Sorry about the lateness of this, precisely 1 hour and 16 minutes from tip. My bad. So it looks like instead of writing up a preview, I will instead link you to the fabulous preview the TwoDukies, my personal favorites, have written.
Ha! But did you think I was going to be lazy enough not to throw in my 2 cents? Not so fast, says Lee Corso. Villanova is obviously a formiddable opponent in front of us. They had to turn on the jets late to escape American the first round, followed by a shellacking of UCLA in part deux, 89-69. Villanova appears to have been the media darlings of the week, as everyone, every analyst employed by the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN, folks.) has picked the Wildcats to advance. Why no love for us? Are we overstaying our welcome? Of course not...our run is JUST BEGINNING!!!!!! Ex-Dukie Taylor King, yes the Biff look alike, and his new team shall not prevail tonight! Taylor KIng, just make like a TREE, and GET OUT OF HERE!
Despite that many recognize Scottie Reynolds as Nova's best player, 6-8 bruiser Dante Cunningham most definitely is. He and Kyle Singler look to battle out in a tussle of epic proportions. Who will get his way? Will Cunningham maximize his post edge early and often, or will Kyle drag him out to pop threes and penetrate the lane? Who knows. That is the key matchup of the game, as if Kyle with help from Brian, Dave, and Lance, are able to slow down Cunningham, that will be huge. Of course, though, if the refs allow this one to be a tough slugfest, the Nova has the advantage. Dwyane Anderson on the Cats also needs to be kept in check.
Villanova, strangely, benches Corey Fisher, who is arguably their 3rd best player. Him and Corey#2, Corey Stokes provide superior marksmanship from 3. If we can play the kind of perimeter D we had vs Texas, saturday, then we can definitely make the two a nonfactor. Also worth noting is that the battle of the PG's-a serious height deficiency for Nova lies within. Fisher who comes off the bench to assume the PG stands at 6-0, while Scheyer registers 5 inches taller. Advantage, US!
Ahhh, so what happens in the end? All of Bristol, Connecticut thinks Villanova will be the one who vanquishes the Blue Devils here, as likely as that looks to be, given Villanova's impressive showing against UCLA, I am not feeling them here. Obviously, if Nova is able to dictate a physical tempo, and the refs let it pass, we are in trouble. But I feel like this team is on a mission. Cunningham will get 20+, I think, but we will clamp down on the rest of the Wildcats to advance to the Elite 8, and possibly play Xavier (currently beating Pitt), who we beat to advance to the Final Four coincidentally the last time we were in the Elite 8, back in '04.
Besides, you know what happened the last time we beat a Wildcats team in the NCAA tournament? We won the national championship back in '01! (beating Arizona)
Come on DUKE! Let's go to the ELITE 8!!!!
Duke 70, Villanova 65
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