SATURDAY DECEMBER 19, 2009
#21 Gonzaga Bulldogs (8-2) v #7 Duke Blue Devils (8-1)
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Gonzaga Bulldogs vs Duke Blue Devils
The No.21 Gonzaga Bulldogs will tip off at Madison Square Garden in New York against the No. 7 Duke Blue Devils on Saturday.
Since 1980 these two teams have only met once on Dec 21, 2006. Duke walked of the court with a 61-54 win.
Despite the loss of four starters from last year’s team, the Bullgdogs have proven themselves worthy of winning the West Coast Conference title for the second year in a row with surprising early success. They have four players averaging 13 points a game or more, and certainly have enough firepower to win key games. Bulldogs leading scorer Matt Bouldin has stepped up as team leader and is controlling the floor well. Bouldin along with fellow junior Steven Gray and Demetri Goodson form one of the best three-man backcourts in the nation. Freshman Elias Harris scored a season-high 27 points to lead the Dogs to a 103-91 victory over Davidson on Saturday night. Gonzaga had to overcome the absence of an injured Bouldin who suffered a blow to the temple on Dec. 9 during a win against Augustana. He is expected to start this Saturday. Robert Sacre and Goodson added career bests of 23 and 22 points in the game against Davidson.
It appears that Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski has decided that senior guard Jon Scheyer will be running the show, for the near future at least. Scheyer had career-high 36 points and nine assists helping the Blue Devils win their 74th straight non-conference game, 113-68 over Gardner-Webb on Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Scheyer was 11 of 13 from the field, and had 24 points by halftime, finishing with a personal-best seven 3-pointers. Duke got a little help from the Bulldogs, as they turned the ball over 23 times and went more than six minutes without a score. The Blue Devils got plenty of production from the entire bench starting with freshman Andre Dawkins who scored 16 point, followed by Miles Plumlee and Brian Zoubek with 13 points apiece. Junior guard Nolan Smith added 11 and Kyle Singler, finished with 11.
The odds makers have the Blue Devils as –10-point favorites.
The teams are pretty evenly matched. Look for Duke to win this one by a narrow margin.
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