GREENVILLE, South Carolina, Sporting Alert — Grayson Allen scored 21 points and Jayson Tatum added a double-double and No. 2 seed Duke easily brushed aside No. 15 Troy 87-65 in the NCAA Tournament East Region First Round on Friday. ESPN Box Scores and More
Allen, who left the game to a standing ovation, hit five 3-pointers – his eighth career game with five made triple – while pulling down five rebounds and dishing out four assists in his production off the bench in the win.
Tatum had 18 points and 12 rebounds to become the first Duke freshman to record a double-double in his NCAA Tournament debut since Danny Ferry in 1986 against Missouri Valley State.
The talented freshman forward also had four steals and blocked four shots for the 2017 ACC Tournament champions, who continued their perfect postseason and are beginning to look like the preseason No. 1 ranked team.
Frank Jackson and Matt Jones each had 14 points for the Blue Devils (28-8), who scored 52 points in the first half and led by 14 points at halftime.
Jordon Varnado tallied 18 points and seven rebounds to lead Troy (22-15).
Wesley Person ended with 15 points for the Trojans, who turned the ball over 17 times and shot just 5-for-23 from 3-point range.
Luke Kennard, who averaged 20.1 points this season, shot just 3-for-12 for eight points for Duke, which improved to 34-7 all-time in openers.
The Blue Devils, who started strongly, shot 13-for-28 from 3-pointers and had 13 steals in the win — snapping a streak of 19 games scoring in double figures.
They will now face No. 7 seed South Carolina or No. 10 seed Marquette in the second round on Sunday.
