Barrett and Jones play starring roles in Duke's win

WASHINGTON --RJ Barrett had three points at the half, and Mike Krzyzewski wanted to take the blame.

Barrett was frustrated, but Krzyzewski tried to calm his freshman star. They'd find ways to get Barrett better looks, Krzyzewski told him, if he simply kept shooting.

Barrett was the first player out of the Duke locker room, and he didn't wait long to make a statement that the second half would be much different than the first.

"The first basket he scored out of halftime," Zion Williamson said of Barrett's drive through three Virginia Tech defenders, "I said, 'Oh, he's about to do something special.' He single-handedly took the game over."

Barrett followed his three points in the first half with 15 in the second half, adding 11 assists and 4 rebounds in the 75-73 victory.

Meanwhile, Tre Jones had a career night against the Hokies, scoring 22 points, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range. It was another marked turnaround from last Sunday's struggles vs. UCF, when the Knights all but dared Jones to shoot from the outside and he simply couldn't convert.

"These guys believed in me all year, especially after last game with me struggling from 3," Jones said. "They kept believing in me. Coach kept telling me to take the shots and these guys kept telling me take my shots, and they were able to fall tonight."

That confidence to keep shooting has been a hallmark of this season's Duke team, but never did it mean more than against Virginia Tech. With freshman Cam Reddish -- Duke's primary outside shooter -- sidelined because of a knee injury, the Blue Devils moved on to the Elite Eight not just because Williamson took over another game, but because Barrett and Jones kept shooting in spite of recent struggles.

Moreover, the pair played off each other perfectly.

"First half, they were really taking my drive away, and Tre was able to knock shots down and it was great," Barrett said. "And then second half, Coach really made adjustments on the offense, and I was able to get open."

Yes, Williamson still had his share of star turns. His alley-oop dunk following a lob from Jones will make every highlight reel of the game, and there was his physics-defying leap to block a shot byKerry Blackshear Jr.or his insane recovery to block a shot from Justin Robinson with 5:30 to play.

But this win for Duke was about more than Williamson's heroics, with his supporting cast of fellow five-star freshmen providing the difference. It has been a season in which those stars have largely been overshadowed by the enormity of Williamson's presence, but Friday was their time to shine.

"Tre was the obvious player of the game," Williamson said. "He played so hard, I think he motivated everybody on the court."

Krzyzewski says he isn't expecting anyone to feel sorry for Duke, which continues to deal with injuries and adversity, but Friday's performance -- and the play of his non-Zion stars -- served as a good reminder that there still might be a next step for this group, a team that is growing up together and might just now be hitting its stride.

"We're a young, and not a deep team," Krzyzewski said. "So we have kids that, all these kids are really good now. They're going to be really good, unbelievable later. But they're doing a great job while they're 18."