SALT LAKE CITY (Ticker) -- After their best senior fouled out, Duke needed an NCAA Tournament newcomer to make big plays.
Dahntay Jones scored 23 points and freshman Shelden Williams scored four clutch points in the final 90 seconds as the third-seeded Blue Devils held on for a 67-57 victory over 14th seed Colorado State in a first-round matchup in the West Region.
Duke (25-6) never trailed in the second half but was trying to hold off a Colorado State rally when Jones fouled out with just under six minutes remaining.
The Rams scored six straight points to pull within 59-57 on Brian Greene's jumper with 3:03 remaining. After Colorado State's Shelton Johnson missed two crucial free throws, Williams followed a miss by Chris Duhon to extend Duke's lead with 84 seconds left.
"We were in a big situation," Williams said. "I wasn't playing as well as I should have, so I just wanted to go out there and play well and rebound and play defense."
"I expected him to make a big play," Duhon said. "He definitely didn't play the way he's capable of playing. For him to come back and make big plays like that down the stretch show a lot of maturity on his part."
Williams grabbed a defensive rebound and was fouled before burying two free throws with 44 seconds to go. Freshman J.J. Redick sank four free throws in the final 26 seconds as the Blue Devils advanced to a second-round contest against Central Michigan.
Redick had 16 points and Williams finished with nine and 12 rebounds for Duke, which shot just 35 percent (19-of-54) from the floor but made 25-of-31 free throws.
The Blue Devils held on despite making just 9-of-28 shots in the final 20 minutes.
"It was an incredibly tough defensive game," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We knew going in that Colorado State played excellent man-to-man defense and they did it again tonight."
Reserve Matt Nelson scored 21 points and Greene added 14 and 10 rebounds as Colorado State (19-14) was held to 33 percent (18-of-54) shooting and committed 19 turnovers.
"I'm terribly proud of our team," Colorado State coach Dale Layer said. "I thought we battled and hung in there. I'm as proud as I can be."
"If you would've told me at the beginning of the season that my career would end against Duke in the NCAA Tournament, I wouldn't have believe you," Greene said. "Nobody gave us a chance. To have a shot to win with 2 1/2 minutes to go is unbelievable. It's something I'll remember for the rest of my life."
Michael Morris scored nine points off the bench for the Rams, who saw their bench outscore Duke's more heralded reserves, 31-9.