Blue Devils' trinity of stars to challenge men's hoops

In its last game before an 18-day break for finals, men's basketball faces its hardest test yet as it travels to Durham, N.C., to face No. 5 Duke tonight at 7, in a contest that will be televised live on ESPN (WPRB 103.3 FM).

The Blue Devils (9-0 overall, 1-0 ACC) are the highest-ranked opponent the Tigers (8-4, 0-0 Ivy) have faced yet this season. Princeton faced then-No. 6 Syracuse in its second game of the season.

Duke will be especially difficult for Princeton as the game will be in Cameron Indoor Stadium, a venue notorious for its raucous crowds, giving the Blue Devils a significant home-court advantage.

A ray of hope for Princeton is Duke's uncharacteristic lack of depth this season, which has been a concern in Durham for most of the year. With only eight recruited scholarship players on the roster at the outset of the season, this weakness has only accelerated recently. The past month has seen starting forward Shavlik Randolph, as well as his replacement Reggie Love, succumb to disease or injury. Randolph contracted mononucleosis, putting him out indefinitely. Love broke his foot against Clemson on Sunday, knocking him off the roster for at least six weeks.

Replacing Randolph and Love in the starting lineup will most likely be freshman David McClure, who has averaged only 10 minutes per game so far this year and has scored a total of only 15 points.

The lack of depth has resulted in Duke relying heavily on its three stars: guards J.J. Redick and Daniel Ewing and forward Shelden Williams. These three players combine to account for 72.4 percent of Duke's scoring among active players.

Redick, a junior who has been one of the country's most prolific shooters since arriving at Duke, averages 21.6 points this season. Princeton, which uses a matchup-zone defense, will have to stay on top of Redick to prevent his famous long-range threes but must also play cautiously against the 93 percent free-throw shooter.

Ewing has a tremendous ability to score off the dribble and leads the team in assists with 4.4 per game this season. He takes far fewer shots than Redick, and he has higher percentages on both sides of the three-point line than his teammate. Ewing is the stronger defender, too, averaging over three steals per game, giving him the potential to disrupt the Princeton offense and speed up the pace of the game.

Williams, a six-foot, nine-inch forward known as "The Landlord," is a physically dominant player who has seven double-doubles in nine games this year. Averaging 15.3 points and 12.1 rebounds, he will present a challenge to senior center Judson Wallace and the Tiger frontcourt as they attempt to evict this landlord from his own tenement, ideally drawing fouls from Williams to force him out of the game early.

Princeton is coming off of what head coach Joe Scott called Princeton's best overall effort of the year, in which the Tigers beat Davidson, 70-68, in double overtime at home on Sunday.

Traveling to Durham is nothing new for the Orange and Black. Most recently, Princeton withstood the verbal assaults of the Cameron Crazies last year when the Blue Devils pulled away in the closing minutes for a 69-51 victory over the Tigers. The Tigers return 12 players from that game.

If Princeton can keep the game at its own pace, hit its three-pointers and limit the impact of Duke's trinity of stars, the Tigers could keep themselves in the game. From there, Princeton will have to reverse its curse of letting close games against national powers slip away in the final minutes and rely on its extensive experience this season in playing close games on the road to topple one of the best teams in the nation.