Duke forward Cooper Flagg backs down Mount St. Mary’s guard Xavier Lipscomb during the first half of the Blue Devils’ 93-49 win in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina. Flagg, a Newport native, finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Stephanie Scarbrough/Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. — Tyrese Proctor had 19 points and freshman star Cooper Flagg, of Newport, returned from an ankle injury as No. 1 seed Duke beat Mount St. Mary’s 93-49 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

Flagg had 14 points and seven boards for the Blue Devils (32-3), the East bracket headliner opening a push for a sixth national title roughly a half-hour’s drive from its Durham campus. Duke jumped to a 13-2 lead in a dominant first half marked by clean execution on the way to a big lead.

The Blue Devils cooled after the break, but finished at 50% shooting with 14 3-pointers to cruise toward a second-round date with Baylor. Proctor went 6 for 8 from deep.

“I just thought these guys were incredibly mature without necessarily even playing in the NCAA Tournament besides Tyrese and Mason (Gillis),” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “Proud of the performance. We have to move on very quickly, but really good to get our feet wet and understand what the tournament is all about.”

The 18-year-old Flagg — a top NBA prospect and unanimous Associated Press first-team All-American — missed the last two games of Duke’s run to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title after rolling his left ankle in the quarterfinals against Georgia Tech. He looked comfortable in this one, including when he finished an and-1 drive that left him on his back in the opening flurry and later when he cut backdoor to take Patrick Ngongba’s feed and dunk it home.

Flagg said he felt “completely 100 percent and confident going into tonight’s game.”

Duke led 54-28 by halftime after shooting 60.6%.

Arlandus Keyes scored 15 points for the 16th-seeded Mountaineers (23-13), the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champs who beat American in Wednesday’s First Four. Mount St. Mary’s shot 30.2% from the field, including 5 for 27 on 3s.

“I thought our guys fought unbelievably,” Mountaineers coach Donny Lind said. “They played with heart and determination and great effort until there were zeros on the clock, and I’m incredibly proud of that.”

Key stat

Duke had 21 assists against just two turnovers for the game.

Takeaways

Mount St. Mary’s: This was the Mountaineers’ seventh trip to March Madness, the first six coming as a member of the Northeast Conference. They fell to 0-5 in the first round, all against No. 1 seeds — including one in this building exactly 17 years ago against another nearby ACC school (North Carolina). This was the program’s first NCAA trip since the Indianapolis-bubbled 2021 tournament during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Duke: The Blue Devils won the ACC regular-season and tournament titles for the first time since 2006, though Flagg’s health (and an injury to versatile defender Maliq Brown) was the major storyline. This was a good start to the NCAAs for a team that has lost just once since November.

Up next

Sunday’s game against the ninth-seeded Bears marks a reunion with former Duke guard Jeremy Roach, who transferred to Baylor after last season.