Greensboro, N.C. ? Shelden Williams knew early on that he could score almost at will, and J.J. Redick always feels that way.

Good thing, too. With little help from their teammates, Duke’s dynamic duo needed every point they got.

“It’s something that we’ve been doing all along,” Williams said. “If he gets started, I get started after that. Or if I get started, he’ll get started from the outside.”

Williams and Redick combined for all but 12 of their team’s points to help the top-seeded Blue Devils overcome a sluggish start in a 70-54 victory over Southern University on Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Williams finished with 29 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks, while Redick matched those 29 points and made five 3-pointers. The rest of the team was 2-for-12 from the field, with Josh McRoberts having those two baskets on his way to eight points.

“I think part of it was that we thought it was going to be easy, and this tournament is not easy,” Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Hopefully, we learned that lesson.”

Still, the effort was enough to help Duke (31-3) advance to play George Washington next in the Atlanta Regional. The Colonials rallied to beat UNC Wilmington 88-85 in overtime.

“You’ve got to win, or else you’re going home,” said point guard Greg Paulus, who had seven turnovers to go with his eight assists. “That’s the No. 1 objective, and we got it. It doesn’t matter if it’s pretty or ugly, as long as you’re surviving. That’s what we need to be doing.”

Chris Alexander had 19 points for the Jaguars (19-13), who gave an inspired effort in trying to become the first No. 16 seed to win in the first round. They led twice in the first half and trailed only 40-37 with 16½ minutes remaining in the game.

“I thought we competed, and competed very hard,” Southern coach Rob Spivery said. “A little more offensive output by us, and it could’ve been a different story.”

Williams started a 16-4 run at that point with deft baby hook in the paint, and Redick added a couple of 3s. Just like that, the Blue Devils led by 15 points, and Southern never got closer than 11 the rest of the way despite the support of a small, enthusiastic group of fans.

The pep band was a hit, too, as were their cheerleaders. Too bad none of them could help guard Williams and Redick.

The Jaguars tried Jerrid Campbell and Peter Cipriano — plus a variety of zones — on Williams, but nothing slowed down the burly, 6-foot-9 center. He nearly had a double-double in the first half, going to the locker room with 18 points and nine rebounds.

“We felt like we were getting good shots and open looks,” Williams said. “They fed me the ball early, and they started seeing I was getting the ball in the hole. I kept getting more and more looks.”

Redick was just as spectacular from outside and now has at least 20 points in four straight games. He also drove past Deforrest Riley-Smith for a three-point play to give Duke a 64-47 lead, then left the game along with Williams with about 2 minutes on the clock.

He was randomly chosen to take part in the NCAA stipulated drug test after the game and wasn’t available to reporters.

“Those guys were great,” Paulus said.

That’s the good news. The Blue Devils finished with 20 turnovers and shot only 43 percent in the second half, hardly the type of effort Coach K expected.

“I don’t think you take steps forward and back,” Krzyzewski said. “I just think you play. This isn’t like an English course and you’ve flunked the last paper. They’re good players, and sometimes they don’t play as well.”

Maybe it had something to do with the opponent.

Last season, Duke narrowly beat 16th-seeded Delaware State in the first round, a result that was reminiscent of their seven-point victory over Mississippi Valley State in 1986. Like Southern, those are a historically black colleges.

“The main goal was to try and play as hard as we possibly could to give Duke a scare and let them know that they weren’t going to just run over us,” Cipriano said. “We came in there and played our kind of basketball like we didn’t know who they were.”