NEW YORK (AP) - Jared McCain and Mark Mitchell each had 15 points, and No. 4 seed Duke opened the NCAA Tournament with an uneven performance before finally pulling away from 13th-seeded Vermont for a 64-47 victory Friday night.
Jeremy Roach scored 14 for the Blue Devils (25-8), who were able to advance without much offensive production from star center Kyle Filipowski. The sophomore took only one shot and scored a career-low three points, though he did grab 12 rebounds.
Seeking its sixth national championship, Duke will face No. 5 seed Wisconsin or 12th-seeded James Madison in a South Region second-round game Sunday in Brooklyn.
Shamir Bogues had 18 points for Vermont (28-7), playing in its third consecutive NCAA Tournament as America East champions. Aaron Deloney added 14 for the Catamounts, who had won 10 straight games.
Coming off two consecutive losses to in-state rivals, including an ACC quarterfinal flop against North Carolina State, the Blue Devils had trouble putting away Vermont until late in the game. Tyrese Proctor finished with 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting for Duke, which outscored the Catamounts 20-2 at the free-throw line and 10-0 in points off turnovers.
Even in New York City, where Duke has a large alumni network and fan base, the pesky Catamounts had the crowd chanting "UVM! UVM!" when they cut their deficit to two early in the second half.
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McCain answered with a 3-pointer, and Duke finally started to establish some sustained breathing room midway through the second half.
A hush fell over the crowd with 1:18 left when Vermont's leading scorer, TJ Long, went down with a serious-looking injury. Long was about to go up for a breakaway layup when his right knee buckled and he dropped to the floor. After receiving attention from an athletic trainer, he was helped off the court to applause.
Duke played without Caleb Foster again after coach Jon Scheyer said Thursday that the freshman guard will sit out the remainder of the season with a stress fracture in his right ankle.
The team had hoped Foster (7.7 points per game) could return during the NCAA Tournament, but he missed his sixth consecutive game. Foster saw multiple doctors and even tried to practice this week, but Scheyer said Foster "wasn't able to be himself."
Duke went on an 8-0 spree in the first half and it appeared the Blue Devils were poised to break it open when they established a 10-point cushion.
But the Catamounts answered and cut it to 34-29 at halftime. Long and Deloney each tossed in a circus bucket to beat the shot clock, after Vermont coach John Becker received a technical foul earlier in the half for yelling at an official.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
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