March 17, 2006

Box Score

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- Sheldon Williams and JJ Redick combined for all but 12 of their team's points to help the top-seeded Duke Blue Devils survive, 70-54 victory over Southern University on Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Williams finished with 29 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks, while Redick matched those 29 points and made five 3-pointers. The rest of the team was 2-for-12 from the field, with Josh McRoberts having those two baskets on his way to eight points.

Chris Alexander had 19 points for the Jaguars (19-13), who gave an inspired effort in trying to become the first No. 16 seed to win in the first round. They led twice in the first half and trailed only 40-37 with 16½ minutes remaining in the game.

"I thought we competed, and competed very hard," Southern coach Rob Spivery said. "A little more offensive output by us, and it could've been a different story."

The Blue Devils finished with 20 turnovers and shot only 43 percent in the second half, hardly the type of effort Coach K expected.

"I don't think you take steps forward and back," Krzyzewski said. "I just think you play. This isn't like an English course and you've flunked the last paper. They're good players, and sometimes they don't play as well."

"The main goal was to try and play as hard as we possibly could to give Duke a scare and let them know that they weren't going to just run over us," Cipriano said. "We came in there and played our kind of basketball like we didn't know who they were."

"I think part of it was that we thought it was going to be easy, and this tournament is not easy," Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Hopefully, we learned that lesson."

Still, the effort was enough to help Duke (31-3) advance to play George Washington next in the Atlanta Regional. The Colonials rallied to beat UNC Wilmington 88-85 in overtime.

"You've got to win, or else you're going home," said point guard Greg Paulus, who had seven turnovers to go with his eight assists. "That's the No. 1 objective, and we got it. It doesn't matter if it's pretty or ugly, as long as you're surviving. That's what we need to be doing."

Williams started a 16-4 run at that point with deft baby hook in the paint, and Redick added a couple of 3s. Just like that, the Blue Devils led by 15 points, and Southern never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.