Duke rocks James Madison in March Madness, advances to NCAA Tournament Sweet 16

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Jared McCain's red-hot shooting from distance catapulted fourth-seeded Duke basketball to a convincing rout of No. 12 James Madison 93-55 in a second-round NCAA Tournament game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Sunday.

McCain drilled six 3s and totaled 22 points over the first half to pour in a game-high 30 points, powering the Blue Devils (26-8) to the wire-to-wire victory and a trip to the Sweet 16 of March Madness. The freshman guard went 10 of 15 from the floor and 8 of 10 on 3-pointers to set a Duke program record for triples in an NCAA Tournament game.

Tyrese Proctor (18 points, five assists, four 3s), Jeremy Roach (15 points, six assists) and Kyle Filipowski (14 points, four assists) also reached double figures for the Blue Devils.

James Madison wraps its season at 32-4. Terrence Edwards, Jr.'s 13 points and T.J. Bickerstaff's 11 points paced the Dukes.

Duke will next travel to Dallas for the Sweet 16. The Blue Devils will play the Round of 32 winner between No. 1 Houston and No. 9 Texas A&M.

FOLLOW THE MADNESS: NCAA tournament brackets, scores, schedules, teams and more.

Here are four observations from Duke's win over James Madison:

Jared McCain catches fire from opening tip for Duke basketball

On the game's first possession, Filipowski saw a double-team arriving in the low post and whipped a pass on the wing to Jared McCain. The freshman buried the triple.

And McCain was just heating up.

McCain canned his first six 3-point attempts to ignite Duke's incredible 47-point barrage in the opening 20 minutes.

McCain sank a 3-pointer in transition for a 24-9 margin at the 12-minute mark. He then launched his deepest shot off a high screen from Ryan Young to push Duke's advantage to its biggest lead of the first half, 47-23, with 2:23 on the clock.

Duke finished the first half 17 of 34 from the field, 8 of 18 on 3-pointers for a 47-25 lead.

Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer gets Kyle Filipowski involved on offense

After Filipowski missed his only field-goal attempt for a season-low three points during Duke's NCAA Tournament opening-round win over Vermont on Friday, coach Jon Scheyer vowed to get the 7-foot sophomore star more shots vs. James Madison.

Scheyer made good on that promise. Filipowski turned in a 4 of 5 effort from the floor for eight points in the first stanza. Filipowski's first two field goals came on two-handed dunks, the latter on a slip pass on the baseline, but the next makes were within the offense.

On back-to-back possessions, Filipowski and Jeremy Roach worked a two-man game, creating space for Filipowski to crash into the lane with his size for makes at the rim.

Duke basketball sets the tone vs physical James Madison

Entering Sunday's game, Duke players and coach drew comparisons of last year's NCAA Tournament second-round loss against Tennessee to James Madison. The Dukes' uptempo style and physical presence were concerns for the Blue Devils.

Duke, though, proved the tougher, more desperate team in its Round of 32 contest vs. James Madison. In the first half, Duke gained a 13-3 advantage in second-chance points and a 21-13 edge on the glass. Duke also took care of the basketball, committing only two first-half turnovers. Because of Duke's limited mistakes, JMU's transition offense never got going.

Jeremy Roach overcomes finger injury in first half

Roach, Duke's senior guard, left the first half briefly following an injury.

Roach hurt his left pinky when he committed a foul in the paint with 13:36 to go before the break. He walked to the Duke bench, slumped in his chair as the team's medical staff attended to him. Roach returned two minutes later, his fingers wrapped.

Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.