Raleigh, N.C. — The “Duke Invitation” came to a predictable end Sunday.
Duke exploded in the final three minutes of the first half in this 89-66 second round NCAA Tournament victory at Lenovo Center, located about 25 minutes from campus.
The Blue Devils turned a 35-30 lead over Baylor into a 47-30 bulge in the half with a catastrophic 12-0 run.
Baylor (20-15) will not recover.
Duke (33-3) will head to the Eastern Region at Newark's Prudential Center next week to win the winner of Sunday's Arizona Oregon Game.
This is the Blue Devils' second Sweet 16 appearance, the third in the last four years and the 34th in the entire history of the program.
Duke's first half domination was evident in the numbers.
Duke was 13/20 (65%) from the field and 5/50%) from the 3-point range, while Baylor was 1/34 (35.3 percent) from the field and 4/12 (33.3 percent) from the field.
Duke was also 19-16 from the free throw line, but Baylor only reached the line twice, making both free throws.
Duke was led by Starfreshman Cooper Flag, as usual.
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He scored 15 points with four-fifths of fire in the first half and six-sevenths from the line.
Tyrees Proctor finished with a career-high 25 points.
Being from Sydney, Australia, was a terrifying experience from the last 3-point range.
He finished a career-high 7-8 over the Ark on Sunday, 19 out of 30 in his final three games.
Kon Knueppel scored 12 points and Patrick Ngongba was out of eight benches, all of which came when it was 6-6 in the first half.
Duke also dominated Baylor from the bench, outperforming the Bears 12-3 in the decisive first half.
Bahamian native VJ Edgecombe, who played the final two years of high school at Long Island Lutheran, led Baylor with 16 points. Norchud Omier had 15 at Baylor and Langston Love was 11.
