Chris Collins, center, is believed to be the leading candidate for the Northwestern opening. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

12:30 p.m. Update a Duke source has confirmed that Chris Collins has accepted the job at Northwestern

Duke assistant coach Chris Collins met with the Northwestern administration about their head coaching opening Monday night, a Duke source confirmed. The news was first reported by CBS Sports' Jeff Goodman.

Wherever Duke McDermott was, there was a Blue Devil defender was close by. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

PHILADELPHIA—The majority of the postgame thoughts are here in this story. Duke's Mason Plumlee talked about the need to be flexible in the NCAA tournament. The Blue Devils certainly flexed to get by Creighton.

A few other thoughts that didn't make it in that story or the hastily written game story from Sunday night/Monday morning:

Christopher J. Conover – a research scholar at Duke University’s Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research, an adjunct scholar at AEI, affiliated senior scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, author of the book American Health Economy Illustrated and a Forbes contributor – takes issue with last week's Point of View piece by Adam Searing on recent comments by North Carolina's Medicaid director.

Read Searing's piece here

What Conover had to say:

Mason Plumlee and Amile Jefferson celebrate Duke's return to the Sweet 16. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

PHILADELPHIA—The Blue Devils and the Bluejays spent all day waiting for their third-round game, which tipped at 9:40 p.m.

The much-vaunted offenses, though, never showed up.

In a game that featured more fouls than field goals, it was the Blue Devils that prevailed, collecting a 66-50 victory to send the program back to the Sweet 16.

The 50 points for the Bluejays represented their lowest output for the season. Creighton was whistled for 26 fouls and made just 16 field goals.

“There’s different flows to games,” Ryan Kelly said, “And that was not the one that anyone expected.”

Creighton's Ethan Wragge's foul on Kendall Marshall in the 2012 NCAA Tournament resulted in the Tar Heels' point guard breaking his wrist. Duke's Quinn Cook hadn't made the connection between that play and the Blue Devils' third-round opponent. Credit: ROBERT WILLITT

PHILADELPHIA—At least one person hadn't made the connection between Creighton's Ethan Wragge and the 2012 Kendall Marshall wrist injury.

"Oh that was them?" Quinn Cook said, with his eyes growing wide, as he was asked about the Bluejays' less-than-favorable reputation after that NCAA Tournament loss to North Carolina. Duke faces Creighton this year for the right to advance to the Sweet 16.

“Oh man," Cook said. "I’m going to text Kendall and ask him what they did so I can protect myself."

At this point, Cook started asking the questions to the media.

Ryan Kelly will matchup with Creighton All-American Doug McDermott. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

Duke vs. Creighton
When: 9:40 p.m.
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia
TV/Radio:TBS/WKIX-102.9 FM
Subplot: Doug McDermott knows a thing or two about Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly.

Scouting Creighton (28-7)

RPI: 25

How they got here: Automatic qualifier – Missouri Valley conference champion

Keep an eye on: The post players

Ryan Kelly dives for a loose ball. Effort wasn't lacking in Duke's win over Albany. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

PHILADELPHIA—With seven minutes left in the game, Duke had a 60-47 lead. Sam Rowley was headed to the free throw line for Albany, and Mason Plumlee gathered his teammates together on the floor. In one of his most vocal displays of the year, Plumlee yelled at them, an out-of-character move for the big man.

“I thought there was a breaking point there where we could either keep making mistakes, or we could take control of the game,” he said. “I told us to keep our cool and run our stuff and not lose our minds, which is easy to happen in those kinds of games.”

When asked about raising his voice, he smiled as he sat in the locker room.

“You’ve got to make sure they hear you,” he said, drawing laughs from the assembled reporters.

Mason Plumlee was one of two Blue Devils to score in double digits. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

PHILADELPHIA— Albany coach Will Brown spent his pregame media session pumping up the Blue Devils, joking that even their managers were bigger, stronger and more physical than his team.

And the Blue Devils did eventually overpower the Great Danes in the 73-61 win. But Albany was within single digits twice in the final five minutes.

Both times, Seth Curry killed the threat.

Quinn Cook went to work leading the offense while Mike Krzyzewski looked on during practice. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

Duke vs. Albany
When: 12:15 p.m.
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia
TV/Radio: CBS, WKIX-102.9 FM
Anything else? Quinn Cook lost his edge at the end of the season, but a walk through the Duke hall of fame and a few films sessions helped him find it.

Scouting Albany (24-10)

RPI: 128

How they got here: Automatic qualifier – America East champion

Keep an eye on: Mike Black and Jacob Iati

Chris Collins (right) is interested in becoming the head coach at Northwestern. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

PHILADELPHIA—Ever since Northwestern dismissed longtime head coach Bill Carmody March 16, Chris Collins has been linked to the opening. There is mutual interest—Collins grew up in Chicago and expressed interest in coaching in the Big 10 last year when the Illinois job was open—but he will not set up an interview until Duke’s season concludes.

Mike Krzyzewski was asked about the possibility of Collins becoming a head coach Friday.