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Duke Blue Devils Advance To Face James Madison After Dismantling Vermont, 64-47

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Basketball

The fourth-seeded Duke men's basketball team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night, defeating No. 13-seed Vermont, 64-47.

With the win, the Blue Devils extended their streak of NCAA Tournament opening-round victories to eight straight and will play James Madison at the Barclays Center on Sunday with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Vermont quickly opened the scoring, with 3-pointer just 10 seconds into the game. Jared McCain answered for the Blue Devils with a running floater less than 30 seconds later. Duke took its first lead, 6-3, after a Mark Mitchell free throw and layup from Tyrese Proctor, but trailed, 10-9, at the first media timeout.  
  • Two emphatic slams from Mitchell and a fast-break 3-pointer from Proctor gave Duke a six-point lead, 18-12, and forced a Vermont timeout with 13:21 on the clock. The two teams traded baskets out of the break and the Blue Devils remained ahead, 21-16, as the teams took the under-12 timeout.
  • Mitchell moved into double-figures with his fourth dunk of the first half and gave Duke its first double-digit lead of the game, 26-16, with just under eight minutes left before halftime. A quick five-point burst from Vermont narrowed Duke's edge to five, 28-23, and triggered a Duke timeout at the 3:42 mark.
  • Vermont scored five of the first seven points out of halftime to draw within two, 36-34, following a three-point-play. McCain drilled a 3-pointer to put the Blue Devils back up five after five minutes of second-half action.
  • Back-to-back contested layups from McCain and Mitchell pushed Duke's lead back to nine, 46-37, and triggered a timeout by the Catamounts. Proctor connected on his third 3-pointer of the game out of a Duke timeout, giving Duke a 53-44 advantage at the six-minute mark.
  • A three-point-play by Jeremy Roach moved the senior captain into double-figures with 11 points and edged Duke back in front by double-digits, 56-44. Vermont connected on its last basket of the night, a 3-pointer, with 4:42 remaining and the Blue Devils widened the gap to the final 17-point margin, 64-47.

NOTES

  • Duke's defense held Vermont to 47 points, 25.3 below its season average of 72.3. The Blue Devils have held 28 of their 33 opponents to below their respective scoring average.
  • Vermont's 47 points is a season low by 15 points. Entering the postseason, the Catamounts lowest point total was 62 in a win over Binghamton on Feb. 3.
  • Duke held the Catamounts to 18 points in the second half on 28.0% (7-of-25) shooting from the field after intermission. Vermont's 18 points are the fewest by a Blue Devils' opponent in the second half this season and matches the defense's best effort in either half (18 first-half points by Virginia on March 2).
  • The Blue Devils outrebounded Vermont, 38-26. Duke is now 20-2 when grabbing more boards than its opponent this season.
  • Duke moves to 120-40 (.750) all-time in the NCAA Tournament, the best winning percentage in tournament history by a team with a minimum of 20 games played.
  • The Blue Devils extended their streak of NCAA Tournament opening-round victories to eight straight and now own a 32-3 (.914) record in first round contests.
  • Mark Mitchell tallied double-digit points with 15 on 6-of-9 from the field, including five dunks. When Mitchell scores at least 10 points during his two-year career, Duke is now 33-4.
  • Jared McCain joined Mitchell with a team-high 15 points, while also grabbing six rebounds and dishing three assists.
  • Jeremy Roach scored 10 second-half points en route to 14 total points, while reeling in five caroms and distributing a team-high four assists.
  • Tyrese Proctor also reached double-figures with 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Duke is now 12-1 all-time when Proctor makes at least three from beyond the arc.
  • Kyle Filipowski only scored three points, but put together a complete game across the stat sheet, including a game-high 12 boards, a team-high four dimes, two steals and three blocks.

QUOTES

  • "I thought it was a great college basketball game. Great tournament game. We knew going in, Vermont, John Becker, his staff, the job they have done, we knew it was going to be a battle. The beginning of the second half they made a great run. I thought our response is what I'm really proud of. Literally I could go down the line with each of these guys that stepped up and made big shots, big rebounds. But really big defensive stops, to hold them to 47 points. They are tough, man. They spread you. They drive you. They post you. Just thought it was a terrific job by these guys and showing a lot of toughness, a lot of heart and really proud of this win." - head coach Jon Scheyer
  • "Obviously, they hit some shots there in the middle of second half and went on a run. We just tried not to panic, went back to the huddle and fixed some things in our communication and tried to lock in and dig down deep and get stops. That's what we talked about the last week when we get in these tight moments to go deeper, get stops and we did that." - sophomore forward Mark Mitchell
  • "We stayed poised down the stretch. They hit tough shots and we stayed poised. And we worked on it all week, get defensive stops, defense is going to win these games. We have the talent for offense; it's going to be defense." - freshman guard Jared McCain 

UP NEXT
No. 4-seed Duke (25-8) advances to the NCAA Tournament Second Round, facing the No. 12-seed James Madison (32-3) on Sunday, March 24, inside Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The game tips at 5:15 p.m., broadcast on CBS.