RALEIGH — No. 1-seed Duke men’s basketball returns to the Lenovo Center for a matchup against No. 9-seed Baylor. After 20 minutes of play, the Blue Devils head into the locker room with a 47-30 lead:
Roach returns
The Blue Devils had a familiar face on the court for their second-round game, but it wasn’t a friendly one. Former Duke guard Jeremy Roach came off the bench for the Bears less than four minutes into the contest, and he netted a stepback three to give Baylor a 9-7 lead. Last season, Roach had 33 starts for the Blue Devils and averaged 14 points per game. Now, dressed in green and gold, he threatened to make the game difficult for some of his old teammates. However, that triple was his only field goal in the first 20 minutes.
Baylor on the boards
Baylor’s Norchad Omier grabbed three early offensive rebounds, giving his team crucial second-chance opportunities that allowed it to stick close to Duke in the opening four minutes. The Bears then managed to crash the glass for the rest of the half. With just over 11 minutes to go, Baylor had outrebounded the Blue Devils 8-4. It finished the half with a 16-13 board advantage and 9-1 offensive rebound discrepancy.
Proctor stays hot
After swishing six treys in Duke’s first-round game, Tyrese Proctor once again found momentum behind the arc. His first 3-point attempt sailed through the net to deliver the Blue Devils their first points of the contest, and he tallied two more to go 3-for-4 on the half. Cooper Flagg, Isaiah Evans and Mason Gillis all initially had less luck from deep. Their early attempts bounced off the rim, though Flagg soon shot a rainbow to settle Duke in at a 50% clip for the half.
Slow separation
Duke stumbled in the opening minutes, at one point finding itself without a field goal for over three minutes. While Baylor’s foul trouble and the Blue Devils’ solid shooting at the charity stripe kept the game from getting out of hand, it took some time for Jon Scheyer’s squad to find rhythm. It did so near the end of the half, holding Baylor to a 2-of-12 field goal stretch and leapfrogging from a tied game to a 13-point lead.
Player of the half: Cooper Flagg
After a slow start, Flagg began to deliver for the Blue Devils. The freshman shot 6-of-7 from the charity stripe en route to 15 first-half points, netting both a 3-pointer and a crowd-pleasing slam before the first buzzer sounded. It was a welcome return after his 14-point game in the first round and his absence from the final games of the ACC Tournament.
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Abby DiSalvo is a Trinity sophomore and assistant Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.