Duke-Southern Illinois Game Notes

[private]•  Game 4  • 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer
[10 AP/5 Coaches] Duke (3-0) vs. Southern Illinois (2-0)
Thursday, November 20, 2008  •  7:00 PM ET  •  espn2
Madison Square Garden (19,763)  •  New York, N.Y.
 
Game Quick Facts
TV: espn2; Dan Shulman (play-by-play), Bobby Knight (analyst), Doris Burke (sideline).
Radio: Duke Radio Network (flagship WDNC 620 AM in Durham); Reece Edwards (play-by-play), John Roth (analyst) and Matthew Laurance (sideline).
All-time Series: Duke leads the all-time series 2-1, including a 1-0 mark under Mike Krzyzewski. The Blue Devils have won the last two meetings in the series, including a 105-70 win in the opening round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament.
Coaches:
                                    Mike Krzyzewski
   Overall Record: 806-267 (34th year)
      Duke Record: 733-208 (29th year)
                        vs. Southern Illinois: 1-0
 
                                           Chris Lowery
          Overall Record: 98-41 (fifth year)
Southern Illinois Record: 98-41 (fifth year)
                                            vs. Duke: 0-0
 
Blue Devil Bits
l The Blue Devils are ranked 10th in the AP poll and fifth in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. Southern Illinois is unranked in both polls.
l Duke is 3-0 on the year, marking the eighth straight year it has started with three straight wins.
l The Blue Devils have been ranked in 22 consecutive AP polls and in 225 of the last 227 polls.
l Duke is coming off a hard-fought 82-79 home win over Rhode Island on Sunday, Nov. 16. The victory extended the Blue Devils non-conference home win streak to an NCAA-best 62 games.
l Sophomore Kyle Singler was named ACC Co-Player of the Week (along with Clemson’s Trevor Booker) after leading Duke to wins over Presbyterian, Georgia Southern and Rhode Island. Singler averaged 19.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.
l Junior Jon Scheyer (23) and sophomore Kyle Singler (21) combined for 44 points in the win over Rhode Island. Scheyer and Singler became the first pair of Duke teammates to score 20+ points in the same game since Singler (26) and Greg Paulus (20) accomplished the feat against Maryland on February 13, 2008.
l Duke advanced to the semifinals of the 2008 2K Sports Classic with wins over Presbyterian (80-49) and Georgia Southern (97-54) at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
 
Numbers Game
l Duke is 15-6 under Mike Krzyzewski at Madison Square Garden. Last season, the Blue Devils had a seven-game win streak at MSG snapped in a 65-64 overtime loss to Pittsburgh on Dec. 20.
l Nine of the previous 15 Duke games at Madison Square Garden have drawn at least 19,000 spectators.
l Sophomore Kyle Singler ranks fifth in the ACC in scoring at 19.7 points per game. He also ranks 13th in rebounding at 7.7 rpg.
l Jon Scheyer went 13-of-13 from the foul line in a 23-point effort against Rhode Island. His 13 free throws made without a miss is tied for the fourth-most in school history. Scheyer ranks second in Duke history with a .869 free throw percentage.
l Junior Lance Thomas had 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting against Rhode Island. He has come off the bench to score in double figures in two of Duke's first three games.
l Duke is 106-16 all-time in the month of November, including a 92-10 mark under Coach K.
l The Blue Devils have won 12 straight games in November and are 43-2 in the month since 1997-98.
l Mike Krzyzewski is fifth all-time (first among active coaches) with 806 career wins.
l Duke is 264-52 this decade, more wins than any other team in the NCAA.
l Duke is 5-2 all-time against teams currently in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Blue Devils have won 4 straight contests against Missouri Valley Conference opponents (last loss was 72-67 versus Southern Illinois on March 13, 1967).
l Sophomore Nolan Smith has reached double figures in scoring in all three games this season. He has raised his scoring average 6.8 points per game from last season and is currently third on the team in scoring at 12.7 ppg.
l Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler combined to score 15 of Duke’s final 17 points against Rhode Island. The duo was 2-of-3 from the field and 10-of-10 from the foul line in the final 4:28 of the game.
l Sophomore Kyle Singler is averaging 9.7 free throw attempts per game this season. He is 23-of-29 (.793) from the foul line. Last year, Singler averaged just 3.1 free throw attemps per game.
l Duke is well represented in Dick Vitale and Dick Weiss’ latest book; Dick Vitale’s Fabulous 50 Players & Moments in College Basketball. Eight former Blue Devils (Christian Laettner [2], Johnny Dawkins [13], Grant Hill [15], Danny Ferry [18], Jason Williams [21], Shane Battier [25], Bobby Hurley [31] and J.J. Redick [44]) are listed among the top 50 players. Vitale and Weiss also ranked Laettner’s field goal at the buzzer to give Duke a double-overtime victory against Kentucky in the 1992 East Regional second overall among the Top 50 Moments of the last 30 years. Jeff Capel’s 40-foot shot to push the Feb. 2, 1995 Duke-North Carolina game into double-overtime was ranked eighth, while Duke’s 1991 NCAA semifinals win over previously unbeaten UNLV is 17th. Duke’s back-to-back NCAA titles (1991 & 1992) came in at No. 23 and the Blue Devils’ rally from a 22-point deficit to beat Maryland in the 2001 NCAA semifinals is No. 37. Duke’s final showing among the Top 50 moments is at No. 41 with the Miracle Minute at Cole Field House. Duke overcame a 10-point deficit in the final 60 seconds of play to top Maryland 98-96 in overtime on Jan. 27, 2001.[/private]