NEW YORK – Through the first two days of the men’s NCAA Tournament, teams with perceivably more talent, more prominent names and bigger budgets have let their opponents hang around — some even sent packing before the weekend is over.
Duke came into Friday night’s contest against No. 13 seed Vermont seemingly ripe for the picking. The Catamounts, looking to hand Duke a second consecutive first-weekend exit, only found themselves down by five at halftime.
The Blue Devils’ sloppy play showed up once again. They were missing layups, free throws, everything in between, allowing their opponent to hang around way longer than necessary.
This time, they survived and are advancing with a 64-47 victory that was anything but easy. They will take on the winner of Wisconsin-James Madison in the South Region‘s second round on Sunday.
Vermont had chances when Duke went three minutes in the second half without scoring, but the Catamounts matched them with zeros before cutting the lead to 36-34 with 16:30 left. That’s as close as they would get.
Again, Duke couldn’t find the basket, going another three minutes sitting on the same score. Both times, freshman Jared McCain got them out of the drought, once with a 3-pointer with 15:30 remaining and a hook shot to beat the shot clock four minutes later.
“He’s built differently,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said of McCain. “He is not fazed by anything.”
When Vermont realized what was happening, it was down double digits.
Kyle Filipowski attempted just one field goal in 37 minutes, scoring three points and pulling down 12 rebounds.
Duke knows it needs more from its leading scorer and rebounder if it’s going to go on a run.
“I just loved how we responded. It was very positive even when they went on their runs,” Filipowski said.
“I was doing what I needed to do tonight. I’m so happy with how I played even though I only had three points. I had four assists. Should’ve had more if my teammates made their damn shots. But I did what I needed to do for this team to get this win.”
Luckily, his teammates picked up the slack in a balanced scoring effort — McCain, with his freshly painted fingernails, finished with 15 points. Mark Mitchell also had 15, Jeremy Roach scored 14, and Tyrese Proctor had 13. Duke hit 19 field goals and 20 free throws.
“We knew it going to be a battle,” Scheyer said. “I thought our response was what I was really proud of. Showed a lot of toughness and heart.”
Shamir Bogues scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, pulling Vermont within six on a 3-pointer before the penultimate media timeout. TJ Long, the team’s scoring leader, went 1-for-8, scoring three points, and missed all four of his 3-point attempts before going down with a leg injury late in the second half.
Even though Duke scored a season-low in points, its defense held firm. Vermont shot 38.5%, including 5-for-20 from 3-point land, was outrebounded 38-26, and did not score the final 4:42 of the game.
Scheyer said he knows more is needed from Filipowski on the scoreboard, but on nights like Friday, it wasn’t.
“So many guys get caught up in stats,” Scheyer said. “He does so much for our team. I thought it was a big-time game for him. He impacted the game with his rebounding and competed the whole game. Do we need to get him more shots? Yes.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Duke puts down Vermont upset bid in NCAA Tournament first round
