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DURHAM -- And what if Duke had made its free throws, you ask? Don't ask. Best leave it unsolved, as a wise man once said.

The Statesboro Blues met thrash-metal Tuesday night as the Blue Devils oppressed Georgia Southern by scoring on 13 straight possessions spanning halftime and claiming a 97-54 victory in the second round of the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.

Suffice it to say the name of the event was longer than the suspense. Only the Devils' struggles at the foul line -- two dozen misses -- kept them from sprinting past the century mark.

Even that 25-of-49 showing was misleading; it didn't include three failures erased by lane violations. Absolutely none of it mattered.

"Throughout the game, we felt very comfortable," said forward Kyle Singler, who authored 19 points in 22 minutes. "We didn't feel any pressure or anything. Even though we didn't shoot well at the line, we were able to make that push at the end of the first half with pressure."

The Devils committed only four turnovers in the first 32 minutes while forcing a pace that often left the Eagles overwhelmed.

"We tried to play a small lineup against their big guys, and our guys hustled," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "All of a sudden, it was like a pinball machine. You look up and we're up by a lot of points."

Pinball wizardry really took over after the Eagles got to 35-22 with 2:45 left in the first half. Duke's lead was 13, but there had to be a twist.

Duke was toying with the Eagles. As it turned out, the best way to build a lead was to stay away from the line, and the Devils did that with full-court harassment that upped the tempo to punk-rock levels.

"We have a team with five guys on the floor who can guard whoever," point guard Nolan Smith said.

The Eagles didn't turn the ball over that often. At least not officially. They simply shot it before they could throw it away, and Duke didn't mind.

"We were trying to hang in there," Eagles coach Jeff Price said. "They started pressing and double-teaming the ball and they got easy baskets off it. Then we just folded in the last three minutes of the first half."

The Devils advanced to next Thursday's semifinals in Madison Square Garden, in which they will face Southern Illinois or Massachusetts. They'll avoid a nine-day layoff by hosting Rhode Island on Sunday.

Georgia Southern, which earned the right to face Duke by upsetting Houston in Monday's first round, displayed the skills of craftsmen. Unfortunately for the Eagles, that craft was masonry. Bad misses became open-floor opportunities for the Devils, who ultimately rolled to 27 points in a stretch of five minutes sandwiching halftime.

In the process, the Devils won their 43rd straight game against Southern Conference opposition since a 75-73 loss to Davidson on Dec. 29, 1981. That Duke team, Krzyzewski's second, beat Charles Barkley and Auburn the next night but finished the season at 10-17.

The Eagles finished with 29 personal fouls and 18 field goals Tuesday.

Among the beneficiaries was Duke freshman Elliot Williams, who collected 11 rebounds in 14 minutes of playing time.

Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rob.daniels@news-record.com

GEORGIA SOUTHERN (1-1)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Pearson 16 1-4 1-3 2-2 0 3 4

Ward 22 0-3 2-2 2-4 0 4 2

Hanson 27 2-11 0-0 1-3 5 3 5

Allen 17 5-9 0-0 4-6 0 2 10

Powers 30 5-15 7-7 1-1 0 2 17

Johnson 16 0-3 1-3 0-2 1 2 1

Thompson 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Janiszewski 11 1-2 0-2 1-1 0 3 2

Brannen 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Troupe 17 0-4 2-2 3-8 0 1 2

Drayton III 5 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 0 2

Perry 13 0-2 0-0 1-1 0 5 0

Marshall 14 2-3 0-1 0-3 0 2 6

Wohlleb 9 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 1 3

Totals 200 18-64 13-21 16-36 6 28 54

Percentages: FG .281, FT .619.

3-Point goals: 5-19, .263 (Marshall 2-3, Pearson 1-1, Hanson 1-3, Wohlleb 1-4, Troupe 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Perry 0-1, Powers 0-5).

Team rebounds: 5.

Blocked shots: 6 (Ward 2, Pearson 2, Janiszewski, Troupe).

Turnovers: 17 (Johnson 4, Ward 3, Powers 3, Hanson 3, Troupe, Perry, Allen, Pearson).

Steals: 5 (Hanson, Ward, Powers, Pearson, Johnson).

Technical fouls: Bench.

DUKE (2-0)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Singler 22 5-7 9-12 2-8 2 1 19

Henderson 20 4-7 2-4 2-6 1 2 11

Zoubek 14 2-6 2-2 3-5 0 4 6

Smith 18 5-10 0-0 1-2 0 3 13

Scheyer 22 3-11 1-3 2-4 7 1 8

Paulus 21 2-4 5-8 0-2 1 1 11

Pocius 17 3-7 2-2 0-0 1 2 9

Czyz 9 1-1 0-2 1-3 1 0 2

McClure 11 2-4 0-0 3-5 3 2 4

Williams 14 1-3 2-4 3-11 0 1 4

Plumlee 14 2-3 1-4 2-5 0 2 5

Thomas 13 2-3 1-8 3-4 1 3 5

Johnson 5 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 0

Totals 200 32-66 25-49 23-58 17 23 97

Percentages: FG .485, FT .510.

3-Point goals: 8-19, .421 (Smith 3-4, Paulus 2-4, Henderson 1-2, Pocius 1-3, Scheyer 1-5, Singler 0-1).

Team rebounds: 2.

Blocked shots: 7 (Henderson 2, Plumlee, Zoubek, Singler, McClure, Scheyer).

Turnovers: 11 (Williams 4, Plumlee 3, Smith, Scheyer, Pocius, Singler).

Steals: 11 (Scheyer 3, Smith 2, Pocius 2, Singler, Williams, Paulus, Zoubek).

Technical fouls: None.

Georgia Southern 25 29 -- 54

Duke 52 45 -- 97

A--9,314. Officials--Raymond Styons, Dwayne Gladden, Brent Hampton.