Duke basketball takes on San Diego State in Round of 32

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—After making it through the first round with ease, the Blue Devils' road to Indianapolis will get tougher—and taller.

Duke will face San Diego State Sunday at 2:40 p.m. at Time Warner Cable Arena for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen. The Blue Devils cruised past Robert Morris 85-56 in the Round of 64 but will look to play a more consistent ball game when they take on the Aztecs.

“We’ve got to put a better 40-minute performance all together," freshman Justise Winslow said. "We can’t have those lulls like we did [Friday] in the second half where we let them get back in the game. If we can do that, start strong and play hard for 40 minutes, then we’ll put ourselves in a great position to win.”

Freshman Jahlil Okafor had a field day against the undersized Colonials, going for 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Although Robert Morris attempted the double team with relative success early, it did not matter, as senior guard Quinn Cook was lights out from the field, hitting his first five shots and going 6-of-10 from behind the arc.

With an Aztec squad that boasts the height—with four starters standing 6-foot-7 or taller—but not the girth to bang with Okafor on the block, San Diego State will have to decide whether or not to put multiple bodies on the Blue Devil big man and sacrifice the three-point line.

Although Okafor was unsure Saturday, he agreed with Cook and point guard Tyus Jones that the Aztecs will more than likely go to the double team to slow him down based on game film the team reviewed. But the ACC Player of the Year has faced his fair share of double and triple teams this year and will be ready if San Diego State collapses a guard or forward down on him.

"When they double, they have to pay for it," Okafor said. "Quinn's been shooting the ball well. We all know how well Tyus can shoot, and Matt [Jones] and Justise. If they double team me, they'll have to pay with someone else."

As Okafor's post presence is an upside the Blue Devils have heading into every contest, one of the notable weaknesses for them coming into the NCAA tournament was their depth.

Duke dresses and plays just eight scholarship players, and with injuries befalling Okafor and Cook in past weeks, even that number has been in flux. The latest Blue Devil to create a shorter bench was freshman Grayson Allen, who has come on strong in the latter third of the season.

For the past week, Allen has been suffering what he described as flu-like symptoms. It was not until Thursday that the Jacksonville, Fla., native finally took the court with his teammates for practice. Despite the sickness keeping him out of the early action week, Allen played 12 minutes in Friday's win against Robert Morris, scoring just one point.

"It was good to get back out there and get into the game," Allen said. "That was really the first time I had run up and down [the court] a lot this week, so it was good to get out there and get a feel for things again."

And although Allen will seemingly be back to normal after receiving another day to rest Saturday, Duke will need him, Amile Jefferson and Marshall Plumlee—who posted a double-double in Friday's win—to provide strong minutes off the bench Sunday against a deep San Diego State squad.

The Aztecs have 11 players on their roster who average at least 10 minutes per game. Senior J.J. O'Brien is San Diego State's dynamo on both ends of the floor, but as of the past seven games, Dwayne Polee II has been a renewed source of production and inspiration for the squad.

Polee collapsed on the court Dec. 22 in a game against UC Riverside, was diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia and had to have a heart monitor implanted, forcing him to miss two months of play. But Polee has returned for the Aztecs and in the past seven games he has played, he has scored at least 11 points—including a 15-point effort against St. John's in the Round of 64 on five 3-pointers.

“One of the things that has changed is how Polee has played," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He was out for a long period of time. He was fantastic [Friday] night [against St. John’s] and he may be coming on. He may be regaining what he missed by being out—that gives another 3-point shooter. You put more then one shooter out there and it stretches and it gives O’Brien a chance to make more plays.”

But opposed to Duke—which ranks fourth nationally with 80.6 points per game—San Diego State and its deep roster does not run opposing teams out of the gym at just 61.8 points per contest. The Aztecs make their money on defense, where they hold opponents to just 53.5 points per game—the second-fewest in the country.

Led by Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year Skylar Spencer, who averages 2.5 of the team's 5.0 blocks per game, San Diego State has allowed 65 points just three times this season—Duke has failed to score 65 points just twice.

“They remind me a little bit of Virginia, the way they play defense," Cook said. "Their length, them playing at their own pace and they’re older—they start three seniors—Polee, O’Brien and Quinn [and] juniors with Shepard and the big guy [Spencer]. They play great defense and that’s what really sticks out. Defense win games. We have to play defense just as they do tomorrow."

Sunday's matchup will be the first time since the 1992 National Championship game that Krzyzewski will face off against San Diego State head coach Steve Fisher. At the time, Fisher was the head coach at Michigan and led the Fab Five against Christian Laettner and the Blue Devils, a game which Duke won 71-51 to claim its second straight national title.

Amrith Ramkumar contributed reporting.