RALEIGH — No. 1-seed Duke men’s basketball kicks off its NCAA Tournament with a first round matchup with Mount St. Mary’s. The Blue Devils have dominated the first 20, up 54-28:

Flagg roars back

Head coach Jon Scheyer said Thursday that freshman All-American Cooper Flagg would be available to play Friday against Mount St. Mary’s. The freshman suffered an ankle injury that required an X-ray in the ACC Tournament quarterfinal March 13, leading some to believe his minutes may be limited or his play stunted.

Neither were true Friday. The Newport, Maine, native was handed the start and made his impact known right away, carving through the Mountaineer defense before lofting the ball with his left hand for a Khaman Maluach alley-oop. A tough and-one off a Tyrese Proctor steal added to the freshman’s impressive opening frame before he was replaced by Mason Gillis ahead of the under-16 media timeout. Flagg shook off any lingering doubts about his fitness with a vicious two-hand slam off the spin a few minutes later — landing with a flex and no signs of a buggy ankle.

3-point showers … April flowers?

In contrast to Mount St. Mary’s, whose early perimeter shooting was belabored and ineffectual, Duke rained down threes in the first half as well as it has all season. Proctor, playing in his third NCAA Tournament, nailed each of his opening two deep shots before Caleb Foster added another. Within the opening five-and-a-half minutes, the Blue Devils built a quick 18-4 lead, effectively killing any upset hopes.

Even with Duke on pace to break its all-time NCAA Tournament game scoring record of 105, set against Southern Illinois in March 1993, the Mountaineers began to find occasional success from the perimeter — including three consecutive treys from Arlandus Keyes — that made the scoreline more respectable. The Blue Devils were able to respond in kind, with a Maluach three sending the crowd into hysterics before a dunk seconds later left the glass swaying.

Forcing fouls

One of the Blue Devils’ strengths in the opening half was their ability to penetrate the Mountaineers’ post defense and get to the bucket through contact. Flagg’s and-one was the first instance, but many more arrived, including a clever pump-fake by Gillis after receiving the ball from Knueppel’s perimeter feed that baited his man and a foul on Patrick Ngongba II’s made layup to settle the contest at 24-9. 

As the half wore on, Sion James, Proctor and Foster found their way to the line as well, sending the Mountaineers further into foul trouble as the Duke advantage ballooned as high as 26 points.

Thirteen assists, one turnover

In addition to stellar shooting and an ability to draw fouls, the Blue Devils excelled in the first half with their ball movement, racking up 13 assists by the break with only one turnover. Duke dominated Mount St. Mary’s in transition, blasting nine points off turnovers and seven off the fast break. When the Blue Devils were forced into prolonged offensive sets, they sliced through the Mountaineer defense with ease, frequently finding open looks on the perimeter with their zippy passes around the arc. Kon Knueppel and Foster each found success off these types of looks at the far corner, in addition to the flurry — and minority — of shots that bounced just wide.

Player of the half: Tyrese Proctor?

It was the Blue Devils’ Australian guard that made the greatest impact on Friday’s first half. The junior sank four 3-pointers on a perfect 100% clip and played the pass on five Duke buckets, all game highs. But it was in transition and on defense that Proctor shone brightest, finding Flagg for numerous fast-break layups and hounding the Mountaineer guards on the perimeter with a 6-foot-6 frame they couldn’t work around. Because of the overwhelming lead Proctor helped build, he and the rest of the starting five will likely spend much of the second half resting for Sunday’s all-but-assured date with Baylor.

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Andrew Long | Recruitment/Social ChairAndrew Long is a Trinity senior and recruitment/social chair of The Chronicle’s 120th volume. He was previously sports editor for Volume 119.