Duke opens their NCAA tournament run against Belmont of Nashville, Tennessee, and the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Belmont Bruins are a guard oriented team that favors the three point shot and does not have a dominant inside presence. The Bruins made 349 of 956 (36.5%) attempts from behind the arc. Duke made 297 of 773 (38.4%) of their 3-point attempts. Belmont's biggest player is 6'8" 220 pound Mathew Dotson who averages 11.3 points and 3.6 rebounds in 21.9 minutes per game. Their leading scorer is 6'2" guard Justin Hare who contributes 14.9 points in 28.4 minutes per game. Shane Dansby, a 6'4" guard-forward, is the team's leading rebounder at 6.2 per game. He also scores 13.8 points per game.

The Blue Devils gained an extra days rest by losing in the ACC tournament semi-finals and Brett Friedlander says, "...the Blue Devils are going to need all of Singler's assets if they hope to advance deep into the NCAA tournament." Luciana Chavez discusses Duke's loss to VCU in last year's tournament and how Duke has focused on game scenarios in practice sessions this year. Seven of Duke's ten scholarship players, the three freshmen and four sophomores, have never won an NCAA tournament game. This lack of recent success is unusual for the elite Duke program. Bryan Strickland has an article posted at the Durham Herald-Sun, which talks about the high confidence level of the team.

Duke's potential second round opponents are West Virginia and Arizona. For West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, the NCAA tournament has brought frustration and unfilled promise in recent years. Coach Huggins and leading scorer Joe Alexander will attempt to cure that frustration by knocking off the Wildcats. The Tucson Citizen says the Wildcats are rested and healthy for the NCAA tournament. This article talks about freshman sensation Jerryd Bayless and how teams are guarding him with big wings. This article in the Times West Virginia identifies Arizona's leading scorer as freshman Jerry Baylor. I expect by the time the game is over all Mountaineer fans will know the name Jerryd Bayless.

Projecting out to potential Sweet Sixteen opponents, Xavier or Purdue is the likely opponent, but Georgia and Baylor are possibilities. Xavier won the Atlantic 10 regular season title, but stumbled in the conference tournament so like Duke they enter the NCAA tournament with an extra days rest. Purdue is another guard oriented team that approaches games with a strategy similar to the Blue Devils. Georgia earned a bid by winning the SEC tournament after going 4-12 in the regular season. And Baylor is a team that has rebounded from serious trouble several years ago. Here is a Purdue - Baylor preview from the Waco Tribune.

Finally, here is the L.A. Times on the #1 seeded UCLA Bruins.  The Blue Devil faithful are hoping our West Regional experience begins and ends with a victory over the Bruins.