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The Dance at a Glance: It's down to two

At the Water Cooler What happened Saturday Michigan State beat up Duke, stopped the Blue Devils from shooting 3s, made them miss their free throws, reduced their bench to tatters, put Elton Brand out of the game -- and still lost ... Richard Hamilton went off...Khalid El-Amin found his shooting touch...Trajan Langdon lost his ... UConn coach Jim Calhoun breathed a sigh of relief ... Scoonie Penn got too close of a look at UConn stopper Ricky Moore ... The Spartans couldn't shoot their way out of a paper bag ... The two semifinals weren't that entertaining or exciting ... Monday's title game should be. Rumor Central Who's going pro? Is it Mateen Cleaves? William Avery? Elton Brand? Michael Redd? Corey Maggette? Khalid El-Amin? Tourney trend Got two? At Tropicana Field, the hardest thing to do wasn't stop Elton Brand or Richard Hamilton -- it was to try and find tickets to get in. In a crazed sellers' market, no one was selling. Top story line Can UConn play half-court offense with Duke? Name to know Kevin Freeman UConn's best presence inside must contend with Brand management, but still guard the quick Shane Battier. In case you missed it... Regional finals, day two Regional finals, day one Regional semifinals, day two Regional semifinals, day one Second round, day two Second round, day one First round, day two First round, day one Selection Sunday Charting the Tournament, Game by Game Final Four Elite Eight Sweet 16 Second Round: S | W | E | MW First Round: S | W | E | MW The Bandwagon Duke Survives Mo P No Mo Flint Still Michigan's pride Langdon Alaska cold Four Richard Hamilton Let 'em Rip El-Amin Ready for prime time Scoonie Penn Finally stopped Spartan shots 'Stones is right Mateen Cleaves One more year? Monday UCann or UCan't?

By Dan Shanoff, CNN/SI

What can hopeful UConn fans (and anti-Dookies) glean from the Blue Devils' box score against Michigan State?

So much for Duke's depth
Duke went eight deep against MSU, but that counts Nate James' seven minutes and Chris Burgess' exaggerated 12 minutes, because Brand was in foul trouble. In reality, this is a team with five great starters and a single, versatile, talented sub.

Jekyll and Avery
A rare appearance of William Avery of freshman year. He led the team in shots (14) and made only six. He had a team-high four turnovers, but recorded no assists. The performance doesn't jibe with his great tournament up until Saturday night.

Tired and beat
Much was made of Duke's 28-14 halftime rebounding advantage. By the end of the game, it was 44-40. The Blue Devils were punished physically in the second half. How will that affect them in 48 hours?

Bad night for Langdon
It was a rare off-night for Trajan Langdon, who hit just 1-of-4 shots from 3-point range. The team, shooting 53 percent for the rest of the tournament, was 4 of 13. Were they just cold? Worn down by the relentless Spartans? Or should UConn worry that Monday night the long-distance shot will return to Duke ... with a vengeance?

Not-so-free throws
Like the 3-point shooting, Duke was also uncharacteristically mediocre from the line, going 14-of-27 after going 77-for-107 in its previous four tourney games. Again, count Michigan State's physical game plan as the main factor.

On the flip side, UConn doesn't have the manpower or play the style to punish Duke like MSU did. The running game fits more to Duke's liking. But it will be interesting to see if Duke remains battered and bruised from Saturday night's experience.

Starter for starter, UConn matches up very favorably with Duke. Top Blue Devils reserve Corey Maggette is better than any player the Huskies bring off the bench, but UConn goes two or three more players deep than Duke.

The conventional wisdom says that Avery and El-Amin cancel each other out, as does Ricky Moore's defense against Trajan Langdon's offense, and vise versa for Richard Hamilton and Duke stopper Chris Carrawell. The key then, as it has been for Duke all season long, is in the paint, where Elton Brand rules.

UConn's Jake Voskuhl will have trouble with the stronger, more nimble Brand. But UConn PF Kevin Freeman will double-down to help, provided the rest of the team can rotate appropriately to guard Freeman's man, Shane Battier, on the perimeter. If Battier can create some offense, he should be the man to lead Duke to the last NCAA title of the century -- and assure the program's place as the tops of the 1990s.