for 16 points and 17 assists.

UMass seems like they will be pretty successful, at least offensively, in new coach Derek Kellogg's dribble-motion system. Ricky Harris had 22, Chris Lowe had 18 and 11 dimes, and Tony Gaffney added 16 points and 13 boards. The Minutemen were 12-27 from deep.

Manny Harris picked up where he left off for the Wolverines, dropping a career-high 30 on Michigan Tech. 

Northeastern 73, IUPUI 60: Northeastern jumped out to an early lead, and IUPUI never cut it to less than six. Northeastern got a balanced effort as they put four guys in double figures. The Wolverines need to watch out against this Huskies team. A 22 point win over a D2 opponent is not too impressive, and NEU will be coming out fired up with a chance to head to MSG.