They had to wait a few extra days, but the Blue Devils finally know their opponent for their first game of the NCAA tournament and can begin preparations for their bid at a run to the Final Four.
Duke—the top-seeded team in the South region—will take on 16th-seeded Robert Morris Friday at 7:10 p.m. at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C. The Colonials defeated North Florida in a First Four matchup Wednesday night to keep their season alive and advance to meet the Blue Devils.
After picking up impressive top-10 road wins at Wisconsin, Virginia and Louisville, Duke was awarded its first No. 1 seed since the 2011 Big Dance. Freshmen Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow have powered the Blue Devils all season—all three rookies score in double-figures—but will enter onto the game's biggest stage for the first time Friday.
"Stay in the moment—that's what we're trying to get with our guys," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said Tuesday. "I think it's easy to manage your own expectations. It's really hard to manage anyone else's.... I want it to be as pure as possible for these guys."
Okafor, Jones and Winslow will look to reverse the fortunes of young Blue Devil teams in the NCAA tournament. Duke has bowed out in the Round of 64 in two of the past three seasons, falling to 15th-seeded Lehigh in 2012 and 14th-seeded Mercer in 2014.
Senior captain Quinn Cook was a member of both of those teams and is looking to make a deep postseason run before his career in Durham comes to an end. The Washington native has enjoyed a career season this year as Jones' running mate in the backcourt with 15.7 points per game. Although half of this year's roster has never played in the Big Dance, Cook said Tuesday that he thinks this year's group is different from the squads that made early exits.
"We won a lot of big games, big-time games, on the road. I remember in 2012, we didn't do well on the road in big-time games," Cook said. "[This year] we've won some enormous games. Our freshmen keep getting better and we have those years to use as motivation, myself and Marshall [Plumlee]."
Robert Morris (20-14) was the clear aggressor in the opening minutes Wednesday, but then watched the Ospreys soar past them with a bevy of 3-pointers to claim a six-point halftime lead. The Colonials regrouped, though, holding North Florida scoreless for 4:44 to climb back into the game behind stellar guard play.
The starting backcourt tandem of Rodney Pryor and Marcquise Reed combined for 39 points and reserve guard Lucky Jones poured in a team-high 21 to keep pace with Osprey sharpshooter Beau Beech's 28 points. The trio scored 24 consecutive points for the Colonials in a 10-minute stretch and will be the focal point of Duke's defensive gameplan Friday.
Robert Morris is no stranger to playing the role of giant-slayer—the Colonials eliminated defending national champion Kentucky from the NIT in 2013, powered by Jones' 15 points.
With 72 fewer hours to prepare for their Round of 64 matchup because of the Colonials' play-in game, Cook said Tuesday that the Blue Devils spent the first few days following the selection show controlling what they could control—themselves.
"We've been preparing for us, just making sure we're in shape, sharp on offense, sharp on defense. We've been getting up and down a little bit, doing individual work, working on us," Cook said. "My first three years here, we knew who we would be playing so we would start preparing for those guys. It's a little different."
Krzyzewski has said all season that his freshmen are ahead of the curve, physically and mentally. The four-time national champion echoed his captain, saying he thinks his young team is capable of a deep run.
"They believe in one another and they believe in us," Krzyzewski said. "They believe we can win. They don't split apart."
The winner of Friday's matchup will meet either No. 8 San Diego State or No. 9 St. John's Sunday with a trip to Houston for the Sweet 16 on the line. The Blue Devils defeated the Red Storm Jan. 25 at Madison Square Garden to earn Krzyzewski his 1,000th career win.
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