Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett Combine for 31 in Duke's Win over No. 8 Auburn

Nobody beats the Duke Blue Devils at the Maui Invitational.

The No. 1 team in the nation advanced to the tournament's championship game with a 78-72 victory over the No. 8 Auburn Tigers on Tuesday at the Lahaina Civic Center. According to NCAA.com, Duke is undefeated in its Maui Invitational history and will play for its sixth championship Wednesday.

All five Duke starters scored in double figures, including RJ Barrett (18 points, nine rebounds), Zion Williamson (13 points, nine boards) and Cam Reddish (18 points, five rebounds).

Despite their Top 10 ranking and notable performances by Jared Harper (22 points, six assists), Austin Wiley (17 points, nine rebounds) and Bryce Brown (16 points), the Tigers didn't have the firepower to keep pace with the mighty Blue Devils in the ACC-SEC showdown and dropped their first game of the season.

Elite Defense Matters as Much to Duke Title Run as Talented Freshmen

The freshmen combination of Barrett, Williamson and Reddish has wowed college basketball fans in the early portion of the season with rim-rattling dunks and incredible offensive plays, but the same length and athleticism those players use to grace highlight packages also make them dominant on defense.

Duke has four players in its starting lineup—those three and Marques Bolden—who are at least 6'7", and they challenge perimeter shots and protect the rim.

That was on full display Tuesday when an Auburn team that is No. 12 in Ken Pomeroy's pace-adjusted offensive rankings shot a mere 14-of-42 (33.3 percent) from the field and 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) from deep in the first half. The Blue Devils sent a message they weren't going to rely on the offense of their future NBA players alone and seized an early advantage.

Williamson provided the exclamation point by swatting Harper's potential buzzer-beater off the backboard to end the half.

For context, the Tigers poured in at least 88 points in each of their first four games and surpassed the century mark twice. This wasn't some nonconference cupcake for the Duke defense to devour, and it had to deal with Harper slashing through the lane, Brown on the wing and Chuma Okeke and Wiley in the frontcourt.

Auburn was going to score points, but the Blue Devils' commitment to defense is a scary thought for the ACC and rest of the nation.

It would be easy for a team filled with potential lottery picks who can turn on the offense like a light switch to play lackadaisical defense, especially early in the season. It could cherry-pick and look for breakout opportunities for highlight dunks, but all five players rotated, swarmed shooters and cut off penetration.

There's a reason Duke is No. 4 in Pomeroy's defensive rankings, and Auburn struggled for stretches against such a stifling group.

The offense of the freshmen will generate headlines and create highlights, but there will be a time when Duke is caught in a nail-biter. The fact it can reach into its bag of tricks and pull out a defense capable of taking over makes it all the more dangerous as the clear-cut championship favorite.

SEC Runs Through Auburn's Elite Perimeter Playmakers

A lesser team would have folded.

Auburn was behind by 17 points in the first half but battled back to within eight by intermission. Things looked dire again when the first four baskets of the second half were Duke dunks.

The Blue Devils were jumping around, and they appeared well on their way to another blowout, but Auburn missed the memo it wasn't supposed to keep up with all that NBA-level talent. Rather than backing down, Harper lobbed an alley-oop to Wiley to trim the deficit to single digits again, and timely threes by the perimeter threats kept the Tigers within striking distance.

Playing Duke is an experience that will only benefit the SEC team down the road. Nobody in the conference can match the Devils' firepower—as evidenced by Duke's 34-point rout of Kentucky in its season opener—and Auburn can take solace in having hung with the best team in the country when it faces the likes of the Wildcats, Tennessee and Mississippi State.

It starts with the 5'11" Harper, who is fearless when attacking the basket, as he proved when he went straight at Williamson.

He can hit from deep and force defenders to collapse on penetration. The guard averaged 17.5 points and 7.5 assists in the first four games while shooting 46.7 percent from deep, and his three-pointer with less than three minutes remaining cut Duke's lead to just seven and set up a more dramatic finish than the start suggested.

Brown had been almost as effective with 16.8 points a night behind 37.5 percent shooting from deep prior to Tuesday. That one-two backcourt combination can propel the Tigers to success, and they also have Samir Doughty as another perimeter threat, though he was limited against Duke because of foul trouble.

Even Okeke can extend his game beyond the arc when there is too much focus on the other playmakers.

There are all-conference-caliber players on the roster who will only benefit from playing against the best competition college basketball has to offer. Championships are not won in November, and the fact the Tigers gave the Blue Devils their toughest test of the season should put the rest of the SEC on alert.

What's Next?

Duke will play the winner of Arizona-Gonzaga in Wednesday's championship game, while Auburn will face the loser in the third-place game.