It's on to the next round for the men's basketball team.
Duke hosts 12th-ranked UCLA Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in the second game of its two-week preparation for the NCAA Tournament.
After last Saturday's 78-47 win over Wake Forest, coach Mike Krzyzewski said that the final four regular-season games would ready his team for the Big Dance. The No. 2 Blue Devils (24-2) are treating this week-which includes Wednesday's 70-66 victory at Clemson and Sunday's contest in Cameron-as one stretch and next week's Wednesday night affair at Georgia Tech and Saturday picnic with top-ranked North Carolina as another.
"As far as preparation for the tournament, I think it's great preparation for us," Krzyzewski said. "This week would very much simulate the type of high-caliber teams you might play in the NCAA."
On the surface, the Bruins (20-5) appear to be an excellent measuring stick. They have been ranked no lower than 15th this year and, as expected, have battled Arizona and Stanford for supremacy in the Pacific-10 Conference. Their roster, which Krzyzewski called "as talented as any one in the country," is loaded with NBA prospects.
But scratch the surface, and the Bruins lose some of their luster. They are 0-3 against Arizona and Stanford and have beaten just one ranked team (New Mexico) all season. In their season opener, they received the second-worst beating in school history, 109-68, to North Carolina.
"I don't think we have to prove ourselves," UCLA senior forward J.R. Henderson said. "This game is obviously a big game for us, as far as getting our confidence back, but we're not really worried about rankings and things like that because it's very irrelevant."
The loss to UNC came with an asterisk, since UCLA was without suspended starters Kris Johnson and Jelani McCoy. But after playing with those two stars for most of the last two months, the Bruins lost McCoy for good last week. The 6-foot-10 center resigned from the team, unhappy with his reduced playing time and the intense media scrutiny after he reportedly failed drug tests.
"He's definitely our defensive presence back there, blocking shots and rebounding. That's what we definitely miss," Henderson said. "You have to move on. You can't keep saying, 'We need Jelani, we need Jelani,' because he's not coming back. You've got to move on, find out what you have to do in his place to take care of some ballgames."
McCoy's resignation leaves the Bruins with only five regulars, two of whom are freshmen. It also makes Henderson, at 6-foot-8 and 233 pounds, the team's only experienced player taller than 6-foot-6.
UCLA has played once since McCoy departed, defeating cross-town rival Southern California in an 82-75 overtime thriller. Despite the result, that contest was none too encouraging for the Bruins, who were out-rebounded by a 7-17 USC club. Henderson, who led UCLA with 20 points and nine rebounds, felt the burden of trying to replace McCoy's inside presence.
"Everyone looks for you-even your teammates look for you-to get every single rebound," Henderson said. "They tend to leak out some or not help as much [on the boards], and that's kind of hard."
The Blue Devils won't be feeling sorry for UCLA though. In addition to working toward a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Blue Devils hope to avenge last season's 73-69 loss to the Bruins, the first of Duke's four losses in its final six games.
Furthermore, the Blue Devils know firsthand that losing a star player or two does not kill a team's season. Freshman center Elton Brand-who led Duke in scoring, rebounding, field-goal percentage and blocked shots before suffering a broken foot Dec. 27-has missed the last 15 games.
In addition, sophomore forward Nate James has sat out most of the season with a sprained ankle.
"We lost our best player earlier in the year too," Duke co-captain Trajan Langdon said, referring to Brand. "We lost Elton earlier, and obviously, it hasn't changed us.
"I think we've done a pretty good job without him, so that's how I'm going to think of them. They lose one of their best talents in McCoy, but I think that will make them even better."
The Blue Devils themselves could get even better if Brand comes back for the UCLA game, as he indicated Wednesday he might. Without the 6-foot-8, 262-lb. Brand, the Blue Devils have won 14 of 15 games and stayed atop the Atlantic Coast Conference. With him, they could shore up one of their biggest problems, defending strong, quick post players.
Brand will practice with the team today and Saturday to gauge whether he is ready to play Sunday.
"[Brand's status] doesn't change our game plan at all," said Duke administrative assistant Jeff LaMere, who works with Krzyzewski's coaching staff. "If he plays, he's just going to fit into the substitution pattern.
"We're hoping he'll be [back] sooner rather than later, but we don't want to push him too much. The sooner he starts playing, the better he gets acclimated to the team."
Though Brand's return would give Duke an emotional lift and a standout performer in the low post, it doesn't make the Bruins overly concerned.
"If he plays, he plays," Henderson said. "It's not really going to change the face of the game that much. We're just going to have to box him out, and that's about it.
"He's got to guard us. We have players that could cause problems for them also."
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