Duke vs Cal State Fullerton live observations from NCAA tournament first-round game

Duke begins NCAA tournament play against Big West champion Cal State Fullerton at Bon Secours Wellness Arena just after 7 p.m.

Steve Wiseman, Luke DeCock, Andrew Carter and Alex Zietlow are among the journalists the News and Observer has on site covering the West Region opening-round matchup.

They will provide updates from the scene at the arena throughout the evening.

Fullerton finished second in the Big West regular-season standings, but knocked off regular-season champion Long Beach State, 71-70, in the league tournament final last Saturday to claim the NCAA tournament automatic bid. The Titans are seeded No. 15 in the West Region, which pits them against No. 2-seeded Duke.

Final: Duke defeats Cal State Fullerton, 78-61

The Blue Devils advance to play the winner of Michigan State or Davidson on Sunday. Catch comprehensive postgame coverage at newsobserver.com and charlotteobserver.com.

Duke-Cal State Fullerton photo gallery

Slippery floor concerns Coach K

After seeing players slipping during warmups and during the game, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski opened his post-game press conference making everyone aware it needs to be fixed.

“That damn floor was slippery, I mean, on both ends,” Krzyzewski said. “I don’t know what it was.”

Duke freshman Paolo Banchero slipped on the floor when coming out for warmups, Krzyzewski said. Duke junior guard Wendell Moore fell three times, including twice in the same possession under Duke’s basket in the first half.

“We’ve got to be concerned about that,” Krzyzewski said. “I’m concerned that hopefully nothing serious is with Wendell. Your season’s over because of a slippery floor, that’s not very good.”

Wendell Moore on bike, talking to Duke trainer

Early in the first half, starting Duke guard Wendell Moore pedaled slowly on the exercise bike behind his team’s bench and was in an extended discussion with trainer Jose Fonseca.

Moore took several hard falls in the game’s first half, including two within 10 seconds where he slipped underneath his own basket.

The junior joined the team in the huddle after the first media timeout of the second half and returned to the bench.

He then later returned to the floor with 13:05 remaining in the game.

After the game, Krzyzewski said Moore’s hip was giving him trouble. But Moore said he was confident he’ll be able to play on Sunday in the second round.

“I’m definitely doing better,” Moore said. “Hip is a little tight. Once I got it moving again in the second half, I thought it was definitely okay. I’ll get it checked out later. I’ll be good to go Sunday either way.”

Halftime: Crowd feels biggest of the day, Duke leads by 10

The sparsely filled crowd that the Blue Devils played in front of to open their NCAA tournament run has filled in nicely 20 minutes in.

Duke leads 37-27 at halftime of its first game in the 2022 NCAA tournament. The team has also compelled the largest crowd — per the eye test — Bon Secours has seen on Friday. Fans have filled in the lower and upper bowls nicely.

The No. 2 seed Auburn vs. No. 15 seed Jacksonville State game drew a considerable crowd, too.

A lot of the late arrivals appear to be caused by some delays inside the arena: Even late in the first half, fans were lined up waiting to get inside while venue crews scrambled to clean and make other preparations.

The game still tipped off on time.

Coach K breaks custom, does media timeout interview

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski did his first-ever in-game TV interview with CBS’ Tracy Wolfson during the under-12 television timeout. While Krzyzewski usually deputizes his assistants to do walk-off interviews with ESPN at the end of the half, the NCAA requires coaches to participate — and this year, that includes quick interviews during first-half TV timeouts.

Why did Trevor Keels not start?

Trevor Keels, a regular Duke starter, was not in Friday’s starting lineup and spent the first four minutes riding an exercise bike behind his team’s bench.

The move to bring Keels off the bench was a coaching decision.

By first media timeout, arena still filling out

By the game’s first media timeout — enough time for the Blue Devils to cash in three 3-pointers, two of which coming from freshman Paolo Banchero — fans were still filling in to Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

A swell of Duke fans arrived with about eight minutes before tip-off, the product of endless lines outside after it took longer than expected to evacuate Miami and USC fans and then clean the arena.

There’s no denying Duke has the crowd advantage: The Blue Devils even appear to have a student section about six rows deep in the seating above its bench.

This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 6:54 PM.