Duke freshman Jared McCain cans 8 3s, sets team mark in win

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Freshman guard Jared McCain knew the kind of hot shooting that helped him set the Duke team record for 3-pointers in a men's NCAA tournament game was coming. It was “due”.

McCain hit eight from behind the arc in Sunday's 93-55 demolition of James Madison at Barclays Center. He made his first six 3-point attempts and finished with 30 points, just days after coming so close to a breakout performance in Friday's win over Vermont.

Three of McCain's attempts in this contest were halfway before falling apart. They had the standout freshman smiling at the rim, knowing it was only a matter of time. The time came for the second round two days later.

“Yeah, I was talking to my family, when these shots come in and out [like Friday night]I know I had to do a little more the other night, and [Sunday] It was that night,” McCain said. “Yeah, when I see a few come in now, I smile at the rim because I know the rim just wants to give me some marks back, and that's arrived [Sunday]”.

McCain broke the previous Duke record of seven 3-pointers in an NCAA tournament by Quinn Cook in 2014. He did so despite missing the final seven minutes of the blowout.

Overall, McCain went 8 of 11 from beyond the arc. Duke was 14 of 28 from 3 as a team and hopes to continue that hot shooting into the Sweet 16.

“It helps to have a guy like Jared McCain,” coach Jon Scheyer said. “He broke Duke's record today by 3 seconds in the NCAA tournament. We've had some really good shooters here, so to break that record with eight, I'm sure he's mad at me for that. 'getting out early. He's going to be mad at me. He wanted to be in there more often. But he obviously had a really good way of talking to him.

It started from the jump, when McCain hit a 3-pointer from the left side on the opening possession. The Blue Devils (26-8) were never behind.

After McCain's sixth 3-pointer without a miss, he was clearly in the zone. After that statement, he offered what looked like a shrug to Michael Jordan. Not that he remembers.

“I don’t know what I did there, to be honest with you,” he said. “I think so, I'm pretty sure that's what I hit. Yeah, I don't know what I was doing. I wasn't really conscious there.”

This is not a performance that came out of nowhere. McCain, one of the nation's top freshmen, dropped 35 points in a February game against Wake Forest.

He scored 15 in the first-round win over Vermont and knew it could have been so much more.

“Yes, it's the best feeling in the world when you know that the work you put in shows on the field, especially in such an important match like this, going to the Sweet 16,” he said. he declares. “For these types of games, you just want to win and I want to do everything I can to win, and [Sunday] if it's making shots, making 3s, whatever it is, I'm just grateful to have the opportunity to go to the Sweet 16.”

Fourth-seeded Duke will face the winner of Houston (1)-Texas A&M (9) in the next round.

McCain's eight 3-pointers are tied for the second-most in a game by a freshman in NCAA Tournament history. It was the most since Kentucky's Eric Bledsoe hit eight 3s in 2010.

This hot shot did not really surprise James Madison (32-4). The Dukes knew what McCain could do.

“We knew he was a great shooter,” coach Mark Byington said. “It wasn't a surprise. It was easier to know where he was when it was in the half-court action, but when they got the rebounds and putbacks, we couldn't. find him in transition. We didn't find him.

“He got off to a good start and put us behind and then we started to compound our mistakes with the quality of his play.”