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LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) – Zion Williamson releases the ball with a clear path to the basket, the crowd gets up early before even reaching the midfield.
Voices in the Lahaina Civic Center rising with Duke's rookie, Williamson, darted in the air, head far above the ledge while he was throwing a clod of mill to wind and the screams echoed from their ceiling.
Duke's booming show has hit heaven and shows no signs of slowing down.
The No. 1 ranked Blue Devils won their first Maui Invitational game on Monday, leaving behind 90-64 San Diego states to remain undefeated in Valley Isle.
"They understand that they are part of something bigger, but that they are always good," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. "The projectors are bigger, they will show if the whole team is in the spotlight."
Duke has been talking about him in college basketball since his much-vaunted first-year students pulled the cane of the season with a dazzling victory over the no. 2 Kentucky. The Blue Devils, five-time champions of Maui, arrived in paradise among the favorites and played the same way against the Aztecs (2-1).
Duke (4-0) dug the lead by 17 points at halftime despite trouble on the field – Williamson played seven minutes in the first half – and shot 52%, or 10 out of 25 on a bow of 3 points.
The Blue Devils, without a position, let the crowd wonder what would happen next with a series of acrobatic movements and found themselves at the rim, pushing their heads and qualifying for the semifinals of Tuesday against the 8th Auburn . Duke is 16-0 in Maui.
"These are good players, it's clear and simple," said Jeremy Hemsley of San Diego State, who finished with 12 points. "They know how to play basketball, they play it at a high level.
Devin Watson had 15 points to lead the state of San Diego (2-1), who will play against Xavier in the second round.
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NO. 8 AUBURN 88, XAVIER 77
Auburn had trouble shaking Xavier. Behind their star guards and a stingy defense in overtime, the Tigers, ranked eighth, are on the move in Maui.
Bryce Brown scored 26 points, Jared Harper added 25 and No. 8 Auburn blocked Xavier in overtime for a win of 88-79.
"They are great on the field, you can see the difference that the experience brings," said Auburn coach Bruce Pearl. "You just can not be afraid to fail, you just have to go out there and put it on the line, I thought these guys did it, they both competed. and the difference was obviously their exceptional game. "
The Tigers (4-0) fired badly from the perimeter early – 3 against 15 for 3 – and had trouble shaking the musketeers (2-2). The Tigers missed the missed shot in an attempt to win by regulation, but outclassed Xavier 11-2 in overtime.
Auburn scored 31 points on Xavier's 22 turnovers to earn a semifinal spot against Duke.
Ryan Welage had 17 points and Paul Scruggs 16 for Musketeers.
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ARIZONA 71, IOWA STATE 66
Arizona needed 30 minutes to start. Once the Wildcats did, the state of Iowa, in short supply, had no real answer.
Justin Coleman scored 18 points and Arizona caught up 10 points in the second period to knock out Cyclones 71-66.
Arizona (4-0), with its revised lineup, was in tatters well in the second half before playing better at both ends in a 12-2 stretch that equaled 56 – just five minutes from the end. The Wildcats remained in the lead, making eight consecutive free throws in the final 39 seconds to earn a spot in the semifinal on Tuesday against No. 3 Gonzaga or Illinois.
"We did not panic, we stayed there," said Arizona coach Sean Miller.
The Brawling Cyclones (3-1) played without leader Lindell Wigginton and forward Solomon Young for injuries, as well as Cam Lard and Zoran Talley for suspensions.
That left eight fellow players for the opening match of Maui against Arizona, but that did not slow them down sooner. The Cyclones led seven at halftime and would reach 10 midway through the second period before Arizona got high.
Marial Shayok led the Iowa State with 19 points.
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NO. 3 GONZAGA 84, ILLINOIS 78
Gonzaga knew that it would be difficult to fight the frantic style of play in Illinois.
The Zags took a long time to understand and they still needed big games, but now they are heading to the semifinals of the Maui Invitational.
Rui Hachimura scored 23 points, Zach Norvell Jr. added 15 and No. 3 Gonzaga resisted Illinois 84-78 to win a clash in the semifinal with Arizona.
Gonzaga (4-0) beat 22 turnovers recording 52%.
"It's a team that creates a lot of adversity," said Gonzaga's coach, Mark Few. "When you're strong with the ball and you shoot a high percentage, that's what ends up giving you that."
Gonzaga climbed 13 in the second half and resisted the 10-0 run of Illinois to lead nine with 97 seconds to go.
The Illini were not finished yet.
Alan Griffin scored a 3-pointer and Trent Frazier scored on a four-point game to bring Illini into the 80-78.
Illinois forced Gonzaga to make a difficult shot and recovered the ball with 30 seconds to go, but Frazier threw a long 3-point ball.
Jeremy Jones of Gonzaga has made two free throws to allow the Zags to qualify for Tuesday's semi-finals.
Frazier scored 27 of his 29 points in the second half and Giorgi Bezhanishvili added 17 for Illinois.
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