Coach K's youngsters are coming of age

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Mike Krzyzewski did not know how his team would react to NCAA Tournament pressure.

How could he? It is all new to most of them.

Three of Duke's top four scorers are freshmen, so before this past weekend, they never had played in a win-or-go-home-for-good game at the college level.

Only one Blue Devils player - senior guard Quinn Cook - was a part of Duke's NCAA Tournament victory two years ago, and he didn't score in the game.

Well, Krzyzewski knows a lot more about his squad now. And what he has learned, he likes.

The top-seeded Blue Devils ran through their two opponents at Time Warner Cable Arena with relative ease and head to the South Regional at NRG Stadium in Houston as a strong favorite to advance to the Final Four.

"We have talent, we're getting older by experience, and … we got better here," Krzyzewski said after Duke stomped San Diego State 68-49 on Sunday.

That has to be a scary thought for Utah, the No. 5 seed next up for the Blue Devils on Friday night. The last time Duke (31-4) was in Houston for a regional (2010), the Blue Devils went on to win the national championship.

As expected, Duke pounded Robert Morris by 29 points in the first round. The Blue Devils didn't crush the Aztecs by as many points but never trailed in winning the game convincingly.

Eighth-seeded San Diego State (27-9), which entered the game averaging just 62.2 points a game, counted on its defense to set the pace throughout the season. Duke was hardly fazed.

The Blue Devils made 54.5 percent of their shots, including a 6-of-14 showing on 3-pointers, against a squad that had not allowed a team to make more than 47.3 percent of its shots this season and had not let an opponent hit 50 percent of its shots in 46 games.

It was a sickening loss for the Aztecs - their most lopsided defeat in 209 games and more than five seasons - made worse by a stomach illness that hit a couple players, the coaching staff and some of their wives.

Thought at first to be food poisoning, the bug didn't do nearly as much damage as the Duke players did.

"That's not fun to deal with that, but that had no impact on how we competed, what we did, how we played," San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said. "They're very good, and they deserve a No. 1 seed and they played like one. We're better than we played … but they had a lot to do with it."

Winston Shepard, who grew up in Missouri City, finished with 13 points and was the lone Aztecs player in double figures.

Blue Devils freshmen Jahlil Okafor and Justise Winslow, a Houston native, were virtually unstoppable.

Okafor, a 6-11, 270-pound big man from Chicago, wheeled inside for a game-high 26 points on 12-of-16 shooting. Winslow, a 6-8 forward, was all over the floor with an all-around effort featuring 13 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocks.

A pace pusher, Winslow started fast breaks with a couple of nasty blocks and controlled the boards with 11 defensive rebounds, a particularly important statistic considering San Diego State's poor shooting (32.8 percent).

And on defense, he locked down JJ O'Brien, holding him to eight points on 2-for-10 shooting. O'Brien had 18 points against St. John's on Friday.

"Justise won that individual battle - not that (O'Brien) was bad, but Justise was so good - and it gave our guys more confidence," Krzyzewski said. "His play throughout was huge."

At the half, Winslow and Okafor had combined for 26 points. The Aztecs had 24 points and trailed by 13.

San Diego State made one little run, cutting the Duke lead to 44-37 with 12 minutes remaining, but the Aztecs did not score for six minutes during a 22-4 Blue Devils blitz that closed it out.

And with that, Duke answered some questions, Coach K's included.

"There wasn't a lot of positive vibe about us being in the Tournament. It was like, 'Can you get over this?' And then, 'It's a new thing for you,' " Krzyzewski said. "That's just the way it is. I thought our guys had fun this week. We didn't pay attention to anything like that. We just played.

"And they responded in both games when it got down to 10 (points) against Robert Morris and it got down to seven (against San Diego State). They responded to their best play.

"That's the thing you can't teach. You don't know if they're going to do it, but they did, and so I'm proud of them for doing that."

And they are getting better.