updated 1:09 p.m. ET March 23, 2006

ATLANTA - J.J. Redick has a short memory.

The Duke star insisted he’s not fretting about past failings in the NCAA’s round of 16 — and he’s certainly paying no heed to those who say he runs out of steam when the calendar flips to March.

“I can’t remember what happened the first three years in the Sweet 16,” Redick said Wednesday, sounding downright persuasive heading into an Atlanta Regional matchup against LSU. “Did we lose one of the games or something? I don’t know. I can’t remember.”

Well, here’s a quick refresher:

Redick had probably the worst game of his brilliant career against Kansas in the 2003 regional semifinals, managing just five points on 2-of-16 shooting — including 1-of-11 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Last year, the Blue Devils went out at the same point of the tournament against Michigan State, which held Redick to 13 points on 4-of-14 shooting — equaling his second-worst output of the season and nearly nine below his average.

Even in 2004, when Duke made it to the Final Four, Redick managed just 13 points against upstart Xavier in the regional final.

The 6-foot-4, 190-pound guard scoffs at the notion that his body can’t handle the bumps and bruises of a long season — especially with his high-energy style and the attention he draws from opponents, who throw out all sorts of gimmicky defenses in hopes of keeping the normally dead-on shooter from getting a good look at the basket.

Slide show   March madness Click to see the best images from the 2006 NCAA men's basketball tournament.

“I really have no concern about being tired,” Redick said. “That’s something that other people say to ... plant a seed in my mind or something. But I am not tired. What has happened in the previous three years doesn’t really matter going into Thursday.”

Redick is one of the leading contenders for player of the year, averaging 27.2 points per game for the top-seeded Blue Devils (32-3). He’s shooting better than 46 percent from the field, even though nearly half his attempts have been from 3-point range — and everyone in the building knows he’s going to shoot.

“If you just focus on J.J., just watch him, you’d be shocked at the maze of things that he usually has to go through to get a shot,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “When you are doing that, there are times when you can get distracted or get down or get emotional about it, which would take away from your next play. So, one of the key words for J.J. is maturity.”

Redick also has learned to cope with the persistent wrath of hecklers. A player with attitude, he’s always been a convenient target for those who long since grew tired of losing to Duke year in and year out.

“There’s a fine line with Duke. You either love us or hate us,” Redick said. “I have basically heard everything you can say about me or my family or my sexual orientation or my poetry or whatever. Now, it’s just kind of comical to me.”

Speaking of comical, that’s sort of the way LSU star Glen Davis approaches life. The behemoth of a center didn’t sound the least bit intimidated about facing the vaunted Blue Devils.

“How y’all doing?” he cheerily asked reporters during an entertaining, all-too-brief stop in the interview room.

Forget the Big Aristotle. The Big Baby is ready to walk on his own.

Only a sophomore, Davis already has taken the Tigers farther than Shaquille O’Neal ever did in the NCAA tournament. The Southeastern Conference player of the year has no desire to be known as “Baby Shaq” — a natural offshoot of the nickname he acquired while playing football as a youngster (when the older kids would tell him to stop being such a “big baby.”)

“I hear it everywhere I go,” Davis said. “I should have worn my shirt. It says, ‘I am not Shaq.”’

In three straight NCAA appearances in the early ’90s, O’Neal’s teams never made it past the second round. Davis has the Tigers (25-8) within two wins of the Final Four — their longest run in the tournament since 1987.

“I want to have my own stamp of immortality,” Davis said. “Shaq is going to live forever. I can’t live forever being Baby Shaq. I want to be my own guy.”

Davis has scored more than 20 points in six of his last nine games. He started the NCAAs with a 22-point, 13-rebound, six-block performance against Iona, then came through again with 21 in a second-round victory over Texas A&M. He’ll have to be equally dominating if the Tigers are going to pull off an upset of the Blue Devils.

“He basically carried us on his shoulders,” teammate Darrel Mitchell said. “He showed up big for us and he’s just a special guy.”

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The 6-foot-9, 310-to-320-pound Davis (his weight depends “on what he ate the night before,” coach John Brady quipped) will have his hands full against Duke’s Shelden Williams, a 6-9, 250-pound defensive demon (he paces Duke in rebounds, blocks and steals) who also happens to be a pretty good offensive player (18.7 per game).

Williams and Davis both look at this as their stiffest test of the season.

“He’s an incredible player,” Williams said. “Somebody that size, who moves as well as he does, it’s just amazing to watch. I know it’s going to be a very physical game in the low post.”

Davis can’t wait.

“A guy like me, who is kind of low on the radar, is licking his chops right now because this is an opportunity to show the world that you can play,” he said. “This is what you dream of.”

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