Duke heads to Beijing for third game against China

As the in-game fight between Georgetown’s basketball team and China’s Bayi Rockets attracts international attention, Duke will continue its tour of the country unchanged by the incident.

The Blue Devils arrived in Beijing on Saturday, just two days after a contest between the Hoyas and one of China’s most successful professional franchises devolved into an ugly benches-clearing brawl. The game was left in an unfinished tie after Georgetown left the court when bottles began to be thrown from the stands. The two teams reconciled the next morning before the Hoyas flew to Shanghai to participate in this weekend’s Nike Sports Festival.

Duke has not made any alterations to its itinerary in the incident’s wake and will face China’s junior national team for the third time Monday in Beijing’s MasterCard Center at 8 p.m. local time.

The Blue Devils are staying in the Portman Ritz-Carlton, the same hotel that housed both the Hoyas and the Rockets. The New York Times reported that when the Hoyas and the Rockets were seen in the hotel’s lobby Friday afternoon, there were no visible signs of tension between the two teams.

Some Georgetown fans were unhappy with the officiating in the game, as the foul differential was 28-11 in favor of the Rockets. In Duke’s first two games, China has shot 72 free throws to Duke’s 25. In total, the Blue Devils have been whistled for 58 fouls to China’s 36.

Head coach Mike Krzyzewski has been visibly frustrated by the officiating during the first two contests of the Friendship Games. When asked whether or not he knew whether NBA star Kobe Bryant is considering playing in China during the NBA lockout after Thursday’s game, Krzyzewski joked that he had talked to Bryant the night before and was told that he was coming to become a referee.

With the international officials, China’s big men Wang Zhelin and Li Muhao have proven especially difficult to contain in the lane, which is seven feet wider than the NCAA key per FIBA regulations. The former, a 7-foot, 220-pound center, has scored 32 points in the two games, especially noteworthy considering he is often the youngest player on the floor. Just 17 years old, Zhelin competed for the Chinese U19 national team in the FIBA U19 World Championship last month in Latvia, where he scored 15 points against the United States in a preliminary round.

At 7-foot-2 and 200 pounds,19-year-old Muhao is equally imposing in the paint. Draft Express lists the DongGuan Leopards player as the 32nd-best international NBA prospect in his age group.