Jared McCain’s 30-point night included a Duke freshman NCAA Tournament record eight threes as the Blue Devils blew out James Madison.
Duke fans got a taste for how Sunday afternoon would go from the opening tip.
The Blue Devils wrestled away the opening tip and dribbled down the court for the opening possession. Freshman Jared McCain got his hands on the ball from beyond the arc, just outside the elbow, and pulled.
The ball found the net so smoothly, the nylon barely moved.
The Blue Devils looked like the team people have insisted could be a Final Four threat on Sunday, beating James Madison 93-56 to advance to the Sweet 16.
The Blue Devils’ guards had really struggled from long range over the last two games. McCain, Proctor, and Jeremy Roach shot a combined 29% from 3-point range over the last two games despite a variety of open looks.
The dam broke in a big way against James Madison.
The Blue Devils made seven of their first 12 triples against the Dukes, including each of McCain’s first five attempts. Before Sunday’s second-round game, no Duke freshman had ever made more than five 3-pointers in a March Madness game. McCain made his sixth in the first half.
McCain finished the first half with a team-high 22 points in the opening 20 minutes, making six of his eight 3-point attempts. James Madison allowed the entire Wisconsin team to score 20 points in the first half on Friday.
Part of Duke’s offensive dominance came from some exceptional work on the glass. 10 of Duke’s first 18 points came on second-chance attempts after offensive rebounds. The Blue Devils finished the game with five more rebounds and 13 more attempts than James Madison.
The James Madison offense, which scored 72 points against the Badgers in the opening round, couldn’t get off the ground either. The Dukes started the game 6/16 from the floor and missed each of their first five 3-point attempts, and James Madison made just five of their first 11 free throws.
The end result of the one-sided onslaught was a 36-17 lead after 15 minutes, and Duke rolled to a 47-25 advantage at the break.
McCain didn’t slow down in the second half, either, burying his seventh 3-pointer of the game within one minute of play resuming. The young star finished with 30 points on 10/15 shooting, making eight of his 11 3-point attempts.
Proctor got his share of work from behind the line, too. He inbounded a ball to Kyle Filipowski and snuck behind him to the baseline for one 3-pointer, and he hit another triple from the corner pocket a few minutes later.
He couldn’t match McCain’s electricity, but the sophomore Australian still contributed 18 points and four 3-pointers in his own effort.
It’s a side effect I think every Blue Devils fan would have signed up for at the start of the game, but the end result was a slow march to the buzzer over the final 15 minutes. The pace did pick up for this Mark Mitchell lob to Sean Stewart, however.
Duke coasted the rest of the way for the 38-point victory, booking its first ticket to the Sweet 16 since 2022.
