GREENSBORO, N.C. -- From J.J. Redick's 3-pointer for the first points to another perfectly dominating performance from Shelden Williams, the Duke Blue Devils were as good as they've been all year.
And coach Mike Krzyzewski sensed it a day earlier, when he cut practice short by about 20 minutes.
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"I felt great energy from my team," Coach K said. "I felt like, 'OK, now we're ready to go.'"
Maybe someone should have warned George Washington.
Redick had 20 points, Williams added 17 points and 14 rebounds and the No. 1 overall seed easily disposed of the Colonials 74-61 Saturday to advance to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the ninth straight year.
"It shows a level of consistency that we've had since we've been here and over the past nine years," Redick said. "For the seniors, we've already been to the Sweet 16, so we're probably looking for a bit more than that."
Unlike the first-round victory over Southern University, when Duke's two stars scored all but 12 of their team's 70 points, everyone who played contributed.
Josh McRoberts got his second double-double of the season with 14 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, while fellow freshman Greg Paulus never got frazzled against the ever-changing, trapping defense used by the Colonials (27-3). He had six assists to go with 10 points.
"When my two freshmen are playing like that, it brings everybody together," Krzyzewski said. "They were playing with such enthusiasm. They have such good game personalities, that when they allow themselves to show it, we're just better."
Every other player who got on the court scored for the Blue Devils (32-3), who are trying to reach the Final Four for the second time in three years. They shot 52 percent in the first half to take control and never were threatened after that.
"We've been preparing for this all year," Paulus said. "I felt comfortable, and I thought we were good from the get-go."
Omar Williams had 14 points for the eighth-seeded Colonials, and Mike Hall added 13. Two of their three losses this season came to teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference -- the first was in December at North Carolina State -- and they hardly had a chance in this one.
"A lot people said their defense is down this year," GW forward Danilo Pinnock said. "I didn't see that. They caused us to turn the ball over and miss some shots that we usually make."
Duke led from that Redick 3 less than a minute in, but the margin was only one when GW suddenly had trouble scoring. A 17-4 run capped with free throws from McRoberts pushed the lead to 36-20, with each starter for the Colonials getting at least two fouls.
They rallied to get within 11 at the break and eventually cut it to nine on a steal and a dunk by Pinnock. But the Blue Devils scored 11 of the next 14 points to resume command, and again the damage was done at the line. DeMarcus Nelson swished two for his first points of the tournament, McRoberts had one and Williams made all four of his to make it 62-45.
Williams now has 1,249 career rebounds, passing Mike Gminski for the most in school history. He also controlled the paint defensively on his way to seven blocks.
"He tries to block everything," GW guard Carl Elliott. "When you go in there, you've got to go in strong, or you don't go at all."
Duke finished 26-of-37 on free throws, which included Redick's uncharacteristically poor 2-for-7. It's the first time in his career he's missed more than four free throws in a single game.
When was the last time?
"Probably when I was like eight, when I shot two-handed," Redick said with a smile. "It was just a weird thing. There's so much going on in the game, and I've just got to concentrate a little bit better."
Of course, that hardly mattered to him. Redick and Williams each decided to return to school for their seniors years in search of that elusive national championship, and with victories in their last five games, the Blue Devils certainly are one of the favorites.
Regis Koundjia fouled out and four other players finished with four apiece for GW, which finished with 29 fouls. That led coach Karl Hobbs, known as much for his histrionics on the sideline as he is for turning around his program, to spend much of his time yelling at the referees.
"We had a tough mountain to try to climb," Hobbs said. "We lost to a very good program."
Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who sat out four games down the stretch for the Colonials following knee surgery, never was a factor and had four points and two rebounds in 13 minutes.
"It's tough taking a loss like this, but we were able to accomplish a lot this year," Mensah-Bonsu said. "We're 27-3, and that's a pretty good record. Some of the stuff we were able to do in the regular season was amazing, too. It's a bittersweet moment."
