GREENSBORO, N.C. - Jon Scheyer scored 15 points to lead six Blue Devils in double figures as sixth-ranked Duke downed Binghamton, 86-62, in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship in front of a crowd 20,001 at the Greensboro Coliseum on Thursday evening.
D.J. Rivera led the way with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting for the 15th-seeded Bearcats, who conclude their historic season with a school-record tying 23 victories, an America East regular-season and tournament title and the program's first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament in 63 seasons of basketball.
Duke (29-6), the No. 2 seed in the East, used a 14-3 early first-half run to jump out to a 27-12 lead midway through the period. Nolan smith, who had 13 for Duke, scored 7 of his 13 during the spurt.
Binghamton (23-9) countered with 19 of the game's next 29 points to close the margin to seven. Brandon Herbert drained one of his two 3-pointers to make the score 38-31 with 3:40 left in half.
The Blue Devils, who took a 45-34 into the locker room, opened the second half on a 17-2 to put the contest away. Scheyer had two key threes in that stretch and Lance Thomas, who finished with 14 points on perfect 5-of-5 shooting, capped the run with a two-handed slam.
Rivera, the Most Outstanding Player at the America East Championship, scored 13 of his 20 in the second half. Emanuel Mayben added 13 points and seven assists while Reggie Fuller had 12 in the final game of his career.
Gerald Williams (13 points), Elliot Williams (11) and Kyle Singler (10) were the other players in twin digits for the Blue Devils, who stopped Binghamton's 11-game win streak en route to earning a second-round tilt with Texas Saturday.