HALFTIME: Duke 35, Mercer 34

Duke is getting all it can handle from No. 14 seed Mercer in its second round game in the NCAA tournament's Midwest Region, nursing a fragile 35-34 lead at halftime. Freshman Jabari Parker has struggled for the Blue Devils, committing a pair of early traveling violations and a goaltending violation, while shooting 2-of-7 from the field halfway through his first NCAA tournament appearance. Quinn Cook rattled home a pair of triples and had a steal and break-away lay-up to score eight straight points for Duke, but for all his efforts the Blue Devils found themselves knotted at 17-apiece. With Atlantic Sun Defensive Player of the Year Daniel Coursey clogging up the paint, Duke has dialed it up from distance in the first half, hitting eight 3-pointers. Despite the hot shooting, the Bears have stuck around thanks to several well-executed sets in the half-court offense.

Here are some observations from the first half:

• Rasheed Sulaimon set the tone early for the Blue Devils, knocking down a pair of corner 3's on Duke's first two possessions. The Blue Devils lived by the long ball in the first half, as eight of their 12 field goals came from behind the arc: four from Sulaimon and two apiece from Cook and Rodney Hood. Graduate student Andre Dawkins struggled mightily from long range, missing all four of his 3-point attempts.
• Duke opened the game in an organized full-court press, a look they haven't shown much of during the regular season, but called it off after Mercer broke it without a struggle and got a few good looks.
• The Bears brought a large contingent of students with them to Raleigh, which has occasionally swung the atmosphere of the arena in Mercer's favor despite the Blue Devils playing so close to home.
• Langston Hall, Mercer's best scorer in the regular season, was held to five points in the first half on 1-of-2 shooting. The Bears used a balance scoring attack to stay close, getting 11 bench points from Ike Nwamu and six from Coursey.
• Foul trouble could become an issue for the Blue Devils, as both Tyler Thornton and Rodney Hood were whistled for two personals in the opening stanza. Mercer shot 9-of-12 at the foul line; Duke was just 3-of-4, all of them attempted by Parker.