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Arizona St.-Duke Preview

Nov 24, 2009 - 6:33 PM By JUSTIN EINHORN STATS Senior Editor

Arizona State (4-0) at Duke (4-0), 9:30 p.m. EDT

It's been smooth sailing for Duke this season. The coach and starting center for Arizona State may be particularly motivated to throw that ride off course Wednesday night.

Presenting the No. 7 Blue Devils with their first potential stumbling block are the Sun Devils and two familiar faces - Herb Sendek and Eric Boateng - as these unbeaten teams meet in the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals at Madison Square Garden.

Duke (4-0) heads to New York after rolling through its first four opponents by an average of 34.5 points. Only once was its halftime lead under 20.

Those matchups were all against inferior teams - UNC-Greensboro, Coastal Carolina, Charlotte and Radford. Though a potential NIT title game Friday against No. 13 Connecticut looms, the Blue Devils surely won't look past Wednesday's game - their first against a team from a major conference.

"The guys are playing hard and we are getting better. We are a good basketball team," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We will be excited to play up in New York. Those two games will be a great test for us."

The only game Arizona State (4-0) didn't win easily was the one that allowed it to advance to this tournament's semifinals, beating TCU 52-49 last Tuesday as Boateng set career highs with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

That's more than he scored in his freshman season at Duke, where Boateng played only 50 minutes in 2005-06. The limited playing time led to his decision to transfer to Arizona State.

While Boateng only had one season playing with the Blue Devils, Sendek spent 10 years trying to beat them as North Carolina State coach. He wasn't successful in that effort, going 3-21.

Arizona State has never faced Duke but appears to feel good about its chances for an upset following a 104-65 rout of San Francisco on Friday.

"We all knew this was an important game because we are going to New York to play Duke," said swingman Rihards Kuksiks, who scored a career-high 27 points. "It was important to have a good game to have confidence against Duke."

Kuksiks made seven of Arizona State's school-record 18 3-pointers, the same number Duke hit Saturday to tie a school mark in a 104-67 win over Radford.

"We're just trying to take the shots the defense gives us," said freshman Andre Dawkins, who made six 3s and scored a season-high 20 points.

Long-range shooting could be key to this contest. Both teams have been very good from beyond the arc, with Duke going 43 of 94 (45.7 percent) and Arizona State making 38 of 77 (49.4).

"If (3-pointers) are there, we have good shooters, and we want them to take them," Sendek said.

Kuksiks is 13 for 25 on 3-point tries and averages a team-high 13.8 points, followed by Boateng at 11.5 per game.

That duo may have a tough time matching up against a bigger Duke team.

Kyle Singler, at 6-foot-8, is averaging 18.3 points and 6.5 rebounds while 6-10 Miles Plumlee is coming off two straight double-doubles.

The backcourt may be even better. Nolan Smith is the reigning ACC player of the week after averaging 22.0 points and 6.0 assists in two games after sitting out the first two due to a suspension for playing in an unsanctioned summer league. Senior Jon Scheyer, perhaps the best pure shooter on the team, adds 16.5 points and 5.3 assists per game.

Duke has won three straight and 10 of 11 at MSG.