More photos » Steve Helber - AP

Getting the best of Coach K's Blue Devils will not be easy.

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A quick look at the Duke Blue Devils reveals the following.

Strength of schedule: 7th in the nation (Cal was 18th)
Best wins: Beat Maryland by 21, swept Clemson by 21 and 13, beat Georgia Tech by 19, beat Virginia Tech by 12, beat Gonzaga by 35.
Offensive threats: Jon Scheyer (ranked 19th nationally in offensive rating), Brian Zoubek (102nd), Kyle Singler (166th), Nolan Smith (228th).
Toughest losses: 4 point loss at Wisconsin, 4 point loss at Georgia Tech, 12 point loss at Georgetown, 7 point loss at Maryland. Their other defeat was a 14 point loss at NC State I can't even begin to explain.
Common opponents: Arizona State (Duke won by 11 on an neutral court, Cal swept their season series), Iowa State (Duke won by 21 on a neutral court, Cal won by 19 at Haas).

Duke and Cal aren't that much different in style and execution. The Blue Devils have three good scorers who love to shoot the three ball (Scheyer, Singler, Smith hover around 39% from downtown). The Duke trio has actually shot more threes this season than Theo Robertson, Patrick Christopher and Jerome Randle (550 to 481, although some of that must be excused by Robertson's six game absence).  They like to stretch the floor and find the best possible shot with their spread offense, with only occasional looks inside. They have a short rotation that puts heavy emphasis on guards logging big minutes. They play aggressive man-to-man defense (okay, Cal's defense is man-to-man, but it'd be a stretch to call it aggressive), and they do their best to contest shots. They have a 7 foot center, with the qualification that theirs is a senior and can rebound the ball and can score and do center-like things. We even have our own flopper (Cal has Jorge. Duke has everyone.) And just like Cal, a bad shooting night could mean the end of their season.

The most interesting thing about this Blue Devils team is their point guard doesn't get many assists. The 6'5" Scheyer does most of the ball-handling while Smith does a lot of the driving and finishing. It'll be interesting to see how Christopher does battle with him; although Scheyer's length should bother him, Christopher should have a few opportunities to get to the basket and make some noise. How he competes against Scheyer defensively could also be key; forcing him away from the three point line and putting the ball on the floor would be awesome. If he doesn't do so well, I expect to see plenty of Gutierrez while Christopher switches onto Smith or the fourth Duke perimeter man, Lance Thomas.

Smith should have the advantage over Randle on his side of the floor since he has about four inches and 20 pounds on him, but Randle's quickness could be a big factor on the other side, especially when it comes in transition. And while I think Duke will guard the three exceptionally well, I do feel Randle is in a kind of unguardable range unless they put someone longer and bigger than Smith on him. If he gets some opportunities, expect him to let it fly. Still, it's another tough matchup for Jerome, although it's not in the realm of Seth Tarver eye-gouging; he's probably going to have to get most of his scoring opportunities on the run like he did against Louisville.

Randle's defense will be key. He's not going to stop Smith from getting to the basket one-on-one, but can he funnel him into the help defense when he gets moving inside?

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More photos » Wilfredo Lee - AP

Cal Band doing their thing.

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A special edition of Golden Nuggets for this weekend as we gather all the remaining links on yesterday and tomorrow's games. Lots and lots of links as we recap the Louisville game and prepare ourselves for Duke. (To discuss today's games, scroll down a post or two or click here!)

First, of course, the highlights.

Jerome Randle had the quotes of the night, both poignant and funny:

"I've been listening to a lot of things that have been said about the Pac-10, and honestly I feel like we have great players and great teams," Cal senior guard Jerome Randle said. "Just because we didn't have any Top 25 teams, people were trashing our league. But we were competitive every night. Luckily, Cal and Washington got in, and we were able to send a message in the first round." 

...

"I was a little upset that Obama didn't put us in his bracketology," Randle joked, referring to the president's own Pac-10 doubting picks. "So I just wanted to come out strong." 

More Cal, Louisville and Duke links after the jump.

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More games. More madness.  Discuss the games and your slowly combusting brackets as Round of 32 action kicks off (Cal's game seems so far away). You can also follow most of the action online on CBS MMOD.

More photos » Wilfredo Lee - AP

Jerome Randle and Patrick Christopher looked totally spent after battling off every run to send Cal through.

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The California Golden Bears have faced many tests this year. But the only thing missing from this season was a signature win against a nationally respected opponent. They finally got one Friday night.

Cal stormed off to an 18 point lead early and battled off every rally by the Louisville Cardinals Friday night to triumph 77-62 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This earns them a date with top seeded Duke in the final game of the second round Sunday at 5:20 PM EST/2:20 PM PST. 

The Big Three charged us to victory in this one. Patrick Christopher got Cal going early with three triples and 13 first half points. Jerome Randle bridged the gap in between the starting and closing runs, including a highlight worthy buzzer beater that deflated the first half Louisville run. Last but definitely not least, Theo Robertson played clutch, going on his own 8-0 spurt at one point in the second half and hitting the clutch 3 late to stave off the last Cardinals comeback.

It was a valiant effort from an undermanned team. The Omondi Amoke issue could've easily undermined the entire tournament run, and the Bears could've gone into this game with a doom-and-gloom mindset. But it was clear from the opening tip we weren't getting that team, and it's been pretty clear all year long this team is not about doom and gloom.

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via cdn1.sbnation.com

It was a true team victory for the California Golden Bears as they led wire-to-wire against the Louisville Cardinals. Patrick Christopher got us going early. Jamal Boykin was steady. Jerome Randle stuck a dagger into Louisville at the end of the half and showed only some troubles against the press. Jorge Gutierrez shut down whoever he was on (Smith? Sosa?). Theo Robertson showed off his pro skills in the second half and cut down every Cardinal rally. And big old Max Zhang closed the door.

Big game, big effort. Savor this one Cal fans. It's time to face the Dukies.

Bigger recap coming in the early morning hours. For now, discuss.

1. How did Cal handle Louisville's matchup press defense?

2. Who was your Cal player of the game? Louisville player of the game?

3. What was the most pleasant surprise of the game?

4. What did you think of Montgomery's strategies?

5. How does Cal match up against Duke?

Time: 6:55 PM PST/9:55 PM EST (tentative; subject to change depending on the other games--i.e. could be a few minutes later)
TV: CBS
Radio: 1550 KFRC AM
Streams: Post links in comments, although all games will be available on March Madness on Demand.

Cal-Louisville will tipoff at around 6:40 PM PST/9:40 PM EST. Open thread for the game will be up about an hour before that time. Watch out for it!

Until then, follow, discuss, analyze these games or moan about your brackets.

Discuss the games below, talk about your brackets, or just fret about the Cal-Louisville game. We're only hours away from tipoff.