Duke having no part of upset merriment

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- With upsets and near upsets going cheap, a few fans in Veterans Memorial Arena even expected to see Duke get forced to survive the fright factor Friday night.

Against No. 16 seed and little known Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the No. 1-seeded Blue Devils began their NCAA Tournament South Regional trek amid the normal amount of skepticism and animosity that accompanies each Duke appearance in the event.

“Your Turn, DOOK!!!” was the punch line on a big sign adamantly hoisted by a woman in the modest Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s cheering section.

Just above those three words were hand-printed three others _ “Vandy ... Nova ... Temple.”

Technically, Villanova was a slight stretch since the Wildcats did somehow dodge Robert Morris on Thursday.

But the undercurrent of the NCAA is that almost any power can be had or if not had, scared into sleepless nights.

Duke would have no part of the merriment, however.

After the loudest cheer of the night met an early 3-point shot by Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Lebaron Weathers (making the score Duke 4, APB 3), the Blue Devils basically turned the rest of the game into a practice round and eventually settled for an uneventful 73-44 win.

Although Duke (30-5) shot well (51.1 percent) and scalped the Lions on the boards, it’s impossible to say without reservation that it was a particularly sharp performance. Mike Krzyzewski described it as “workmanlike” and applauded his guys for an “excellent” defensive effort.

“Overall, I thought we respected the game, every play and it’s good to move on,” Krzyzewski said. “It wasn’t a sloppy game.”

Led by Kyle Singler with 22 points and 11 rebounds, the Devils made sure to touch all the bases. Jon Scheyer made most of his 3-pointers, Nolan Smith was steady and Lance Thomas had no trouble shutting down everyone on his defensive assignment sheet.

But as much as APB wanted to make some noise, if not history, George Ivory’s 18-16 team was physically ill-equipped to follow the lead of Robert Morris, Cornell and the other first-round long shots. Other than the 6-foot-8, 245-pound Weathers, the Lions were virtually void of size. Senior Tyree Glass (6-7, 220) was a medical scratch.

Duke was due a tension-free game, though. The three-day grind through the ACC Tournament last week in Greensboro taxed Mike Krzyzewski and his players. Of the six ACC teams in the NCAA, Duke made the biggest emotional investment by far.

Krzyzewski and his staff spent much of the time leading into Friday attempting to let the team decompress and recover its footing.

Now, the situations changes quickly for the Devils. A Greensboro-like effort will be needed Sunday against either California or Louisville in stage-2. That one will not be a practice round.