ANAHEIM, Calif., March 28 (UPI) -- Nick Collison collected 33 points and 19 rebounds Thursday night as the second-seeded Kansaas Jayhawks gave Coach Roy Williams his first win over Duke with a 69-65 triumph in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament's West Region.
Williams had been 0-3 against Duke and not much better against Coach Mike Krzyzewski in pursuit of players.
"We haven't had very much success recruiting against (him)," Williams admitted.
The notable exception in the recruiting battles has been Collison, a senior forward who victimized the Blue Devils' young big men down the stretch.
"I told Nick in the locker room that he played his buns off," Williams said.
Collison's three-point play gave Kansas (28-7) the lead for good at 59-57 with 7:10 remaining. He added another basket and made a terrific catch off an inbounds and scored for a 63-57 edge with 5:41 left.
Duke (26-7) saw heralded freshman J.J. Redick turn in his worst effort at the worst time. Redick made just two of 16 shots and many of his attempts down the stretch were well off the mark. He was one of 11 on his three-point attempts.
The Blue Devils had chances late in the game but made inopportune mistakes. Redick barely grazed the iron on a three-pointer with 3:38 left and Duke trailing, 63-59.
"It's really tough to score when both teams play outstanding on the defensive end of the court," said Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski. "Points were tough to come by, guys were putting their bodies on the line."
"We were successful in guarding (Kirk) Hinrich, but Collison was in a position where he gets the ball more, so what he did more than made up for it," Krzyzewski said.
Dahntay Jones traveled on a layup that would have pulled Duke within 65-63 with 1:23 to go. Jones scored a pair of baskets in a six-second span to cut the deficit to 68-65 with 17 seconds left. After Kansas' Aaron Miles made a foul shot, Jones missed a point-blank layup and Redick again came up short on a three-pointer.
The Jayhawks won despite foul trouble for center Jeff Graves and a mediocre outing from lead guard Kirk Hinrich, who had just two points while making one of nine shots.
Kansas, the only No. 2 seed remaining in the tournament, will take on top-seeded Arizona in the West Region final on Saturday. They met on Jan. 25 with Arizona winning by 17 points.
The Jayhawks rallied from a nine-point deficit in the first half to the the game at intermission and then fell behind early in the second period, 44-36. But Kansas ran off nine straight points to take the lead changed hands four more times before Collision put the Jayhawks in front for good
"Duke is a great program," Collison said. "It's the 'Sweet 16.' You don't need any extra motivation. I chose Kansas. Duke did nothing wrong to me."
Jones closed his career with 23 points and seven rebounds for Duke, which lost in the "Sweet 16" for the second straight year.
The Blue Devils shot just 33 percent (12-of-36) in the second half.
"It is very hard to say goodbye to the guys in the locker room," Jones said. "It has become a dream come true these last two years to play for 'Coach K.'"
