CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Quinn Cook scored 22 points to help South No. 1 seed Duke get off to a torrid start and beat Robert Morris 85-56 on Friday night in the NCAA tournament’s round of 64.
Freshman Jahlil Okafor added 21 as the Blue Devils (30-4) wasted little time getting their offense revving, hitting their first seven shots and 12 of 15 to build a big lead quickly.
That’s not to say everything went smoothly for Duke, a team with half of its eight scholarship players making its tournament debut. Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski furiously burned a timeout after Okafor blew a reverse dunk, while Robert Morris — the No. 16 seed that had to win a First Four game to get here — showed plenty of fight and kept hanging around for the first part of the second half before the Blue Devils finally put the game out of reach.
After Robert Morris (20-15) pulled within 10 midway through the second half, the Blue Devils ran off 12 straight points with a suddenly dominant burst to push the lead back to 68-46 on Amile Jefferson’s transition layup with 8:29 left.
Duke was in command from there for a routine 1-vs-16 finish, shooting 63 percent in the program’s 100th NCAA tournament victory.