PHILADELPHIA – Duke had been hearing about Lehigh for a year.
The second-seeded Blue Devils used the perimeter shooting of Seth Curry and the inside dominance of Mason Plumlee to put last season's NCAA Tournament upset to rest, beating Albany 73-61 on Friday in the second round.
It was in the same round – and with the same seeding – that Duke was shocked by Lehigh last March.
"Doesn't really matter to us what people are talking about," Plumlee said. "We're very confident. I thought it was a good win today, and we're just focused on us."
It may not have been a blowout against 15th-seeded Albany, but the Blue Devils (28-5) held a comfortable lead throughout and will play seventh-seeded Creighton in the third round Sunday.
"We're excited about this one, and we're excited to be able to play in the third round," said Duke forward Ryan Kelly, who missed the Lehigh game because of injury.
Curry scored 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting, and Plumlee was 9 of 11 – including six dunks – for 23 points.
"These two guys really came through for us," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
Quinn Cook had 11 assists – many on lob passes inside to Plumlee – and Duke shot 58.7 percent (27 of 46), just off its season-best 60.8 percent against Florida State.
The Great Danes (24-11) got as close as eight points with 4:40 to play.
Creighton 67, Cincinnati 63 in Philadelphia – Doug McDermott had 27 points and 11 rebounds, and Gregory Echenique scored 13 points to help the Bluejays (28-7) hold on to beat the Bearcats (22-12).
Ethan Wragge added 12 for Creighton, which won its NCAA Tournament opener for the second straight year.
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