Jeremy Roach scored a career-high-tying 23 points as fifth-seeded Duke ran away from No. 12 Oral Roberts for a wire-to-wire 74-51 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Orlando, Fla.
It’s the 10th straight win for the Blue Devils (27-8), who are moving on under first-year coach Jon Scheyer. Duke will face the winner of No. 4 Tennessee against No. 13 Louisiana on Saturday.
Roach shot 9 of 17 from the floor and had just one turnover in 37 minutes of action. The veteran guard also had three assists and two rebounds. Duke was also helped by 13 points from Dariq Whitehead, who shot 3-for-3 from 3-point land.
Dereck Lively provided the Blue Devils with a game-high 12 rebounds, and ACC Rookie of the Year Kyle Filipowski chipped in six points and nine boards. In all, 10 different Duke players scored.
Upset-minded Oral Roberts (30-5) was led by 12 points from Max Abmas. He also had five assists and three rebounds and was the lone player to score in double-digits for ORU.
Duke opened the game with a bang, jumping out to a 15-0 lead. Roach scored seven points during that opening stretch.
The Blue Devils opened the second half on a 10-0 run to push their lead to 27 points. Mark Mitchell had four points and four rebounds for Duke in that span.
Oral Roberts broke off an 11-0 run, but never threatened to cut the deficit to single digits.
Key for Duke was its ability to dominate inside. The Blue Devils won the rebounding battle 47-32 and outscored the Golden Eagles 40-22 in the paint.
Oral Roberts entered the game averaging 84.2 points per-game. The 51 points the Golden Eagles scored was their second lowest of the season.
The contest marked the first time Duke played an NCAA Tournament game without former longtime coach Mike Krzyzewski on the sidelines since March 15, 1980.
–Field Level Media