The Duke Blue Devils were expected to dominate the 16-seed Mount Saint Mary’s in the NCAA Tournament’s opening round, and did just that. Friday’s contest seemed a foregone conclusion from the opening minutes, with Duke performing excellently in all facets en route to a 93-49 win.
Jon Scheyer’s Duke Blue Devils Continue to Perform to High Standard
The Duke Blue Devils still have a long way to go in the NCAA Tournament to get to where they want to be, but as head coach Jon Scheyer put it, Friday’s dominant win was a good way for his roster, which does not boast a ton of March Madness experience, to get their feet wet in the competition.
Duke had only 2 turnovers while forcing the Mountaineers into 11 turnovers. They had 21 assists, over double the number of the opponent, and knocked down 14 three-pointers, which were made by 7 different players.
Point guard Tyrese Hunter, one of the few players with March Madness experience, was responsible for 6 of the 14 triples. 6-9 from the floor overall, Hunter had 19 points and 5 assists. The veteran credited the entire team’s ball movement with creating open looks for him.
It wasn’t the most notable outing from either Kon Knueppel or Sion James in terms of offensive numbers, but both players contributed to the swarming defense that quickly buried any chance of Mount Saint Mary’s scoring a historic upset. Center Khaman Maluach scored 11 points, while shooting guard Caleb Foster had 12 off the bench.
Cooper Flagg Plays Well in First March Madness Game, Confirms He is Feeling 100% Healthy
Star freshman Cooper Flagg enjoyed his first taste of the tournament despite some concern about his ankle heading into the game. Flagg reiterated postgame that he felt 100% entering the game and was prepared to play as much as possible, crediting the team’s staff with creating a good recovery plan and getting him ready to be available.
“I’ve done a great job with the medical staff, of preparing and just being ready. So, I already felt completely 100% and confident going into tonight’s game.”
Flagg had an early fast-break opportunity where he was moving full-speed and unbothered by the ankle injury he suffered in the ACC Tournament.
Flagg was 6-12 from the field, scoring 14 points. He also had 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks. In total, he was on the court for just 22 minutes due to the lopsided score line. While Flagg insisted that he was ready to go for as much game time as necessary, Scheyer understandably said that he was not going to make Flagg play more than needed.
“As it got down in the second half, my thing was to try and limit his minutes as much as possible.”
Overall, Scheyer was happy with the “incredibly mature” overall performance from the team.
Duke will face Baylor in the next round, who narrowly escaped Mississippi State in their opening game. Baylor possesses a lot of talent, including future NBA star VJ Edgecombe, who, despite a slow start, had 14 points and multiple big plays late in the game to secure the team’s advance. The Bears’ other notable freshman, Robert Wright III, is coming off a 19-point game, while veteran center Norchad Omier tallied a 12-10 double-double.
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