Duke braces to face familiar foe in Jeremy Roach, Baylor

RALEIGH, N.C. — There should be a familiar feel for top-seeded Duke in its NCAA Tournament second-round game with ninth-seeded Baylor on Sunday afternoon.The Blue Devils will encounter some old friends, adding to their experiences just a half-hour drive from campus.Baylor guard Jeremy Roach was a Duke standout in the backcourt, playing a key role on the team’s 2022 Final Four team. He opted to play his final college season with the Bears.”I coached him for four years, two as an assistant, two as a head coach,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “He’s given Duke everything he has.”Duke (32-3) and Baylor (20-14) won in vastly different fashions in Friday’s first round in the East Region.Baylor held off eighth-seeded Mississippi State in the site’s opener 75-72 before Duke blew out No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary’s 93-49.The Duke game had no drama once it began and star freshman Cooper Flagg was in the starting lineup, back one week after suffering a sprained ankle that caused him to miss all except a few minutes of the Blue Devils’ three-game run through the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. He scored 14 points in more than 22 minutes on the court in the 44-point rout.”I was just making sure he wasn’t pacing,” Scheyer said. “Obviously giving him a few extra minutes, I’m sure that’s going to be helpful for Sunday.”So now all the focus can look ahead to the Baylor game.Scheyer said there’s no sense dwelling on the Roach angle at this time of the season.”You’re playing the NCAA Tournament,” he said. “This should be about Duke and Baylor.”While Duke’s starting lineup consists of four newcomers this season, junior guard Tyrese Proctor and Roach are former backcourt mates.”(Roach is) my boy,” Proctor said. “He’s family and it’s going to be great.”The Bears will try to use Roach’s presence to their advantage.”I’m sure we’re going to pick his brain,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “At the end of the day, though, I know he loves Duke and had a great experience. I know from when our past assistants that we coach against, it’s bittersweet.”

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