Duke still perfect in NCAA play in Philadelphia

Duke has played parts of three NCAA tournaments in Philadelphia, and it has never lost a game. The sixth win came as Sunday night turned into Monday morning when the second-seeded Blue Devils sealed a 66-50 win over seventh-seeded Creighton in the round of 32 at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Blue Devils advanced to play Michigan State in Indianapolis on Friday. It will be their fourth Sweet 16 in the last five seasons.

It's not often that a Duke game is anticlimactic, but that's what happened when the Blue Devils took the court following the frenzy of Florida Gulf Coast's unexpected run. And the game featured a different style, too. It was a physical, grinding contest of attrition rather than a full-court highlight reel. The teams combined for 46 fouls.

For Duke, the key was stopping Creighton's Doug McDermott, one of the best players in the country. McDermott scored 21 points. But most of those points came from the free-throw line. He was 4 of 16 from the field, and his point total was built from 12 free throws.

Those missed shots were the biggest issue in Creighton's bid for an upset. Creighton hit just 30.2 percent from the field and made only 2 of 19 three-pointers.

Duke's defense and steady play were the reason it won. Guards Rasheed Sulaimon (21 points) and Seth Curry (17) were the leading scorers, although their ability to keep Creighton to a season low in points was the true beauty of an ugly game.

Curry scored 13 of Duke's first 22 second-half points.

"Seth put on a display," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He just got us a working margin of seven, nine points."

The Blue Devils did not trail throughout the second half and never trailed by more than four points. Duke entered halftime with a 29-23 lead, helped by a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Tyler Thornton to extend the margin. Duke built the lead in the second half and spent much of the period playing with a margin between eight and 12 points.

Even though Duke's big men all dealt with foul trouble, the Bluejays could not cut down Duke's lead. A combination of Duke's clock management, outside shooting and inopportune missed shots by Creighton allowed Duke to maintain the advantage and ensure that its postseason record in Philadelphia remained pristine.