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Duke Advances To Round of 32

By Chris Brown

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Duke was able to blow past 16-seed Robert Morris on the way to an 85-56 victory in their first NCAA Tournament appearance this year. Robert Morris defeated North Florida in a playoff game in order to face 1-seed Duke in the round of 64.

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The Duke offense was able to bounce back after the loss to Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament, shooting 63% from the field and 47.6% from 3pt- including 5-10 in the first half. All eight players in Coach K’s normal rotation (not including walk-ons Sean Kelly and Nick Pagliuca who were able to play a couple of minutes at the end) scored and 6 out of 8 shot at least 50% from the field in the game.

Duke jumped out to a 22-9 lead by the under 12:00 media timeout and led 42-25 at halftime. The Colonials made a quick run at Duke right after the break, but the Blue Devils were able to pull away and seal the victory. Duke’s defense, which has been one of the main knocks against the Blue Devils this season, was also able to hold Robert Morris to a field goal percentage of only 36.4% and limit their leading scorer Lucky Jones to just 7 points.

The Blue Devils were led by Quinn Cook who finished with 22 points, 5 assists, and made 6 out of 10 of his 3s in the game. Marshall Plumlee also finished with the first double-double of his career with 10 points and 10 rebounds off of the bench and reserve Amile Jefferson also added 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.

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Duke’s starting freshmen also performed very well in their tournament debut, with Jahlil Okafor finishing with a dominant 21 points, Tyus Jones scoring 10 points to go along with 7 assists, and Justise Winslow adding 6 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. The Colonials were led by guards Rodney Pryor and Marcquise Reed who finished with 23 and 22 points, respectively.

This victory was also the 100th tournament win in program history as the Blue Devils were able to move past last year’s NCAA Tournament opening upset against Mercer to advance to the next round. Duke will face defensive-minded San Diego State on Sunday afternoon.

Game MVP: Even though Cook and Okafor dominated throughout the game and Justise Winslow flirted with a triple-double, this MVP will go to Marshall Plumlee who finished with his first double-double at Duke with 10 points and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes and his energy off the bench will be needed when Okafor is not on the floor as Duke continues to advance.

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