If there's one thing that Duke has learned to deal with this year, it's a hurricane.
When the Blue Devils take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane this Wednesday in the semifinals of the Chase NIT, they will be trying to continue the dominance that they have shown this season.
Through its play in the first two games of the tournament, Duke has surpassed expectations. In the Associated Press rankings released Monday, the Blue Devils jumped from a No. 10 to a No. 6 ranking.
While Duke has sailed through the early rounds of the NIT with victories over St. Joseph's and Vanderbilt, Tulsa has had a more bumpy road. Tulsa shocked then No. 5 UCLA with a 77-76 victory in overtime. They then disposed of Oklahoma State, 72-54.
To get past Tulsa, the Blue Devils will have to stop its top player, senior Shea Seals. Seals has led the team in scoring for the past two seasons, and he contributed 19 points against UCLA and 18 points against Oklahoma State. Seals demonstrated his court savvy this summer by leading a team of collegiate players to a near-upset of Dream Team III in a summer exhibition contest.
Freshman Eric Coley also scored 18 points against Oklahoma, making a strong rookie debut. Highlights of the Blue Devils short season have included the play of junior Steve Wojciechowski, redshirt sophomore Trajan Langdon and junior transfer Roshown McLeod.
Wojciechowski provided the defensive sparkplug for Duke against Vanderbilt. He racked up an astounding seven steals in the first half of Friday night's game against the Commodores and also made a strong offensive showing, finishing with 12 points and six assists.
Langdon sunk the first basket of the season against St. Joseph's, and continued to hit six out of seven three pointers in that game. He also contributed 11 points against Vanderbilt, including two more three-pointers.
After sitting out last year as a transfer student, McLeod has also shown scoring ability. Against Vanderbilt, he poured in 20 points and added 16 in the St. Joseph's game.
The games in Madison Square Garden will be a homecoming for McLeod. He lives in Jersey City, N.J., and attended St. John's' in New York his freshman year. He estimates that about 65 friends and family will be in attendance, as well as people from the St. John's basketball program.
"I'll have some good support for Duke basketball coming," he said.
McLeod is hoping to help compensate for the difference in the atmosphere in New York. The Cameron Crazies have rallied behind Duke, and Madison Square Garden is a far cry from the coziness of Cameron.
Though the Blue Devils have seemed indestructible, they did show defensive weaknesses against Vanderbilt. Although Duke outscored the Commodores by 29 points, both teams had an equal number of rebounds.
To combat this, the Blue Devils have been working on rebounding in practice.
"People know that I can score," junior forward Roshown McLeod said. "I want them to know that I can rebound too."
Also, missing from Duke, or from the starting lineup at least, has been senior captain Jeff Capel. Although Capel has started the last three years, he was on the bench at the beginning of the game against Vanderbilt.
"He was a little nervous his first game but I think Jeff Capel's about to open up his senior year," McLeod said.
Other teams remaining in the Chase NIT tournament are Indiana and Evansville. The winner of that game will play against Duke or Tulsa on Friday night
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