GREENVILLE, S.C. — Mike Krzyzewski had previously expressed his concern over the fact that Duke’s first-round game against Winthrop wouldn’t start until approximately 10:10 p.m. on Thursday night.
For all intents and purposes, the Blue Devils’ matchup with the Eagles ended only a few minutes after the supposed start time.
The opening game of the NCAA Tournament for Duke and Winthrop tipped off about 10 minutes earlier than expected, and the top-seeded Blue Devils didn’t waste any time dispatching of the 16th-seeded Eagles in an 84-37 victory.
Duke(30-3) hit 12 of its first 13 shots and led 27-7 by 10:12 p.m.
“If we play 100 times, we might beat them once,” Winthrop coach Gregg Marshall said. “We were rolling the dice, hoping to get that one. Certainly, it wasn’t in the cards.”
Winthrop senior Greg Lewis gave Eagle fans an early reason to cheer, scoring 14 seconds into the game to give the heavy underdogs a 2-0 edge.
Duke junior Carlos Boozer, who finished with 19 points, tied the game shortly thereafter. Jason Williams then made a steal and threw a behind-the-back-pass to Mike Dunleavy, whose slam gave the Blue Devils the lead for good.
Duke led only 11-7 with 16:29 left, but it went on a 24-0 run during the next seven and a half minutes to stake claim to a 35-7 edge.
The Blue Devils opened up a 30-point advantage just 12 minutes into the contest and led 52-15 at the break.
“We have the mind set to get off to a great start,” Dunleavy said. “Not many teams can play with us in the first half.”
Said Williams, “We want to come out and show that we’re Duke. We play with the same passion and intensity whether it’s Maryland or Winthrop.”
Boozer scored 10 of Duke’s first 27 points during the initial outburst and finished the half 8 of 10 with 18 points.
Dunleavy hit 7 of 11 shots in the opening half to score 15 points, and he finished with 18.
Williams, who had 12 first-half points, ended the game with 19.
The Blue Devils connected on 21 of 33 field-goal attempts in the first half, while Winthrop made only 6 of 30.
“I was impressed we were able to get that lead right away against them,” Krzyzewski said.
Lewis led the Eagles (19-12) with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Pierre Wooten scored eight.
Lewis went only 3 of 9 from the field in the first half but led the Eagles with nine points. Only three other Winthrop players scored in the opening 20 minutes, and they all had two points apiece.
“We knew this would happen,” Lewis said. “We knew they would make runs, we just had to have resolve, and we didn’t.”
Duke used its starters to begin the second half, but Dunleavy, Boozer and Williams played only a combined 18 minutes after the break.
Casey Sanders, who has sunk down in Krzyzewski’s rotation lately, checked into the contest with 12:40 left in the first half.
Sanders scored six points in 15 minutes to lead Duke’s subs, and Andre Buckner tallied five points in 12 minutes.
With the win, Duke advances to play Notre Dame at 1:10 p.m. on Saturday. That game will be followed by the matchup between Kent State and Alabama.
Marshall doesn’t envy the position the Fighting Irish are in.
“If they shoot the ball like that, they’ll have tons of success the rest of the tournament,”Marshall said. “I wouldn’t want to be the next person to play them.”
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Contact Bret Strelow at 704-797-4258 or bstrelow@salisburypost.com
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