Green Day

What did I say in my preview? I didn't like the fact that the Crazies would be wearing green. No, not because I'm a staunch conservative who isn't sympathetic towards the environment but because I don't like messing with a good thing.

Down 9 at halftime, I felt much less confident that they would pull this game out than I did the Maryland game on Sunday night. For the first time since the Pittsburgh game, Duke allowed the opponent to dictate the pace of the game and to State's credit, they exploited their mismatches down low with Hickson and Costner.

The entire halftime consisted of me thinking of ways to blast the Crazies for going with the green and screwing with the tradition, mystique, and ora of Cameron. However, to my delight, most of the Crazies agreed with me and tossed away the green and sported either an under shirt or even no shirt for some. I'm not sure if the team noticed this or not but whatever it was, Duke came out like gangbusters in the 2nd Half.

Greg Paulus, the most maligned Duke player since Jeff Capel, has enjoyed a very good season to this point and saved his best performance of the year (and possibly his career) for tonight. Paulus was spectacular. He was sinking threes, running fast breaks, making no look passes, and yes, playing tremendous defense (no that isn't a misprint).

Paulus' energy spread like the black plague across the entire Blue Devil team in the 2nd Half. Couple that with State's inability to keep its composure and you have the recipe for a win. Even though the final score was 92-72, anyone who watched this game in its entirety knows that it was a tale of two halves but fortunately for Duke, they won the 2nd Half to the tune of 11 points better than NC State in the 1st Half.

A few miscellaneous things: 1) Who the hell was that guy in the DeMarcus Nelson/Dahntay Jones graphic at first? I don't even think that guy is a Duke student. 2) I know Courtney Fells had a rough game but how about that man block on Lance Thomas? I've never seen a block like that in my life.

Overall, a great come from behind win for the Dukies. They cannot keep making a habit of getting down big at the half or they will get burnt one of these days. Also, mark down March 1st down on your calendar. Duke will go to Raleigh to play NC State on what should be their Senior Day so watch out for a revenge game. Speaking of revenge games, Duke can cross off yet another off the list of teams they wanted to pay back for last year's futility.

Next up is Miami at Cameron on Saturday afternoon. Be careful about these games in the afternoon off of a short turnaround. I know it's good practice for the NCAA Tournament, especially since Duke usually plays that early 2nd Round game but if they aren't careful, Miami can come up and bite them. Jack McClinton, the Siena transfer, is a flat out stud who has a shot at being a 1st-team All-ACC player. Miami is coming off a loss to Wake Forest so you know they are going to come out and give a solid effort. With that said, I will make my prediction now because of the short turnaround.

Prediction: Duke 94 Miami 79