Basset fouls Duke right away. There are now 30 seconds left and Duke is on the line. My heart, as I'm sure all yours are, is pumping rapidly.
Freshman Gerald Henderson misses the first one. Makes the second. IU ball. 54-51. IU has no timeouts. Bassett launches a three. Misses. Out of bounds. Duke ball. Suhr gets a steal!
He stands around for awhile. Passes to Bassett. Had a decent look for a three but he goes in for a two. Goes back out. Fakes three. Passes to Suhr. Heaves up desperation three and tries to draw a foul. No such luck.
And that is....the game.
Heartbreaker for IU. 54-51 Duke. Coach K gives Suhr a nice little hug.
OK folks, I got to go write headlines and edit Eamonn's and Matt's stories. I'd love to hear what you guys thought about the game in the comments. So keep firing away with those. And again, thanks for the participation.
Hugs and kisses -
Ryan
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Bassett goes right around the Duke defender on the right side and nails a layup. 53-51 Duke. 1:45 to go. Oh. My. God.
IU ball. 1:20 left. DJ gets the ball and gets swatted. Ball goes out of bounds. IU ball. Bassett goes up for a runner....no good. And Mike White gets called for an over the back. 53.4 to go. Duke shoots two. Nelson AIRBALLS the first one. And the second...IS MISSED.
IU ball. DJ gets a ball up close and fumbles it away. With 33 seconds left. Out of bounds. IU ball. And on the inbounds IU gets the ball stolen. Timeout Duke.
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Mike White misses the first free throw on a one-and-one. They are now 7-of-15 from the line. Not good at all.
IU's main man Errek Suhr draws a charge on Greg Paulus. Paulus fouls out on it.
There is 3:02 left. IU still trails by seven. And Bassett nails another three after a long field goal draught by IU. He now has 14 points. Looks like he hasn't folded under the pressure of Cameron Indoor. 53-49 Duke. (2:46 left)
This second half has been quite fun to watch, no?
Again, awesome work in the comments, friends. I appreciate the company.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DJ White picks up a foul and is on the line. Makes the first one. Misses the second. 50-46 Duke. IU continues to be shaky at the line.
And Scheyer buries a three down on the other end. 53-46 Duke. And Duke makes IU force up a three. Suhr airballs it. Eek. Then, Nelson takes a three...and just misses. Could have really buried IU with that one.
And then IU picks up a 10-second call. No good.
IU ball, timeout. 53-46 Duke.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dick Vitale just challenged DJ White to step it up with less than eight minutes left in the game. Perhaps DJ heard him and will respond?
Duke splits a pair of free throws. 48-43 Duke. Joey Shaw gets a board and is fouled. He hits the first free throw. IU is now 5-of-10 on the night. Make that 6-of-10. 48-45 Duke.
Nelson is called for a carry. Suhr brings the ball up the court, DJ eventually gets it and misses a layup. McRoberts is fouled by Ben Allen. And Allen fouls out. See ya, Mr. Aussie. He finished with two points. McRoberts hits the first and second. 50-45 Duke. (6:30 left)
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Shaw - who has four fouls mind you - goes in strong against two Duke defenders. Almost a charge, but no. He misses the first free throw...and the second. Man, IU's free throw percentage tonight is straight up garbage. McRoberts misses a layup on the other end.
And Bassett hits a three for IU. 45-43 Duke. This thing is still close. (8:45 to go)
Duke hits two free throws. 47-43 Duke.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wilmont is guarding Nelson out on the top of the key. Rod looks real fired up. And Suhr gets a charge. This kid is playing out of his mind. IU ball. With a chance to take the lead. Mike White shoots an ugly layup. No good.
Foul on IU. Nelson hits both free throws. 42-40. IU has the ball. Bassett drives in, kicks to Mike White. Nothing doing. Duke gets a steal and comes down and hits a three. It's 45-40 Duke. And the Crazies ignite again. Timeout Kelvin Sampson and crew.
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McRoberts hits a nice little turnaround in the lane. 37-33 Duke. Suhr is dribbling all over the place like a madman. Shaw hits a runner in the lane. 37-35 Duke. And Greg Paulus just hit a three. 40-35 Duke. The Crazies are about to tear the roof of the place. And Errek Suhr comes down hits a layup, AND ONE! Man, Suhr is giving IU a big spark here this half. He hits the free throw. 40-38 Duke. Keep it up in the comments, kids.
Calloway hits a turnaround jumper. AND THIS GAME IS TIED. 40-40.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- DJ gets a nice little block. Errek Suhr dribbles, penetrates and hits a bucket. Are you kidding me? 35-33 IU trails. (14:59 left in the half.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bassett hits a three. IU is back in this. 35-30. Timeout.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allen pumps fakes on a three. Drives and actually hits a layup. 33-25 Duke. Mike White gets a put back a bit after that. 34-27 Duke.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We get the Killers song "When You Were Young" rocking on ESPN as they lead back into the second half. I like. Pass from Allen to DJ and we got a dunk. 33-22 Duke. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Halftime:
IU has 4.9 seconds left to score in the half. Calloway hits a beautiful floater as time expires. 33-21 Duke at half.
If IU had some more gumption on the offensive end, it would be a much closer affair. Duke's D is really shutting IU down. But again, as was the theme all half, IU didn't play all that well, but they are still in this thing.
My fingers hurt and I need a bit of a break. So, enjoy some halftime entertainment courtesy of Kelvin Sampson and Degree. Stay dry out there, kids!
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AND HERE IT IS FOLKS, our first Bob Knight mention. A nice little graphic of him and his coaching accolades. And here comes Dickie V's classic line 'that arena should be called Robert Montgomery Knight Assembly Hall.'
I'll pay anyone 100 bucks if Vitale refrains from saying that during any IU game he calls this year.
IU is still struuugling. Offensive foul on Mike White. 33-19 Duke. Well, he redeems himself on the defensive end. Huge block on Greg Paulus. IU gets the ball back then throws it away.
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DJ gets a layup for IU to get them back in it a bit. 30-17 Duke. Suhr (or the hobbit as the Crazies are referring to him as) gets a steal on the Duke end. This kid is instant energy.
And we have our first Eric Gordon sighting of the night. Some nice little North Central High School highlights. Bruce Weber just threw his remote at the TV. Seriously, I heard it all the way from Champaign. Oh, by the way, it's 31-19 Duke.
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Off a Duke turnover, Shaw goes up for a layup, makes it and gets fouled. Makes the free throw, too. 25-15 Duke. Real nice look by Shaw. Three and change left in the half. Timeout.
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IU is really struggling on the offensive end. With the shot clock winding down, Joey Shaw hits a jumper, though. 21-12 Duke.
Bassett takes a jumper from the side and definitely gets fouled. No call from the refs. McRoberts grabs the board, goes coast-to-coast and gets fouled by Shaw. This kid can really handle the ball. Pretty impressive for a player that tall. Misses the first free throw, makes the second. 24-12 Duke.
Ben Allen goes up for a layup off a rebound. Misses it. He has got to go up stronger.
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Near steal by Wilmont out on the perimeter. Actually it is a steal. The ball was last touched by Duke. Rod is great at getting in the perimeter passing lanes. IU comes down and turns the ball over. Scheyer gets fouled going up for a layup by Ben Allen. Hits both free throws. With 6:24 left in the half and the score at 19-10, this is a pretty low-scoring affair.
Vitale is gushing about Greg Oden and OSU. He's right. They'll be a force this year. IU gets them at OSU in early January. IU is 1-for-its-last-12 shooting. Gulp. But again, the Hoosiers are still in this game at 21-10.
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Vitale refers to the Crazies as 'the future leaders of our nation.' Cool, Dickie V. Mike White gets fouled again...misses the first free throw, makes the second. Finally, IU gets a point. 17-8 Duke. IU gets the ball into DJ, he hits a layup. Here they go. 17-10 Duke. Ben Allen grabs a rebound off a Duke three, pass to Wilmont...and he fumbles it out of bounds.
IU is not looking all that great, but they still only trail by seven. And we have another timeout.
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DeMarcus Nelson hits a three. IU hasn't scored in FOREVER. 15-7 Duke. Mike White gets fouled on a layup. He misses the first free throw. And the second. Eek. Then a foul on Wilmont as he went for the rebound. This is getting ugly for IU on the offensive end. Scheyer hits a wrap around layup for Duke. 17-7 Duke with 8:07 left. Timeout. The Cameron Crazies are loving it.
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DeMarcus Nelson finally breaks this 9-7 deadlock. He hits a mid-range jumper and gets fouled. Makes the free throw, too. 12-7 Duke. (11:25 to go) Earl Calloway goes up for a layup and Josh McRoberts swats him pretty good. Out of bounds. IU ball. Rod Wilmont goes in for a layup from the top of the key and....another swat by McRoberts. He's from Carmel, Ind. by the way. No mention of Bob Knight from Dick Vitale yet. I'm shocked, to say the least.
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DJ battles down low, misses a shot, gets a rebound and the ball gets knocked out of bounds. Two guys in suits come out on the court to wipe the sweat off the floor. Duke, always out-classing everyone. Still 9-7 Duke. Timeout on the floor.
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Bassett drains a three after the timeout. 9-5 IU. Cameron sounds very loud. Very, very loud. Next IU score is a breakaway layup by Bassett. This kid is good. 9-7 Duke.
Next IU possession DJ has the ball at the top of the key and....he travels. Then IU has the ball again and DJ gets swatted. (12:42 left)
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D.J. grabs the ball at the free throw line, he's tripped up and fouled. And we have another timeout. T. Rowe Price commercial comes on the screen and we have speed skaters in it. Perhaps commenter PMK can explain that one to me.
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Ratliff nice dribble drive from the left side. First IU bucket of the night. 6-2 Duke. On next IU possession, Duke strips the ball from D.J White. (16:12 left in the half.) DeMarcus Nelson hits a three for Duke. 9-2 Blue Devils.
Pregame:
Salutations, Internet friends. I'm coming to you live and direct from the IDS conference room. I'm rocking out on a 20-inch TV right now. Yes, I know you are jealous. If you have your dial set on ESPN at the moment, Maryland and Illinois are in a nice little battle. Maryland led by as much as 15 in the first half, but it's been uber close all second half.
I'm going to be updating this like so : newest, freshest information on the top, older stuff on the bottom. It's a little confusing, but that's how these things are done. See you when ESPN switches over to the IU game.
