LIVE BLOG: No. 1 Duke 82, Marquette 77 FINAL

FINAL: Duke 82, Marquette 77: Just a note: this Live Blog now stands at 3500+ words. It may drive my editor crazy, but I know my loyal readers love it... right?

Anyway, Duke inbounds the ball and puts it in the veteran Nolan Smith's hands after Irving's last turnover. But Duke nearly turns it over again after Plumlee can't handle Smith's pass into the post, but Duke regains possession, and a stellar inbounds play leads Plumlee to drop the ball off to Irving for an easy layup.

And for good measure, Mson Plumlee likely just cemented this victory for Duke. After a Nolan Smith miss as the shot clock wound down, Plumlee corralled yet another offensive rebound and put it back up strong, just like every high school coach teaches. He then blocked a Johnson-Odom layup out of bounds.

After some free throw troubles allow Marquette to make the game close, Duke is able to close it out thanks to some stellar hustle from Kyrie Irving diving out of bounds for a loose ball. Duke wins in the semifinals of the CBE classic—more to come.

2:28 2nd Half- Duke 78, Marquette 70: Mason Plumlee's line at this TV timeout: 8-for-1o from the field, seven rebounds, four blocks, and three assists. This is the type of post play the blue Devils expected from Plumlee entering this season. Now if only he wasn't 1-for-4 from the free throw line...

Duke artfully breaks Marquette's trapping press once again and goes right back to Plumlee, who this time uses a nifty post move to get free for the basket. But Crowder answers right back with his own power post play over Plumlee. Plumlee scores again, followed by a Dawkins jumper, and Duke is quickly up 13.

Singler just uncharacteristically airballed a three, but thankfully it went right to Plumlee. He missed his own putback, but Smith puts it back in to keep Duke's lead at 13.

Marquette answers back after a timeout with a basked from Buycks off an offensive rebound. on the offensive end Plumlee can't convert another putback opportunity, and Smith commits a foul on the way back sending Butler to the line. Butler makes one to trim the lead to 10, and the Golden Eagles aren't going away.

And it's now official—this is Mason Plumlee's coming out party. Solid penetration by Dawkins opened Plumlee up on the block, and he sunk yet another shot with contact. He once again missed the free throw, but his efforts have Duke back up nine.

Okay, maybe Plumlee has a bit too much adrenaline right now, as he's called for another goaltending after swatting a ball off the rim. But Smith answers with his patented floater in the lane to negate that mistake. Andre Dawkins then shows off his improved defense by blocking a Marquette three, and then Kyle Singler bails out his fellow captain Smith after yet another turnover by drwaing another charge, this time on Johnson-Odom. Duke is now back in the driver's seat, up nine with under eight to go.

10:00 2nd Half- Duke 62, Marquette 57: Marquette continues to have success on the offensive boards out of the break, allowing Darius Johnson-Odom to convert a jumper as he is fouled by Andre Dawkins. Johnson-Odom sinks the free throw and the game is tied, and Marquette's fans start to get loud.

But as is customary for the Blue Devils, Kyle Singler takes over and drives it to the hole, drawing the foul. He makes both to give Duke back a two point lead. Johnson-Odom comes right back for Marquette and draws Kyrie Irving's third personal foul (and Duke's fifth of the half compared to only one against the Golden Eagles). Both free throws are good and once again we're tied.

Mason Plumlee responds for Duke in what continues to be his best game as a Blue Devil. He rebounded a missed three by Dawkins and put the ball back up strongly (an encouraging sign for the young forward) while drawing the foul. But Plumlee airballs the free throw, almost immediately negating any momentum his strong play might have netted Duke. indeed, Crowder quickly answers for Marquette with a baseline jumper to tie the game again.

Plumlee, though, answers with another offensive rebound, which he kicks to Nolan Smith for an open three. Andre Dawkins then steals an errant Golden Eagle pass and takes it coast-to-coast for an acrobatic layup putting Duke quickly back up five. Marquette calls timeout to quiet the vocal Duke cheering section here at the Sprint Center.

11:42 2nd Half- Duke 53, Marquette 50: Mason Plumlee and Seth Curry reenter the game for Duke after the break, and Marquette comes out in a trapping 3/4 court press. Duke breaks it though, and sets up the half court offense, which leads to an open jumper which Curry clanks off the front rim. As good as duke has looked on the fast break, they've struggled mightily in the half court... almost antithetical from last year's team.

But that fast break offense is pretty darn good, as Smith hits Dawkins in the corner four a three. Vander Blue, a highly regarded freshman, answers with his own three though, and Curry misses another open jumper. Marquette's own fast break yields an open basket for Gardner, and it's a one possession game. Smith is then called for the offensive foul trying to get around his defender, and all of a sudden momentum has tipped Marquette's way. And Duke seems to acknowledge this as Singler and Smith gather the team at halfcourt in an attempt to rally the troops.

And it looks like the conference has calmed down Duke a bit, as their defense forces a traveling violation and Duke regains possession. Irving then single-hadnedly takes the ball to the lane for his eighth point, putting Duke back up five. Blue misses a forced three, but Marquette gets the offensive rebound after what looked like an over the back foul over Mason Plumlee. Regardless, Gardner gets the ball in the post and sinks the two, Irving turns the ball over on the double-dribble, and Duke is up only three. The Blue Devils now face their first real adversity of the season with 11:42 to go.

14:44 2nd Half- Duke 48, Marquette 43: Miles Plumlee and Andre Dawkins enter Duke's lineup in an attempt to give Duke an energy boost, as duke returns to its "one-post" offense with only the eldest Plumlee down low. And it works out right away, as that extra space allows Irving to penetrate and sink a two.

But Butler answer sback, using his own size against this undersized lineup to put home a two. After Plumlee takes one dribble too many in the post and turns the ball back over, Marquette's bench nearly explodes, but Junior Cadougan's three goes begging. Plumlee responds with a solid defensive effort that forces a Golden Eagle turnover, though, and we go into the TV timeout with the margin still five.

16:25 2nd Half- Duke 46, Marquette 41: We begin the second half with the same starting lineups and Duke with possession. And, just like the first half, Duke goes right to Mason Plumlee who scores a quick two.

Duke's defense remains smothering, but another Smith turnover (in which he tried to force a pass to a tightly guarded Ryan Kelly) allows Butler to go to the free throw line on the fast break, even though he makes only one of two. Smith rebounds by hitting Kelly with a nice pass for the baseline jumper, but Johnson-Odom answers with a highlight-reel spin move and reverse layup.

Mason Plumlee shows off a solid turn around jumper in the post, but it clangs off the back rim and Johnson-Odom sinks a wide-open three to bring Marquette back within seven. But Duke answers once again, as Irving hits Plumlee for an alley-oop off a long offensive rebound.

Otule finally gets into the offense for Marquette, powering by Plumlee in the post for two. Otule then blocks Plumlee on a put-back attempt in the post, but Marquette can't take advantage. They finally do, though, after Singler airballs a layup which leads to a Golden Eagle fastbreak bucket.  All of a sudden Marquette is within five and Krzyzewski calls timeout.

HALFTIME: Christian Laettner was just introduced to the crowd—to a rousing ovation—as one of the inductees into the National College Basketball Hall of Fame.

Interesting stats at the half: 10 turnovers for Duke compared to seven for Marquette, exemplifying how sloppy of a game this has been. The rebounding battle is also even at 17 boards a piece. So what's been the difference for Duke?  The Blue Devils have made two more three pointers than Marquette and also have 12 assists to Marquette's four. Add in Duke's 55% shooting compared to Marquette's 36% clip and you have the recipe for a Duke lead, although not as strong of one as fans would like.

We'll be back when action resumes in eight minutes after the half.

0:00 1st Half- Duke 40, Marquette 31: Duke fans won't like this stat—the Blue Devils have nine turnovers with 3:50 remaining in the half, and their starting backcourt has a combined six. Without those turnovers this game could easily be firmly in Duke's grasp, but as it stands we've got a competitive ballgame on our hands.

Out of the timeout Duke uses a pick-and-roll between Singler and Mason Plumlee to get Plumlee to the line. The younger Plumlee has struggled with free throws thus far this season, and he makes only one of two.

The blue Devils are playing fantastic help defense, especially given the aggressive perimeter D Nolan Smith is playing that sometimes leaves his man with an open lane. Duke gets a stop, but an ill-advised pass by Mason Plumlee gives a gift two to Marquette—but Duke's rock, Singler, answers with a three on the other end to put the Blue Devils back up 10.

Plumlee responds to his error on the defensive end with a block, and then another that was nearly clean but instead sends Gardner to the line for two. After the first free throw is missed, older bro comes in for younger bro (who has two fouls), and Gardner makes the second.

Yet another sloppy play by Duke, as Singler can't handle his dribble through the lane and a jump ball goes to Marquette. Butler gets open in the post and puts it in as Marquette climbs back to within seven, but Singler answers back with a two of his own.

The half ends rather quietly, with Irving's two free throws the only score, thanks partially to a defensive cameo by Tyler Thornton. Duke goes into the half leading by nine. More in a bit.

3:50 1st Half- Duke 32, Marquette 24: Smith makes the free throw coming out of the timeout, as Duke goes to a somewhat strange lineup of Kyrie Irving, Andre Dawkins, Kyle Singler, Ryan Kelly, and Miles Plumlee. It doesn' twork out on the defensive end, as Davante Gardner makes a bakset in the post, and then Miles Plumlee fumbles the ball out of bounds on a fast break in which he was as wide open as a receiver against the Detroit Lions' secondary. Perhaps he was planning his emphatic dunk out a smidgeon to early.

On the defensive end, Ryan Kelly comes down with a strong rebound, emphatically swinging his elbows to protect the ball. That's something Kelly certainly could not have done last season with his slender build. But once again Duke turns the ball over on offense, allowing Marquette to stay in the game.

But man can Mason Plumlee jump, blocking a shot at literally it's highest point a full foot above the rim, leadin gto a Singler jumpshot on the other end. But after trying to help out Smith with his defender, Plumlee leaves Gardner open for the putback on offense, as again Duke just can't seem to put Marquette away.

And just like that, it's a six point game, as Junior Cadougan nails a three with the aid of what looked like a moving screen. After another Duke turnover by Smith, the Golden Eagles can't convert another open three, and Smith recovers with a fast break layup from Dawkins to put the Blue Devils back up eight.

Interesting play here as the officials seem to disagree about whether Jimmy Butler charged into Andre Dawkins or Dawkins blocked Butler—and interestingly enough, the ref farther away from the ball overrules the one closer, and the call is a charge. Duke fans certainly won't complain, as the Blue Devils will have the ball when we return from the TV timeout.

7:38 1st Half- Duke 27, Marquette 17: Marquette is out to a quick run out of the TV timeout, scoring two quick baskets and then forcing a Nolan Smith turnover.  The run could've been much worse if Darius Johnson-Odom could've knocked down a wide open three pointer, but instead a Duke fast break goes begging as Irving uncharacteristically dribbles the ball off his foot out of bounds. Irving now has three assists to his two turnovers, which will surely bring down his thus far stellar assist to turnover ratio.

After allowing an offensive rebound, Mason Plumlee responds by blocking the putback attempt—but Duke can't take advantage despite some solid perimeter passing. Irving, though, takes the subsequent rebound and dishes to Smith, who makes the basket and will shoot one free throw after the television timeout.

10:48 1st Half- Duke 23, Marquette 11: Out of the Marquette timeout the Golden Eagles get a free basket after Mason Plumlee shows off his hops in the form of a goaltending violation.  The Sprint Center is filling up, with Kansas State purple dominating the crowd, but with Duke blue a clear second.

Besides the general sloppiness of the game thus far, the storyline is definitively the Plumlee brothes responding to criticism of their early season performance. They've combined for eight points and four rebounds thus far, and perhaps most importantly are keeping a formidable Golden Eagle big man—6-foot-11 Chris Otule—largely silent.

11:14 1st Half- Duke 23, Marquette 9: Duke goes right back to Plumlee out of the break, and he responds with an emphatic dunk. But he makes a mental error on the defensive end, leaving Jae Crowder wide open for a three that brings Marquette back within one possession.

But Plumlee quickly responds, feeding his older brother Mason for an emphatic alley oop. But Marquette once again answers back as Dwight Buycks glides down the floor and draws a foul on Singler, but misses both from the line.

Interesting to note the pace of the game thus far—Duke's uptempo style seems to be overshadowing Marquette's more methodic approach, as the Golden Eagles are fast breaking more than they would probably like, while Duke is staying in their preferred offensive rhythm.

Another great fast break for Duke, as Singler hits Mason Plumlee for another fast break bucket. Mason thus far: 3-for-3, six points, two rebounds, two assists, and a block, a very encouraging sign for Duke fans concerned with the play of the Blue Devils in the post.

This game, though, remains sloppy, as Irving is called for a charge on Duke's next offensive possession.Less than eight minutes in we've seen five total turnovers and four fouls.

But that isn't hampering Duke's hustle, this time exemplified by Miles Plumlee, who dives into the Duke bench to save a ball going out of bounds and is emphatically congratulated by his teammates. He then keeps a possession alive with an offensive rebound off of a Seth Curry miss, with allows Irving to drain a three off the dribble to give Duke a ten point lead.

But the elder Plumlee can't seem to avoid the silly fouls that have plagued him throguhout his career, picking up a reach on an ordinary entry pass into the post. Jae Crowder puts it in from Butler, but Duke answers again after a vintage Kyrie Irving play—the freshman penetrated the lane, drew Kyle Singler's defender, and then hit the senior for an open three.

And no sooner said does Irving do it again—he makes a dangerous, but successful, cross-court pass to Curry on another fast-break for another three. Duke has extended it's lead quickly to 23-9, as this fast paced offense is prone to do.

15:36 1st Half- Duke 8, Marquette 4: Mason Plumlee wins the tip to Singler, and we're underway here in Kansas City. Duke starts with a nice entrance pass from Nolan Smith to Ryan Kelly in the post, but his bankshot goes begging and Marquette takes over. But after some nice hustle from Mason Plumlee forces a Marquette rebounder to step out of bounds, Duke takes over.

And, somewhat surprisingly, DUke goes right back inside, as Kelly feeds Plumlee for an easy two down-low.  After Irving misses a three, Kelly draws a charging foul on the defensive end—as, and expectedd, the Duke haters are out in force as the boos start smattering down. But Singler is called for a travel in the lane, and Duke turns it back over to Marquette in what has been a sloppy game thus far.

Mason Plumlee is dominating the paint two minute sinto the game, pulling down another rebound, but Nolan Smith is called for the Carry as Duke turns the ball over yet again. The Golden Eagles finally take advantage, though, as Jimmy Butler uses a dazzling spin move to get by Mason Plumlee and draws the foul to go to the line.

Smith, though, attones for his previous turnover by penetrating the lane and putting up a floater for two. Mason Plumlee pulls down another rebound and then aggressively attacks the basket on the othe rend of the floor for two. He then blocks a Marquette post player down low, and Kyrie Irving hits Nolan Smith for a fast break two. Thus far, it's been the Mason Plumlee show.

Butler answers back for Marquette though with a shot over Smith—Butler holds a nearly five-inch height advantage over Smith, so this could be a tough matchup for him defensively. As we go into the first TV timeout, an offensive rebound by Kyle Singler allows Duke to retain possession. Duke leads 8-4.

PREGAME: Starting lineups for Duke: Mason Plumlee, Kyle Singler, Ryan Kelly, Kyrie Irving, and Nolan Smith.  Not veyr surprising considering Kelly's play of late and Miles Plumlee's struggles early in the season. And Mike Krzyzewski gets quite a cheer from the fans here.

Jimmy Butler, Chris Otule, Darius Johnson-Odom, Vander Blue and Dwight Buycks will start for Marquette.

It's gametime folks!

PREGAME: The announcer here at the Sprint Center is advertising Kansas City as "the college basketball capital of America." Notquite sure what evidence this city has to back up that claim behind the College Basketball Experience (which I'll be checking out tomorrow and will update you on on this very blog), but maybe if the CBE can continue getting fields like this— and can more consistently get NCAA Tournament games as well—they'll have a claim. My vote, though, remains Indianapolis.

PREGAME: With all the big shots here today—including Seth Davis of SI.com and Eamonn Brennon of ESPN.com, just to name a few—I've been relegated to the Upper Press Box, high above the Sprint Center court.  BUt given the fact that those media members sitting courtside are relegated to a corner behind the basket while I'm essentially sitting center court with a view of all the action, I'm not complaining.

We've got about five minutes to tipoff and the stands are still sparsely populated, at best.  It may because this fantastic venue (I'm not exaggerating... it's brand new and was recently named the second busiest arena in the US) holds more than 18 thousand people, or just because most of the Kansas State fans—who will surely make up a majority of the crowd just hours away from their campus—haven't arrived yet.  STill, there is a decent spattering of Duke blue, especially behind the Blue Devil bench.

Both teams are on the court warming up, and we're nearing tipoff.  Stay tuned.

PREGAME: Welcome, loyal readers, to beautiful Kansas City, Mo.  It may be a little chilly here, but the Sprint Center is beautiful (and so is the spacious media room, where my esteemed colleagues and I were greeted by a ice cream sundaes.  You know you're jealous.)

But you're not here to read about what I had for dinner—you're interested in Duke's first challenging matchup of the year, against the Marquette Golden Eagles of the Big East.  The Golden Eagles may not be ranked (although they are amongst the "others receiving votes" category in the ESPN/USA Today poll, for what's that worth), but this is still a dangerous matchup for Duke, especially if the Blue Devils get caught looking ahead to a possible showdown with either Gonzaga or Kansas State tomorrow night.

This Marquette team not only made the NCAA Tournament last year for the fifth season in a row, but also returns an extremely experienced team—they are projected to start three seniors, a junior, and a lone sophomore. And the Golden Eagles certainly know how to beat Duke in Kansas City—they claimed the 2006 CBE title with a victory over the then-No. 8 ranked Blue Devils.

We'll keep you posted with the latest updates leading up to and throughout the game, so stay tuned to The Chronicle's Sports Blog.