Barclays Center was getting loud, drowning out the strong Duke delegation.
No. 13 seed Vermont was within two.
It seemed possible that an upset would occur.
Jared McCain then refused to let it happen.
He sank a momentum-changing 3-pointer and scored on a mid-range jumper.
The lead soon returned to nine points.
In the opening game of the NCAA Tournament held in Brooklyn, fourth-seeded Duke came back from behind in the final stages to win 64-47.
“They made a great run early in the second half. I thought the way we responded was something I was really proud of,” Duke coach John Scheyer said. “We literally could have gone down the line with guys who stepped up and made big shots and big rebounds. But our defense made a really big stop and held us to 47 points.”
McCain made a big contribution to Duke’s 25-8 victory, recording 15 points, six rebounds, and three assists.
Although he was still a freshman, he wasn’t intimidated by the bright lights of the dance.
He has had a successful first season of college basketball, making him a highly regarded five-star recruit.
His shaky performance in the loss to North Carolina State in the ACC tournament didn’t stick with him.
“I’m not surprised by his actions,” Scheyer said. “Jared, his build is different. In my opinion, he’s built for this moment.”
Nightstar big man Kyle Filipovski was quiet offensively, scoring just three points and attempting just one shot, but his teammates had his back.
Mark Mitchell had 15 points, followed by Jeremy Roach with 14 points and Tyrese Proctor with 13 points.
The Blue Devils’ defense was particularly big.
They held Vermont (28-7) to just 18 points in the final 20 minutes and 38.5 shots overall.
Leading scorer TJ Long missed 7 of 8 field goals, and the Catamounts had as many assists (12) as turnovers (12).
Duke won the battle on the glass by 12 points, helped by Filipovski’s 12 rebounds.
“We tried not to panic, got back in the huddle, fixed some issues with communication, locked in and dug deep to try and get a stop,” Mitchell said.
“That’s what we talked about last week when we were in a tense situation.” [dig] Deeper, stop, we did it. ”
