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Tulsa Learns Duke Is Great to Last Stop

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

There were 10 minutes left, Duke led by 40 points, and Elton Brand was on his belly.

All 6 feet 8 and 260 pounds of him.

Diving for a steal.

“Relentless,” Tulsa Coach Bill Self said. “The best thing about Duke is the players have a killer mind-set.

“They don’t think like most humans. Most humans let up a little.”

Not the Blue Devils.

Duke led by 30 points at halftime and by as many as 43 as the Blue Devils beat Tulsa, 97-56, in the second round of the NCAA East Regional at Charlotte Coliseum on Sunday.

Top-seeded Duke did to the Golden Hurricane exactly what it did to Florida A&M;, the No. 16-seeded team, beating Tulsa by the same margin--41 points.

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Scariest thought for the other 15 teams left in the NCAA tournament: No. 9-seeded Tulsa (23-10) was a pretty good team.

Duke (34-1) is a great team.

For the second time in two NCAA tournament games, the Blue Devils actually shot better from three-point range than they did overall, making 11 of 20 three-point shots (55%) compared to 32 for 67 overall (47.8%).

Duke made 12 steals, dominated the boards-- 19 offensive rebounds while Tulsa had only 21 defensive-- its ferocious defense contributed to Tulsa shooting 33.9% and no points by standout forward Michael Ruffin.

Duke’s William Avery scored 19 points, including three of four three-pointers, and Brand had 17 on 50% shooting to lead six players in double figures, including Corey Maggette and Nate James off the bench.

Duke guard Trajan Langdon returned after being sidelined three games because of a strained left foot and scored 12 points in 26 minutes. He wasn’t at his best in terms of conditioning and defense.

Not that it mattered.

The score was 9-8 when Duke went on an 13-0 run on a three-point basket by William Avery, a Shane Battier tipin, a Battier three-point basket, a couple of free throws by Brand, and another three-point basket by Battier off a pass from Langdon and a steal off the press.

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All inspired by a momentary Duke let-up.

“There was a loose ball we didn’t get to, but they got it and hit a three-pointer,” Langdon said. “That’s one thing coach gets on us for. Go for every loose ball. Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] got on us for that one, and I think we knew we should have gotten it too.”

They got a few more to make up for it, and shortly later they went on a second 13-0 run for good measure.

“They’ve got so many guys, and they work exceptionally hard,” said Tulsa center Brandon Kurtz, who played at Bakersfield College and Centennial High. “They’re the hardest-workers we’ve played against all year.

“We had it close. Then the next thing, you look at the scoreboard and it’s 17 points. You wonder how they got there so fast.”

The Blue Devils say they don’t scoreboard watch or revel in the margin, they simply refuse to quit playing hard.

“We’re not trying to build up the score,” Krzyzewski said. “We’re not pressing, not fastbreaking at times. But there are habits we have to have, no matter who’s in the game. They need to play hard. This isn’t a seven-game series. Bad habits start to seep in.”

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There wasn’t much Duke did wrong Sunday, and No. 12-seeded Southwest Missouri State is next in line Friday at East Rutherford, N.J.

“Wow. I thought we were ready to play,” Tulsa’s Self said. “I think Duke is probably better than advertised from our perspective.

“We really thought we were doing OK. It was 9-8. Then the dam burst. . . . They’re a great team. We have nothing to be ashamed of.”

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