COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : Victory Puts Duke in a Familiar Position : Southeast: Hill leads way as Blue Devils defeat Michigan State, 85-74, to reach round of 16 for eighth time in nine years.

All-American Grant Hill and the Duke defense took Shawn Respert out of the game early, and by the time the Michigan State star broke loose, it was too late.

The Blue Devils shut out the high-scoring Respert until early in the second half of an 85-74 victory Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Southeast Regional.

Working hard on both ends, Hill also had 25 points to send Duke (25-5) into the round of 16 for the eighth time in nine years.

“Maybe this isn’t the Duke of past years,” Michigan State Coach Jud Heathcote said. “It is a really good Duke team with a great, great player.”

Cherokee Parks scored 24 points and Antonio Lang had 16 for the second-seeded Blue Devils, who will play Marquette in Knoxville, Tenn., on Thursday night.

Respert, averaging nearly 25 points, was held to only one shot in the first half and forced into six turnovers. His first basket came with 16:49 to play and cut the Spartans’ deficit to four points, the closest they would come the rest of the way.

Only a late flurry in which Respert scored 16 of the Spartans’ last 18 points enabled him to finish with 22.

“It took a long while to figure out what I needed to do against them,” Respert said. “You have to give Duke credit for playing the type of defense they did.”

Hill handled most of the job, guarding Respert one on one. But when Respert was able to work through an elaborate set of screens and seemed free, Marty Clark or Cris Collins or Lang rushed to cover him.

“It was a Respert-awareness out there,” Hill said. “It wasn’t just me, it was everybody.”

The game may have been the last for Heathcote. The 66-year-old coach led the Spartans to a 20-12 record this season and has said he will decide in a few months whether to retire after 18 seasons at the school.

Late in the regular season, an associate athletic director at Michigan State sent a memo to the school president suggesting that Heathcote be pressured to resign or be fired. But shortly thereafter, university President M. Peter McPherson said the coach would decide when to leave.

“I’ve said forever and forever all year I’ll weigh several factors and make a decision in mid-summer,” Heathcote said.

There had been talk, too, that Respert might leave after this season. The junior’s struggles against Duke may have changed his mind about the NBA.

“This is proof that Shawn Respert is not ready,” he said. “Maybe I’m not able to take over a game the way Grant Hill did today.”

Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who relied on his outside shooters to defeat Texas Southern in the first round, 82-70, vowed to go inside to Parks and Hill against the Spartans. The strategy worked as Duke built a 10-point lead late in the first half, helped by the dominating defense on Respert.

“We were shocked we were able to do that,” Krzyzewski said. “They had a very physical game against Seton Hall in the first round. He may have been a little tired. In the second half, he showed his true colors.”

Respert scored 16 points in the final five minutes.

Duke made 15 of 16 free throws in the last three minutes and never led by fewer than seven points.

Duke became the second of five Atlantic Coast Conference teams in the NCAA tournament to reach the round of 16, joining Maryland.

The loss by Kentucky in the earlier game prevented any rematch between the Wildcats and Duke. They met two years ago in one of the greatest college games ever, a 104-103 overtime victory by the Blue Devils in the East Regional final on a last-second shot by Christian Laettner after a long pass from Hill.

Michigan State was one of seven Big Ten schools picked for the tournament. Purdue, Indiana and Michigan advanced to the regional semifinals, but the Spartans were denied their first trip to the final 16 since 1989-90.