Spreading the wealth: Top-seeded Duke uses whole bench in big win over Mount St. Mary's

Steve Wiseman, The News & Observer on Mar 21, 2025

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Cooper Flagg returned to Duke’s starting lineup and everything else got even better from there for the nation’s top-ranked team.

With Flagg on the court again after a sprained ankle kept him out of two games, the Blue Devils needed 13 minutes to build a 20-point lead as they rolled to a 93-49 NCAA Tournament first-round win over Mount St. Mary’s at Lenovo Center.

The East Region’s No. 1 seed, the Blue Devils (32-3) won their 12th consecutive game to advance to Sunday’s second round and a matchup with No. 9 seed Baylor (20-14). The Bears, with former Duke guard Jeremy Roach, edged Mississippi State, 75-72, in Friday’s first game.

Flagg hadn’t appeared in a Duke game since March 13, when he fell to the court in pain with a sprained ankle during his team’s 78-70 ACC Tournament quarterfinal win over Georgia Tech. The Blue Devils won the ACC championship two nights later, even though Flagg, the ACC player of the year, wasn’t in uniform for the semifinals and final.

But the 6-9 phenom returned to practice full speed by Wednesday, signaling he was healthy enough to return to the lineup. He showed no ill-effects from the injury.

Though Duke coach Jon Scheyer gave him frequent breaks during the first half and a longer one after halftime due to the lopsided score, Flagg scored 14 points with seven rebounds and four assists in 22 minutes of play. Scheyer removed Flagg from the game for good with 10:53 to play and Duke leading by 32.

Tyrese Proctor’s 19 points paced Duke, which shot 60.6% in the first half to open a 54-28 halftime lead and finished at 50% from the field for the game. After hitting six 3-pointers when Duke beat Louisville, 73-62, in last Saturday’s ACC Tournament final, Proctor made six of eight 3-point attempts against Mount St. Mary’s.

Proctor fell just shy of Duke’s school record for 3-pointers in an NCAA Tournament game, which is eight by Jared McCain last year against James Madison.

Freshman center Khaman Maluach scored 11 points while hitting all five of his shots from the field, including a 3-pointer. Caleb Foster scored 12 points off the bench as Duke hit 14 3-pointers.

Mount St. Mary’s shot 30.2% from the field, making 5 of 27 3-pointers (18.5%).

Playing in the same building where a previous Blue Devils team, seeded No. 3, lost 78-71 to Mercer in the 2014 NCAA Tournament, this Duke squad handled its business without drama.

Duke blitzed Mount St. Mary’s from the start, never trailing while hitting five of its first six shots to lead 13-3. Proctor had two of his 3-pointers during that opening push.

While Mount St. Mary’s made just three of its first 12 shots and missed its first six 3-pointers, Duke pushed its lead to 22-6 when Flagg took a slick pass from Pat Ngongba and slammed in two points with 12:19 left in the half.

A Proctor 3-pointer at 7:01 gave Duke its first 20-point lead at 38-18.