The UNC-Wilmington Seahawks seemed like they had a chance to expose a shallow Duke Blue Devils team. Duke got just 10 points, two rebounds and two assists between Derryck Thornton and Chase Jeter, the only two players to come off the bench for the Blue Devils.

UNCW also seemed like it could survive Grayson Allen and Brandon Ingram, but they could not withstand the storm that was Marshall Plumlee. The senior center scored 23 points, pulled down eight rebounds and blocked three shots, dominating the low post and the highlight reel.

Duke may have gone into the half trailing the 13th-seeded Seahawks, but their victory bodes well for them going forward. Unlike past Duke teams, this one does not seem as dependent on the three-pointer. Duke took a whopping 43 free throws and made 31, while making four three-pointers in 15 attempts.

All told, Allen and Ingram combined for 43 points and made 20 free throws. Matt Jones added 12 points and was the only Duke player to hit more than one three. If Duke can get better and more consistent efforts from Thornton and Jeter, and more games like this one from Plumlee, the Blue Devils will have a lethal inside game on offense.

Of course, that is more "ifs" than coach Mike Krzyzewski would like, but his team did just score 53 points in the second half, avoiding a Mercer sequel.

Plumlee may owe his dominant second half to his decision to lose the facemask protecting his broken nose. Though he would not make an excuse for his first-half performance, he was a different player in the second half, in which he scored 19 points.

"There's no excuses for my play in the first half," he said after the game. "I'm grateful to have a coach that can bring out the best in me.

"More than anything, I had teammates that played harder, teammates that gave me energy, and I fed off of that."

UNCW got four double-digit scoring outputs from its starters, led by Chase Ponder's 22 points. But while Duke dominated inside the arc, UNCW threw up 26 three-pointers and made 11. However, they could not get to the line as often as Duke did, attempting just 19 free throws and making 11.

"I couldn't be more proud of a group of guys that have laid it out on the line for me for 33 games this year," UNCW coach Kevin Keatts said. "We talked about it in the locker room, and one of the things I said to those guys is when we leave this locker room, I want you to hold your head up. I know we're all big-time competitors and we all hate to lose, but the effort that these guys have given me all year long is unbelievable."

@ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.