RALEIGH, N.C. — The “Duke Invitational’’ came to a predictable close on Sunday, with the No. 1 seed Blue Devils dispatching Baylor 89-66 to breeze into yet another Sweet 16.
Duke ended any suspense in this second-round NCAA Tournament win at the Lenovo Center, which is located about 25 minutes from its campus, with an explosion in the final three minutes of the first half.
The Blue Devils turned a 35-30 lead over Baylor into a 47-30 bulge at the half with a devastating 12-0 run.
Baylor (20-15) would never recover.
And Duke (33-3) is headed to the East Regional next week at Prudential Center in Newark to play the winner of Sunday’s late Arizona-Oregon game.
It’s the Blue Devils’ second consecutive Sweet 16 appearance, third in the past four years and 34th overall in program history.
“For us to win by this margin I think speaks to the level of killer instinct that our guys have,’’ Duke coach Jon Scheyer said afterward. “Sweet 16 sounds great.’’
Duke’s dominance was well apparent in the numbers.
The Blue Devils shot 64.4 percent from the field, including 54.5 percent from 3-point range while Baylor shot 36.8 percent and 32 percent, respectively.
Duke, too, was 19-of-23 from the free-throw line to Baylor’s 8-of-10.
Duke was 16-of-19 from the line in the first half while Baylor got to the line only twice, making both free throws.
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Duke had a 17-to-6 assist-to-turnover ratio on Sunday and that number was a mind-boggling 39-to-8 in the two games to start the tournament.
Duke was led by a virtuoso performance from Tyrese Proctor, who scored a career-high 25 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field, including 8-of-9 from 3-point range.
Incredibly, Proctor, a Sydney, Australia native, was 0-for-10 from long distance in the first two games of the ACC Tournament last week and is 19-of-30 in the three games since.
“When Tyrese plays with the type of confidence he’s been playing with … he’s such a weapon for us,’’ Duke star freshman Cooper Flagg, who had 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists in 28 minutes, said.
“It’s just my preparation, just behind the scenes putting in the work and trusting myself,’’ Proctor said. “When I’m on the court, just playing free and just having fun out there, just trying to cherish every moment I get with these guys and just having fun.’’
Duke, which trailed Baylor 24-23 with 7:56 remaining in the first half, really began to have fun from there, ending the first half on a devastating 24-7 tear, which included that 12-0 run to end the half.
“Duke’s a great team, coach Scheyer’s done a great job,’’ Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “You make mistakes, they make you pay.’’
Baylor guard V.J. Edgecombe, a native of the Bahamas who played his final two high school years at Long Island Lutheran and chose Baylor over Duke coming out of high school, called Duke “a well-executed, well-coached team,’’ adding, “They made shots, we had a ton of mistakes and they separated. Basketball is a game of runs, and they went on a run … a pretty big run.’’
Duke was also helped by Kon Knueppel’s 12 points and Patrick Ngongba’s eight points off the bench, all of which came in the first half, when he was 6-for-6 from the line.
Duke, too, dominated Baylor from the bench, outscoring the Bears 12-3 in the decisive first half and 20-10 overall.
“The analytics showed they didn’t have any weaknesses,’’ Drew said of Duke. “Size and length always beats less. They’re blessed because they have size and length and skill. They have really good players. Coach Scheyer’s done a great job of putting together a roster that blends [and] plays well together. A lot of them play professionally because of that.’’
