Today / East Regional

Duke (34-1) vs. Southwest Missouri State (22-10): Next up for the Duke juggernaut is Steve Alford’s team, and by the way, Alford is 1-0 against Duke in the NCAA tournament after beating the Blue Devils, 88-82, in the Sweet 16 as an Indiana player on the way to the 1987 NCAA title. This is a little different. His upstart Bears are 28-point underdogs against Duke. “I think as a young boy, you dream of being No. 1 or playing No. 1,� Alford said. “I think you’re in awe of Duke. We were in awe of Duke just watching their shootaround.� Duke won its first two games by 41 points each, but Southwest Missouri State has pulled off two upsets by holding Wisconsin and Tennessee combined to 27.8% shooting and 41.5 points a game, beating Wisconsin by 11 points and Tennessee by 30. “Our defense has been very stingy all year long, but we haven’t played a team averaging 93.6 points with a bucketful of All-Americans and a Hall of Fame coach,� Alford said. “If we’re in awe at 7:35, by 7:45--like a lot of other teams--it will be over with.� Duke has considerable size, strength and quickness advantages, but there’s an interesting matchup at center, where Southwest Missouri State starts Danny Moore, who is 6 feet 11 and steps out for three-pointers, and Duke starts 6-8, 260-pound, player-of-the-year candidate Elton Brand, a bull in the lane.

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HOW THEY COMPARE

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Duke SWM Record 34-1 22-10 Avg. Pts. 93.6 73.5 Opp. Avg. Pts. 67.3 65.4 Margin 26.3 8.1 FG% .517 .463 Opp. FG% .389 .415 3-Pt. FG% .394 .365 Opp. 3-Pt. FG% .306 .349 3-Pt. FG-Game 7.5 5.4 Opp. 3-Pt. FG-Game 5.0 6.7 FT% .710 .711 Rebound Margin 9.8 -2.3 TO Diff. 3.4 2.7 Avg Steals 9.4 8.9 Avg Blocks 6.4 4.1

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Temple (23-10) vs. Purdue (21-12): Purdue Coach Gene Keady acknowledges he didn’t much care for his team a few weeks ago, when the Boilermakers limped to the finish by losing five of their last six games and were in danger of not making the NCAA tournament. “You’re right, I don’t like guys with bad attitudes. I think we’ve come a long ways from then,� he said. “I think I was more disappointed in myself and the staff that we hadn’t figured out what the problem was during the Big Ten season. . . . I was starting to like my team better because I knew what the problem was.� After an attitude adjustment, Purdue beat Texas and upset a very good Miami team to reach the Sweet 16. “Personally, I didn’t think we deserved to get in at the end of the season,� forward Brian Cardinal said. “Once we found out we were in the NCAA tournament, I think we had new enthusiasm.� Now the Boilermakers face Temple, another team that was highly ranked early in the season but struggled along the way.

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HOW THEY COMPARE

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Pur Tem Record 21-12 23-10 Avg. Pts. 68.9 66.4 Opp. Avg. Pts. 65.3 57.8 Margin 3.6 8.6 FG% .438 .412 Opp. FG% .442 .378 3-Pt. FG% .307 .312 Opp. 3-Pt. FG% .315 .360 3-Pt. FG-Game 5.2 6.5 Opp. 3-Pt. FG-Game 5.2 8.5 FT% .671 .651 Rebound Margin -0.3 0.9 TO Diff. 2.0 4.8 Avg Steals 8.2 9.9 Avg Blocks 3.2 3.8

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