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It was a rough night in New York City for the SIU men's basketball team against Duke.

Check that. A rough night would have been an improvement.

It was a tough shooting night not only for the Salukis (20-57 for 35.1%), but also for the Blue Devils (18-42 for 42.9%) and that's mostly because they basically shot lights out in the last 10 minutes of the second half ... and how can you not when you're dunking on everything SIU has to offer.

Duke won the game at the charity stripe by shooting 47 free throws and making 40(!) of them. Yeah, that's 85 percent, so yeah, they made the most of their opportunities, but that's a classic discrepancy that you would only see when Duke plays a "non-power" school.

Sean McGahan breaks it down for the Daily Egyptian as SIU head coach Chris Lowery blamed poor defensive positioning for the fouls.

I blame the zebras for knowing the name on the front of the jerseys worn by the team ranked No. 5 in the nation.

Yeah, I went there. But that's Duke being Duke. If you read my blog from the other day, you wouldn't have been surprised with the Blue Devils making more free throws than Southern attempted.

Now for tidbits from New York City:

• "That's a very good point." Direct quote from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski after I asked him a question. That's right, Coach K gave me a +1 on a question. He was a lot nicer in the presser than I thought he would be ... granted as a UNC fan I was sure he was the devil. He was joking about Dean Smith and Bobby Knight and even had some cracks about his beat writers. I can't wait to see what he has for me today, maybe he'll give me a thumbs up on my outfit. Or my beard. Who knows when this will end.
• Speaking of outfits, +2 for C-Lo for repping the maroon shirt and maroon-ish tie last night. Very sharp! I wonder if he went to the Prato store and got suits 2 for $125 ... seriously we saw a store like that around Times Square.
• Oh yeah, speaking of Time Square ... WOW! It's huge! Everything was turned on! I was seriously in awe of my surroundings. It's so brightly colored, it's ridiculous. That's the only way I can describe it.
  
• When Steven, Sean and myself stepped on to Madison Square Garden's property I turned to Sean and asked him "do you smell that?" and I could have been talking about the grilled chicken kabobs we just passed. I wasn't. "It's the smell of the House That Jordan Torched." It was the first of many jabs I took at the Knicks last night.
• My mother called to see how I was doing in the Big Apple and asked me where I was. "Madison Square Garden, Ma" was what I replied. "No, it's just the Garden" said my mother, a native New Yorker. "No, Ma, it's got a new name ... 'The House That Jordan Torched.'" Mom could only reply with a simple "whatever."
• My seats in the "press box" were probably the best seats I'll ever have at the Garden. Right behind the basket to the right. I could see everything. Everyone. It felt special, and to be honest, I was tense with nerves for most of the first half.
• No Brandon Jacobs. No Walt Frazier. Sad face. I wanted to know what Frazier said in his pregame video speech to SIU, but it's a moot point after a 25-point loss.
• Duke fans are evil people. Evil. And annoying. Mostly annoying. With the loudest guy in the entire arena blasting his mouth off at every turn, he only shut up when someone brought him a beer. You would think that would have made it worse, but it was like giving a baby a bottle. All quiet after that.