PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mike Krzyzewski keeps wringing his hands about his team’s youth. And then Duke and its roster of NBA-bound freshmen get on the floor against a more experienced opponent and the Hall of Fame coach’s fears largely vanish.
Having Marvin Bagley III certainly helps.
The Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year did whatever he wanted against game but overmatched Iona, pouring in 22 points to go with seven rebounds in his NCAA Tournament debut as the Blue Devils pulled away for an 89-67 victory on Thursday. The 6-foot-11 freshman forward made 10 of 14 shots in 32 minutes — even making his lone 3-point attempt — as Duke rolled into a second-round Midwest Region matchup with seven-seeded Rhode Island on Saturday. The Rams held off Oklahoma in overtime in the opening game of the tournament.
“(This is) what we’ve had to go through the whole year, you know, the first road game, the first conference game, the you know, the first 10:00 of game, you know, all of those things,” Krzyzewski said. “So this is a first for them.”
Bagley included.
“I woke up and felt a little anxious,” Bagley said. “I was just anxious to play. When the first game came on, I was watching it a little bit until we left the hotel. From there it was time to lock in.”
After some early issues with the Gaels, that wasn’t a problem.
Duke allowed seasoned if undersized Iona (20-14) to hang around for most of the first half then tweaked its zone defense enough to disrupt the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament champions . Bagley and some solid shooting and unselfish play by the Blue Devil backcourt trio of Grayson Allen, Trevon Duval and Gary Trent took care of the rest.
Allen and his two freshmen teammates combined for 51 points and 18 assist of Duke’s 24 assists. Each of them made four 3-pointers, and when the Gaels came out to challenge, Bagley and Wendell Carter Jr. had plenty of room to go to work inside. The Blue Devils outrebounded Iona 39-29 and outscored the Gaels in the paint 46-30.
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