JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - For the first time since the end of the regular season, Duke was able to breathe somewhat easily Friday night.
No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament are supposed to win easily over No. 16 seeds, and the Blue Devils did that in a 73-44, first-round defeat of Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Junior forward Kyle Singler scored 22 points as Duke – which survived three tight games to win the ACC tournament - took advantage of its superior size by pounding the ball into the post early and building a lead at the free throw line.
Jon Scheyer added 13 points and Lance Thomas 12 for Duke, which should see the competition get much more difficult in the South Region from now on. The Blue Devils (30-5) will meet the winner of Friday night’s late game between No. 8 seed California and No. 9 seed Louisville on Sunday at a time to be announced.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (18-16), the winner of the tournament’s “play-in game” Tuesday night over Winthrop, was at a serious size disadvantage. Duke starts three players 6-foot-8 or taller.
All of Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s starters are 6-8 or shorter. The Lions had plenty of experience against high-quality competition and bigger players, though, having met Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, Missouri and Kansas State early in the season.
Lions coach George Ivory said Duke reminded him of Kansas State, which defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 90-76 on Dec. 21. The Lions planned to use their quickness to counter Duke’s superior size the way they had against some of those other big teams.
That plan didn’t produce the results the Lions were looking for. Although they surprised Duke point guard Jon Scheyer once with a full-court trap that created a turnover, the Blue Devils handled the pressure well.
On one sequence, Arkansas-Pine Bluff jumped Nolan Smith with a quick trap in the halfcourt. Smith simply threw over it to a wide-open Thomas for an uncontested dunk.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski made a point of exploiting Duke’s size advantage early in the game. The Blue Devils are known for shredding defenses with the 3-point shooting of Scheyer, Smith and Singler, but delivered the ball inside with regularity in the first half Friday.
Within two minutes, 7-foot-1 center Brian Zoubek had a pair of baskets on hook shots from the right block. Singler and Thomas also attacked in the low post early.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff had little choice but to hack the Blue Devils and committed 13 personal fouls in the first half alone. At halftime Duke led 39-20 and was 15-for-20 from the free throw line.
Duke’s defense also did an excellent job early, holding Arkansas-Pine Bluff to 6-for-24 from the field in the first half. After halftime, with the Lions back in a zone defense and protecting the basket, Singler attacked from the perimeter. He made three 3-pointers in the second half before Krzyzewski had the opportunity to remove the starters and let the reserves finish the game.
