Raleigh, N.C. — It looked too easy on paper and it proved to be just hardwood.
No. 1 seed Duke dismantled Mount St. Mary's 16th place, ages 93-49, in the first round game of the NCAA Tournament at Lenovo Center on Friday.
For the Blue Devils (32-3), this simply served as a warm-up to glory practice, scrimmage, and starfreshman forward Cooper Flag's spinning left ankle, and to gain confidence to prepare Duke to go deeper into the tournament against more formidable opponents.
Duke's victory earned him a second round matchup against Baylor. Baylor outperformed Mississippi State in a 75-72 rock fight before the Blue Devils won the same court in the second game of the afternoon doubleheader.
Baylor, the number 9 seed with a 20-14 record, took part in the NCAA tournament, where he lost six of his previous 10 games.
Mount St. Mary's, who beat Iona in the conference finals last weekend and won the US for the first four in Dayton, never got a chance on Friday.
Duke took a three-minute lead, 13-2, after a Tyrees Proctor three-pointer.
Duke took a 22-6 lead with 12:19 left in the first half with Flagg Dunk.
The lead was ballooned 28-12, leaving the first 9:52 of the flag layup.
It was 38-18 Duke when Proctor filled the tray with 7:01 left.
The first remaining 4:59 Zion James 3-pointer made it 44-22.
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Caleb's foster parent's free throw at the first 2:05 gave Duke that 27 points, 51-24, the biggest lead in the half.
Duke was preferred for the pre-match betting line at 32½.
With two minutes left in the first half, the Blue Devils led the 27 and appeared on the way to cover the spread by a break.
It actually felt a bit more like you would do when Duke's Patrick Ngomba closed the first half by scoring with a tip-in on the buzzer, and you would do that, you would.
Of course, Duke continues pouring it into the second half.
Duke led 84-46 with 3:44 left when coach John Shayer empty the bench with a timeout.
Flag scored 14 points in 12 shootings and seven rebounds.
More importantly, he appeared to have sound and strong performances on his left ankle. He sprained in last week's ACC tournament and missed the last two games.
Proctor led the Duke, scoring 19 points on 6 out of 8 from 3-point range.
Khaman Maluach scored 11 points and Foster scored 12 from the bench.
