No. 1 seed Duke did exactly what they were supposed to do against sixteenth seeded Hampton. They gut up big early and refused to let the Pirates back into the game, and earned an 87-45 win in their second round matchup of the NCAA Tournament.
Duke used a balanced attack to outpace the Pirates, but they were led by the Plumlee brothers. The elder brother Miles had 13 rebounds, while Mason chipped in 12 points. None of the Blue Devil starters scored more than 12, but none scored fewer than eight either.
Because the outcome of the game wasn't really in question, the biggest storyline in this game was the return of Duke freshman Kyrie Irving. He looked just as rusty as you would expect from a freshman in his first game since December early, but came on late to finish with a team high 14 points. If he can get back to anything resembling his prior form before the end of the tournament, it could be a huge boost for their Tournaments chances.
The Blue Devils advance to face Michigan, who destroyed Tennessee in their game today. Despite the one sidedness of Michigan's win, Duke should still be a pretty heavy favorite in that one.
Make sure to check out or main 2011 NCAA Tournament stream for information on all the games, and check out our updated printable bracket which reflects yesterday's action.