The Duke Blue Devils (3-0) and Southern Illinois Salukis (2-0) will meet in the semifinals of the 2008 2k Sports Classic on Thursday night at 7:00pm EST on ESPN2 from Madison Square Garden in New York.

Duke leads the all-time series against Southern Illinois 2-1 and has won the last two meetings in the series. Duke comes into Thursday’s game ranked 10th in the AP poll and fifth in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll.

Odds makers at SBGGlobal have Duke -12.5 point favorites at home in college basketball odds against Southern Illinois.

Duke advanced into the semifinals of this tournament with a hard fought 82-79 win over Rhode Island on Sunday. Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler combined for 44 points in the win over Rhode Island.

After facing a possible 23 year sentence for a dozen charges including robbery and kidnapping, the son of N.C. State basketball coach Sidney Lowe was sentenced by Guilford County Superior Court Judge Henry E. Frye Jr, to 15 months at a low security facility at a Guilford County prison farm.

Judge Frye Jr. had original sentenced Sidney Lowe II to 11 years in prison but then suspended the sentence to 15 months with five years probation.

The elder Lowe who played college basketball for N.C. State's 1983 NCAA championship team and later in the NBA, took the stand on Tuesday to discuss his son’s legal issues and made a tearful plea for the court to have leniency.

Gonzaga forward Austin Daye, who averaged 10.5 points and 4.7 rebounds as a true freshman last year, was hoping to escape serious injury Tuesday night when he went down hard in a tangle of bodies at the LeBron James’ elite camp.

Daye was one of the feature college basketball stars at the LeBron James elite camp along with the other top 24 collegiate players in the country. “I had just passed the ball,” Daye said.

“I took a step forward and slipped and my left leg stayed straight and my right knee was bent. I went down and I heard a couple of noises. The trainers back there thought it was my hamstring.”