Jared McCain breaks Duke basketball freshmen record for most 3-pointers made in NCAA Tournament

Jared McCain is one of the best shooters that the Duke basketball program has seen in quite sometime and he proved it again during the first half of the Blue Devils’ NCAA Tournament game against James Madison.

It only took the 5-star guard 18 minutes to break the program’s record for most 3-pointers made by a freshman in an NCAA Tournament game.

McCain was 6-for-8 from distance with 22 points as Duke led James Madison, 47-25, at halftime. He was 7-of-11 from the field in the opening stanza.

The Blue Devils are looking to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time under head coach Jon Scheyer with a victory.

Jared McCain has already proven to the country that he is a lethal scorer after his 35-point game against Florida State earlier this season in which he made 8-of-11 3-pointers.

McCain was averaging 13.5 points per game and shooting 39.7-percent from 3-point range entering Sunday’s game. He was tied for the team-high with 15 points in Duke’s Round of 64 victory against Vermont, but was just 2-of-6 from beyond the arc.

The Duke rookie only needs two 3-pointers in the second half to surpass Quinn Cook’s record for most triples in an NCAA Tournament game, which he set in a loss to Mercer in 2014.

JJ Redick (2003) and Tre Jones (2019) previously held the record with five 3-pointers as freshmen in an NCAA Tournament game.

If Duke holds on in the second half and defeats James Madison, the Blue Devils would either face Houston or Texas A&M in the Sweet 16 on Friday in Dallas, Texas.