I said yesterday that I thought that Duke would make it to Atlanta this year. Last night’s loss to Marquette has not diminished that belief. The Golden Eagles were ferocious and a bit fortunate. Josh McRoberts had numerous good looks from 5 feet and in, but failed to convert on most of them. The Devils will struggle with super quick teams, but few teams will be able to exploit Duke’s deficiencies as capably as Marquette.

Georgia Tech pulled out a very nice win in the semis of the Maui Invitational. It looked bleak for a while,…..

…..but the Jackets really cranked up the defense on Memphis in the 2nd half. When GaTech is able to win games without big contributions from Javaris Crittendon or Thaddeus Young, life is good for Paul Hewitt. Tech takes on UCLA tonight in the Maui finals.

The Heels square off against the Zags tonight as well. It will be tough for Carolina to contain Josh Heytvelt. He’s a tremendous player. UNC really needs Reyshawn Terry to play well (finally). And, tonight is not the time for Tyler Hansbrough to get in foul trouble.