Duke puts it all together

NEW YORK – Jared McCain made a 3-pointer 16 seconds into Duke’s second round game of the NCAA tournament against James Madison.

That was all he needed to catch fire — and it wasn’t just a one-man show.

Fourth-seeded Duke steamrolled 12-seed James Madison 93-55 on Sunday at Barclays Center. Duke (26-8) moves on to Dallas and the Sweet 16, where it will face No. 1-seed Houston or No. 9-seed Texas A&M on Friday night.

McCain poured in 30 points, 22 of them in the first half. He made his first six 3s, reminiscent of his explosion at Florida State about a month ago. His eight 3-pointers are the most a Duke player has ever had in an NCAA tournament game; it’s one shy of the most in any game (Shane Battier and JJ Redick share that one).

His hot shooting was only part of Duke’s night. The Blue Devils made 14 of 27 3-pointers, with Tyrese Proctor adding 18 points and four 3s.

There was an injury of note, but more because of what didn’t happen. Jeremy Roach suffered a finger injury on his left hand. He missed a few minutes of the first half, but returned with his ring and pinkie fingers taped together. The fourth-year guard finished with 15 points, 11 of them coming in the second half when Duke closed out JMU (32-4).

There wasn’t all that much to finish off; Duke pushed what was a 22-point halftime lead to 58-29 in the first few minutes of the second half.

Instead of a kill shot — run of 10 or more straight points — this was just a steady drip of Duke distancing itself from the Dukes early. The Blue Devils never trailed and it was a 15-5 lead on McCain’s third 3 of the game, just over five minutes into it.

JMU had two field goals in the first nine minutes; after making two on back-to-back possessions to make it 24-13, went on an 11-4 run to make it 35-17.

JMU’s leading scorer, Terrence Edwards Jr., picked up two fouls in the first two minutes. He went to the bench with Duke leading 5-2; when he came back in the first half, it was 18-9.