VALPO (0-3) vs. #10 DUKE (4-0)

WHEN: Saturday, December 4 - 1 p.m. CT

WHERE: United Center, Chicago, Illinois

RADIO: WEFM (95.9, Michigan City), WVUR-FM (95.1, Valparaiso) - Todd Ickow and Andrew Stem announcing.

TV: ESPN2 - Dan Shulman and Len Elmore announcing.

THE COACHES: Valparaiso is guided by Homer Drew, who has a career record of 523-322 in his 28th season and a record at Valpo of 254-200 in his 16th season. Duke is led by Mike Krzyzewski, who has a career mark of 698-240 in his 30th season and a record at Duke of 625-181 in his 25th season.

SERIES RECORD: Duke leads 1-0
LAST MEETING: 2003-04 - Duke won 97-63 on Feb. 26, 2004 in Durham, North Carolina.

On Saturday, Valpo (0-3) and 10th-ranked Duke (4-0) play the middle game of their three-game series agreement this season at the United Center. In the school's only previous contest at the UC on Jan 4, 2003, Valpo was edged by Notre Dame 55-53. The Blue Devils are 5-0 all-time at the United Center.

Last Saturday, sophomore Jimmie Miles netted a career-high 22 points in an 85-71 loss to Charlotte. Freshman Jarryd Loyd dished out nine assists in his first start.

Last season, Duke bested the Crusaders 97-63 at Cameron Indoor Stadium in the first-ever meeting between the schools. Kikas Gomes led Valpo with 18 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Dan Oppland tallied 11 points and eight rebounds, while Ali Berdiel had 10 points for the Crusaders. Daniel Ewing topped the Blue Devils with 20 points. Luol Deng, now a rookie with the Chicago Bulls, had 18 points and eight rebounds. Valpo will make a return trip to Durham for the third game of the series in 2005-06.

COACHING MACHINES: DREW & KRZYZEWSKI: Valpo's Homer Drew and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski have combined for over 1,200 career victories. Now in his 30th year, Krzyzewski (698-240) is appproaching the 700 victory milestone, while Drew, in his 28th year, owns 523 all-time wins (523-322).

WINDY CITY TIES: Valpo has six players who hail from the Chicagoland area: Jimmie Miles (Country Club Hills/Rich Central), Vincent Humphrey (Chicago/Fenwick), Jarryd Loyd (Skokie/Niles West), Ron Howard (Chicago/Whitney Young), Ali Berdiel (Merrillville/Andrean) and Kenny Harris (Griffith, Ind./HS).

CONFERENCE CHAMPS FLOOD VALPO SCHEDULE: As defending champions of the Mid-Continent Conference, Valpo is facing its share of conference champion opponents. Through their first eight games, the Crusaders oppose five league champions - Cincinnati, Charlotte (both shared Conference USA title in 2004), Duke (ACC), Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Horizon League, Dec. 11) and Illinois (Big 10, Dec. 19).