Duke takes time to warm up
COLUMBIA, S.C.— Zion Williamson had an explosive NCAA Tournament debut with 25 points and a can’t-miss secondhalf showcase, leading topseeded Duke to an 85-62 win over North Dakota State on Friday night.
Canadian R.J. Barrett led Duke scorers with 26 points plus 14 rebounds and combined with Williamson for a prolific showing for the freshmen stars. But it was Williamson who could not be contained in the second half, turning a tight early contest into a Duke runaway in the first round of the East Region.
“In the second half, we played beautiful basketball,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
Duke led just 31-27 at halftime but Williamson took over after the break. He opened the half by driving on two defenders for a layup that drew a foul. He missed the free throw, but Williamson answered with a monster slam.
The highlight, though, came moments later on Williamson’s breathtaking “dribble behind his back after chasing down his own steal” layup.
The six-foot-seven, 285pound freshman outran fivefoot-11, 190-pound Vinnie Shahid of North Dakota State for the ball after he tipped it for a steal. Williamson then dribbled behind his back, briefly losing and regaining his balance with a hand on the floor. That cleared room for Williamson to get to the lane and go up and under for a layup.
Just like that, the Blue Devils were up 40-27 and cruising. The Bison (19-16) never recovered.
Barrett and Williamson gave Duke two players with 20 or more points in their NCAA Tournament debut for the first time since Mark Alarie and Johnny Dawkins did it in 1984.
The Blue Devils (31-5) will face eighth-seeded VCU or No. 9 seed UCF on Sunday for a spot in the Sweet 16.
Duke was expected to pick up where it left off last week when it won its 21st Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title. But a crazy thing happened: the Blue Devils struggled to score. They missed three-pointers and close-in shots, mid-range jumpers and driving layups and found themselves trailing the Summit League Tournament champions 16-12 midway through the half.
Barrett and Reddish rallied Duke toward the end — Barrett had three straight baskets — and a Jordan Goldwire threepointer with a minute left made it 31-27 at the break. In other notable games: á Payton Pritchard scored 19 points, Kenny Wooten protected the rim with four blocks, and 12th-seeded Oregon extended its surprising March run by beating No. 5 seed Wisconsin 72-54. The Ducks (24-12) won four games in four days to win the Pac-12 tournament last week just to make the NCAAs, then followed it with an impressive victory over a higherseeded opponent. Oregon advanced to play No. 13 seed UC Irvine (31-5) on Sunday in the second round of the South Region.
á No. 1 seed Virginia avoided the ignominy of another firstround NCAA Tournament upset, rallying from 14 points down to beat No. 16 seed Gardner-Webb 71-56 in the South Region. The Cavaliers were the top overall seed last year but lost 74-54 to 16th-seeded UMBC. It was the first — and still the only — time in 35 years that a 1-seed has fallen in its opening game.
á Admiral Schofield had 19 points and No. 2 seed Tennessee held off a second-half rally by No. 15 seed Colgate and won 77-70. Schofield hit back-toback three-pointers to give Tennessee a cushion with 45 seconds left. Jeremy Harris and Nick Perkins each scored 21 points and had 10 rebounds to help lead No. 6 seed Buffalo past No. 11 Arizona State 91-74 in the West Region. C..J Massinburg had 18 points and six rebounds for Buffalo (32-3), which won its 13th straight game.
á UC Irvine got back-to-back three-pointers from Evan Leonard to spark the deciding run in an upset 70-64 win over Kansas State, the Anteaters’ first NCAA Tournament victory in school history. One year after making a run to the Elite Eight, the fourth-seeded Wildcats (25-9) had a short stay as they struggled to decipher the Anteaters zone defence.