Duke Basketball versus Cal: 68-53

Victory. A Sweet 16.

I was stressed until perhaps 3 minutes left in the game. Yes, Duke was dominating throughout with only brief periods of worry popping up, but I just couldn't help it.

At the start, Duke jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but Cal came back. I forget who specifically, but one of the Cal players set up a couple picks that just totally opened the lane for a Cal guard to slash in and score. After the second such pick, the announces mentioned that Coach K was furious. I don't blame him. The second one prevented both Brian Zoubek and Nolan Smith from chasing after the guard. I don't know, but I find it rather amazing that a player can set a legal pick that stops two players. Oh well, in the second half, this same Cal player got called for a foul on a pick. (It was either Theo Robertson or Markhuri Sanders-Frison.)

As for Duke this was a really solid game.

The good.

Kyle Singler is leading this team.

Anyone notice that Duke was pounding the ball into the middle? That Miles Plumlee back to the rim slam dunk was awesome.

Brian Zoubek rocked. 13 rebounds. 14 points. I loved that 10 foot sky hook jumper.

Lance Thomas also rocked it with 9 rebounds.

The bad.

Wish Andre Dawkins had gotten more minutes. I do like that 8 player rotation.

Jon Scheyer shot just won't fall. Hopefully, the next few days will give him some rest and time to work on his shot. Just think what might happen if Scheyer, Singler and Nolan Smith were hitting shots.

Next up is Purdue. After looking rather pathetic in the Big Ten Tournament, due to the injury to Robbie Hummel, Purdue has gotten some mojo back and has made it to the Sweet 16. (I'm not such a big sports fan that I watch every single game, but I did happen to catch a few minutes of the Purdue game and they just didn't look good.) We'll see what happens next Friday. I'm not sure which is going to be the most interesting game (assuming some level of competitiveness): Kentucky vs. Cornell or Baylor vs. Saint Mary's.