If the team is called one thing, the Devils will show the other side with a gleam in their eyes and a ticket to the next round in their back pockets.

Take Saturday's NCAA Tournament second-round game against No. 8 seed George Washington, the team with the best record in Division I basketball. The Colonials had the size, talent and the pressure to frustrate the Devils into an early-round exit.

The senior-heavy Duke team, coming off a 20-turnover effort against No. 16 seed Southern, calmly handed the ball to freshmen Greg Paulus and Josh McRoberts to break whatever defensive pressure the Colonials could dish out.

With seniors J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams scoring 37 points total, the Devils walked out the Greensboro Coliseum on Saturday with a 74-61 win.

"We played really well, and we had to because they're a top-10 team," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

After the game, George Washington coach Karl Hobbs refused to entertain the idea that Duke's performance against Southern meant trouble for the Devils.

"I think Duke is, what, 32-3? They don't need to work out any kinks," Hobbs said.

The Devils had let other teams back into games this season but kept the one team with a knack for big runs from even sniffing at a comeback. For all but 11 seconds of the final 26 minutes in the game, Duke held at least a 10-point lead.

That prompted the stoic Williams, in the middle of his 20th double-double this season, to pull a switcheroo himself. Williams was smiling at one point in the second half.

One part of the Duke story hasn't changed in nearly a decade. The Devils advanced to the regional semifinals for the ninth straight season. They will play No. 4 seed LSU on Thursday in Atlanta.

It will be the Duke seniors' fourth trip to the regional semifinals.

"It shows the level of consistency that we've had since we've been here and over the last nine years," said Redick, who scored 20 points and is shooting 50 percent (17-for-34) in the tournament. "For the seniors, we've already been [there] three other times, so we're probably looking for a bit more than that."

The Devils held the Colonials to 10 field goals on 37 shots, most from offensive rebounds, in the first half and led at halftime 37-26.

With Paulus and McRoberts taking turns beating the GW pressure, the Colonials (27-3) had to wait for the second half to make a run.

Duke's defense held the Colonials to 21 field goals on 68 shots (30.9 percent) for the game, and the frustration began showing late in the first half when several calls went against the Colonials.

Duke led 51-33 before GW put together a 9-0 run to cut it to 51-42 with 11:43 left in the game.

Duke wouldn't let it go any further. The Devils answered with an 11-3 run to go up 17 with 7:26 left. The Devils waited, but the big GW run never came.

GW had come back from 18 down in its first-round game, and the Devils had every right to expect GW would make a similar push Saturday, but the Colonials' frustration escalated after halftime.

It showed when Williams grabbed a rebound and swung his elbows out to clear space and wasn't called for a foul. The GW bench yelled out and its fans started booing as the action moved to the other end, where Williams then drove on GW forward Mike Hall, who was called for a foul with 8:46 left in the game.

Duke, which was called for 15 fouls in the game, went to the line 25 times in the second half, hitting 18. GW, called for 29 total, hit 10 of 11 after halftime.

"It builds on you and makes it hard to handle your fate," Hall said. "But the better team won."

When Duke beat Southern on Thursday, none of the Devils were happy about how it went down. Defense and ball-handling were shaky, and scoring beyond Redick and Williams was nonexistent.

The Devils turned it around Saturday. Four players scored in double figures. Their defense set the tone. And above it all, just like in the ACC Tournament, Paulus and McRoberts were at the heart of it.

McRoberts, looking like an NBA scout's dream date at 6 feet 10 and showing his handle, touched the ball on most possessions against GW's defense. He had two assists with just two turnovers, and scored 14 points and pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds.

Though Paulus had six turnovers, he scored 10 points and six assists. His mistakes came when he tried to make plays instead of playing it safe.

"With the competition they faced in the ACC and all the junk that gets thrown at them all year long, and they handled it all with poise?" Hall said. "They ain't freshmen."

Duke knew back in October that the duo would take it places if they could find their niche in this senior-heavy class. Their next destination is Atlanta.

"We don't feel pressure," said Paulus. "We're prepared for whatever comes our way. Our guys believe in us."