ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Ten years ago, in the only previous NCAA tournament meeting between Duke and Arizona, the Devils won 82-72 in the NCAA final in Minneapolis.
There is one striking similarity between the current Duke team and the one from 2001: Both teams were aided by the return of a key player from injury. In 2001, forward Carlos Boozer got back into the lineup during the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament after missing six games with a broken foot.
This season, guard Kyrie Irving returned to the court for the Blue Devils at the beginning of the NCAA tournament after missing 31/2 months.
But associate head coach Chris Collins said he considers the two situations to be more different than similar.
"Boozer was only out for a few weeks," Collins said. "We lost Boozer right before the last regular-season game. And he missed the Carolina game and the ACC tournament, and he missed our first couple NCAA games. This is a case where we hadn't had [Irving] for 26 games."
'Go fly a kite': Duke and Arizona haven't met since that 2001 game in Minneapolis but once played regular-season games four times in five seasons in the late '80s and early '90s.
Duke made two visits to Tucson as part of that series, including an overtime loss in 1991, but hasn't been back since. In 2004, then-Arizona coach Lute Olson lashed out at Duke when the Blue Devils offered to play a neutral-site game against the Wildcats in New Jersey.
"I said, 'You know what? We'll play the neutral-site game in Phoenix or the Pond [of Anaheim, Calif.],'" Olson told the Arizona Daily Star. "'But other than that, you just call Duke up and tell them to go fly a kite.' "
Seven years later, they'll meet at the Pond - now called the Honda Center - tonight.
East vs. West: A major story line of the West Regional semifinals pits East vs. West.
San Diego State coach Steve Fisher has been playing up the idea that his team will have a significant homecourt advantage at the regional.
No. 3 seed Connecticut had to travel across the country to meet No. 2 seed San Diego State in today's 7:15 p.m. regional semifinal game.
"We don't have to fly three hours and three time zones to play a game," Fisher said. "We are going to have a lot of fans here. How much that will help us win games, I don't know. It did at home. At our home games, when we got on a run our crowd kept us on that run."
Star power: The West Regional boasts the players of the year from the Pac-10 (Williams) and the ACC (Duke's Nolan Smith), plus Big East tournament MVP Kemba Walker of Connecticut.
Walker has led the Huskies to seven wins in a row.
"At 6 feet, 185 pounds there isn't anything he can't do," said UConn coach Jim Calhoun, "and the greatest thing he can do is lead a team and impose some of his will on his teammates. Most people can't transmit that. That's a hard thing to do."
