Duke No. 2 Seed In West, Will Face Belmont Thursday In Washington, D.C.

DURHAM, N.C. - The Duke Blue Devils (27-5) earned a No. 2 seed in the West region of the 2008 NCAA Tournament and will face the Atlantic Sun champion Belmont Bruins (25-8) Thursday in Washington D.C.

Duke earned its seventh No. 2 seed in the tournament and first since the 1997 season. Duke won the 1991 National Championship as a No. 2 seed and advanced to the 1988, 1989 and 1994 Final Four's as No. 2 seeds, as well. Duke's other No. 2 seed came in 1979.

Duke has been a part of the West Region three previous times and Duke will be playing out of the West for the second straight season. Duke also played out of the West in 1984 in coach Mike Krzyzewski's first NCAA Tournament appearance, as well as a Sweet 16 run in 2003 and last year in 2007.

This will be Duke's first match-up with Belmont in the Big Dance and also its first match-up with a team from the Atlantic Sun conference. Duke did face current A-Sun member Campbell in the first round in 1992 en route to its second straight National Championship, but Campbell didn't join the A-Sun until 1994.

Overall, Duke is 14-4 against teams currently playing in the A-Sun, including a 12-1 mark under Coach K. A total of 11 of those match-ups coming against Stetson, and Duke is 9-2 in those games. Duke has won 11 straight games against A-Sun teams. Duke's last match-up against the A-Sun was on Dec. 21, 1997, in a 126-64 win over Mercer at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The Bruins have been a member of the A-Sun since 2001 and will be making their third straight NCAA appearance and all three have come as the No. 15 seed. The Nashville, Tenn.-based squad loves the long range game as they have connected on 349-of-956 from long distance this season. That compares to 297-of-773 from three-point range for Duke this season.

The Bruins top four scorers are all deep threats. Justin Hare leads the way averaging 14.1 points per game shooting 37.7 percent from distance (61-of-162), while Shane Dansby has the best percentage from deep at 43.8 percent while averaging 13.8 points per game. Matthew Dotson (11.3 ppg, 41.7 three-point field goal percentage) and Andy Wicke (9.1, 32.4) round out the top four scorers for the Bruins.

In Washington D.C., Duke holds a 7-8 overall mark including a 4-2 mark under Coach K. At the Verizon Center, Duke holds a 4-1 mark, although the buidling was named the MCI Center then. Duke won the 2005 ACC Tournament in the building in 2005 and owns a 1-1 mark against Georgetown in the building.

The other teams in Washington D.C. in the Blue Devils pod are the seven seed West Virginia and 10 seed Arizona teams. Since the NCAA went to the pod system, two four-team mini tournaments are held at each site. Iroincally, this season the two winners of the pods at the Verizon center will meet in Phoenix in the Sweet 16, much as it was before the pod system was in place. Two of the eight pods are set up like that this year, the other in Birmingham, Ala., where winners from both pods from the East region will meet in Charlotte in the Sweet 16.

The other pod in Washington D.C. has three seed Xavier pitted against 14 seed Georgia in the first round and six seed Purdue facing 11 seed Baylor in the first round.

The other half of the West bracket is as follows: top seed UCLA will face 16 seed Mississippi Valley State and eight seed BYU will face nine seed Texas A&M in Anaheim, Calif., while four seed UConn will face 13 seed San Diego and five seed Drake will face 12 seed Western Kentucky in Tampa.

Duke No. 2 Seed In West, Will Face Belmont Thursday In Washington, D.C.

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