Duke rolls to easy win over Colonials



The Blue Devils are in the Sweet 16 for the ninth straight season.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams had plenty of help this time. From the acrobatic dunks of Josh McRoberts to the heady play from point guard Greg Paulus, Duke did just about everything right.
And now the top-seeded Blue Devils are headed to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament for the ninth straight season.
Redick had 20 points, Williams added 17 points and 14 rebounds and the No. 1 overall seed easily disposed of George Washington 74-61 Saturday in a gritty, foul-filled game.
Unlike the first-round victory over Southern University, when Duke's two standouts scored all but 12 of their team's 70 points, everyone who played contributed.
McRoberts got his second double-double of the season with 14 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, while fellow freshman Paulus never got frazzled against the ever-changing, trapping defense used by the Colonials (27-3). He had six assists to go with 10 points.
Every other player who got on the court scored for the Blue Devils (32-3), who are trying to reach the Final Four for the second time in three years. They shot 52 percent in the first half to take control and never were threatened after that.
Duke next plays LSU in the Atlanta Regional.
Omar Williams had 14 points for the eighth-seeded Colonials, and Mike Hall added 13. Two of their three losses this season came to teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference -- the first was in December at North Carolina State -- and they hardly had a chance in this one.
Hot at foul line
Duke finished 26-of-37 on free throws, which included Redick's uncharacteristically poor 2-for-7. It's the first time in his career he missed more than four free throws in a single game.
Of course, that hardly mattered to him or Williams. Both decided to return to school for their seniors years in search of that elusive national championship, and with victories in their last five games, the Blue Devils certainly are one of the favorites.
Regis Koundjia fouled out and four other players finished with four apiece for GW, which finished with 29 fouls. That led coach Karl Hobbs, known as much for his histrionics on the sideline as he is for turning around his program, to spend much of his time yelling at the referees.
Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who sat out four games down the stretch for the Colonials following knee surgery, never was a factor and had four points and two rebounds in 13 minutes.
Wichita State 80, Tennessee 73
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Karon Bradley hit a go-ahead stepback jumper with about two minutes left while P.J. Couisnard followed with a big 3-pointer as Wichita State beat Tennessee. The victory over the second-seeded Volunteers (22-8) marks Wichita State's first trip to the round of 16 since reaching a regional final 25 years ago. Couisnard finished with 20 points on 6-for-7 shooting to lead the seventh-seeded Shockers (26-8), who used a late 7-0 spurt to break a 65-all tie. Wichita State next faces the winner of today's George Mason-North Carolina game. Kyle Wilson added 17 points to help make up for an off day by first-round leaders Paul Miller and Sean Ogirri. Miller, the MVC's player of the year, managed 10 points on 1-for-9 shooting. Ogirri scored 12 points after finishing with 23 in the first round. Chris Lofton and C.J. Watson each scored 20 points to lead the Volunteers. Major Wingate finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and five blocks.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.