Duke wins big at Purdue - Purdue fans disappointed

In somewhat of a surprise, Duke actually had a non-conference pure road game in early December at Purdue's Mackey Arena, and they more than shut up the critics and disappointed many Purdue fans (see picture on left from Vegas '07) in a huge 16 point win. Kyle Singler had a monster game for Duke (20 points and 12 boards) and his domination in the game overshadowed the fact that Purdue had a bad shooting night. Duke surprised me with their defense as they are far more athletic this year, mainly due to the fact that Nolan Smith is now starting in the place of junior guard Greg Paulus and the emergence of now healthy center Brian Zoubek defensively. Duke continues its Big Ten road swing, as they play at Michigan on Saturday. Sophomore standout Robbie Hummel of Purdue had a decent game (15 points, 8 boards), but many of these points were in 'garbage time.'

PPI Rankings - As of 11/30/08

Many changes occurred from last week to this week, and of course, UNC is now #1 after dominating a few games.

#1 North Carolina
#2 Duke
#3 Pittsburgh
#4 Xavier
#5 Connecticut
#6 Oklahoma
#7 Tennessee
#8 Clemson
#9 Arizona State
#10 Syracuse
#11 Illinois
#12 Gonzaga
#13 Wake Forest
#14 Florida State
#15 Texas
#16 Missouri
#17 Memphis
#18 Illinois State
#19 Vanderbilt
#20 California
#21 Villanova
#22 Oklahoma State
#23 UAB
#24 North Carolina State
#25 Florida
Others receiving votes: Dayton, Mississippi, Nebraska, Baylor, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Texas A&M, Utah, Stanford, Seton Hall, Davidson, Butler, Michigan State, Purdue, UNLV