CARBONDALE - Bryan Mullins played in four NCAA tournament games his first three years at Southern Illinois University. Took on West Virginia, Kansas, Virginia Tech and, during the 2006-07 campaign, helped SIU battle Indiana, Arkansas and nationally-ranked Butler.

But even Mullins has never stepped onto the floor at New York City's Madison Square Garden, where the Salukis will take on No. 10 Duke on Thursday night in the semifinal of the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. SIU (2-0) takes on Duke (3-0) at 6 p.m. Thursday on ESPN2.

"We feel we belong there," said Mullins, who has seen a game or two at the nation's Mecca of basketball. "We're going to have to, obviously, play better than we have early against Duke, otherwise, we'll be in a lot of trouble."

SIU left Tuesday for New York to begin preparing for stepping onto a historic court that could have 19,763 fans in it Thursday and Friday night. Michigan and No. 4 UCLA fill out the field, and will fill out the schedule Friday for the Salukis, depending on who wins and loses Thursday night. SIU is 4-1 lifetime at the Garden, winning the 1967 NIT title behind Walt Frazier, but hasn't been back since 1968.

SIU coach Chris Lowery, who was a point guard on the last Salukis team to play Duke back in 1993, hopes his team doesn't get swallowed up by the atmosphere before they try to send the Blue Devils into the consolation game Friday night. SIU has eight newcomers on its 13-man roster, six of which may play heavy minutes this week against two of the country's most storied programs.

"Duke is a measuring stick for everybody. To get a win against Duke is obviously a great thing, but we have to let our kids know it's not the Super Bowl," Lowery said. "If we do have success against them, we have to let them know it's not the end of their season, and if we don't have success against them, we have to let them know it's not the end of their season.

"For the young guys, it'll be their first time to really play on TV, and really go into an environment that's pretty historic. And there's going to be a lot of people there, and it's going to be real easy to get caught up on the name on the other team's jersey, as opposed to just playing hard against them."

Duke brings with it more than the 10th-ranked team in the country in the latest Associated Press poll. Coach Mike Krrzyzewski spent his summer leading Team USA to the gold in Beijing, and has led Duke to nine 30-plus win seasons. He is one of two active coaches with at least 700 career wins and has led the Blue Devils to 10 Final Fours.

In the other corner, stands two national champs. UCLA, ranked fourth in the latest AP poll, returns two starters from last year's 35-4 team that reached the Final Four. The Bruins have won 11 NCAA titles and endured eight 30-plus-win seasons. Coach Ben Howland landed the nation's top-ranked recruiting class, according to ESPN.com, and has 294 wins in 14 years as a head coach.

Michigan, the national champs in 1986, are 14-10 all-time at Madison Square Garden. Coach John Beilein, in his second season in Ann Arbor, Mich., has more career victories than anyone in the Big Ten (561) and is the only active college coach to have 20-win seasons at four different levels (NAIA, NCAA Division II, junior college and NCAA Division I).

The big names, though, are exactly why Lowery brought his current squad to Carbondale. The Salukis have reached the postseason seven straight years, six of them in the NCAA tournament. With two wins this week, Lowery will become the fastest coach ever to hit 100 in school history.

"This is why we recruited them. We said we want to play the best teams. Period. That's why we attracted these kids. Those are promises we can make and keep," he said. "We don't ever think of it as a bigger school. We think how we play prepares us to play anybody, and we always talk about the way we practice and the way we do things, it's to compete against the highest level. We don't ever say who's a big school and who's not, because that means my kids are talking like that too, and that's not what I want them talking about. It's just another opponent."

todd.hefferman@thesouthern.com / 351-5087

2K Sports Classic

Southern Illinois University's men's basketball team takes on No. 10 Duke Thursday night at the 2K Sports Classic in New York City. Here's a quick look at the four teams in the field:

No. 4 UCLA

2007-08 record: 35-4 (16-2 Pac-10).

Coach: Ben Howland (126-45 at UCLA, 294-144 career).

Players to watch: G Darren Collison (17.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg), G/F Josh Shipp (12.5 ppg, 5 rpg), G Jrue Holiday (8 ppg, 1 rpg).

No. 10 Duke

2007-08 record: 28-6 (13-3 ACC).

Coach: Mike Krzyzewski (733-208 at Duke, 806-267 career).

Players to watch: F Kyle Singler (19.7 ppg, 7.7 rpg), G Gerald Henderson (9 ppg, 4.3 rpg), G Greg Paulus (6.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 1.3 apg).

Michigan

2007-08 record: 10-22 (5-13 Big Ten).

Coach: John Beilein (12-22 at UM, 563-340 career).

Players to watch: G Manny Harris (28 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 5 apg), F Deshawn Sims (14.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg), F Anthony Wright (5 ppg, 5 rpg).

Southern Illinois

2007-08 record: 18-15 (11-7 Missouri Valley Conference).

Coach: Chris Lowery (98-41 at SIU, 98-41 career).

Players to watch: PG Bryan Mullins (11.5 ppg, 1 rpg, 10.5 apg), F Carlton Fay (16.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg), G Kevin Dillard (11.5 ppg, 2 rpg, 7.5 apg).