Here’s what you need to know about Troy, Duke’s first NCAA opponent

For Duke, it’s unlikely but definitely possible.

Anyone can lose in the madness of the NCAA tournament’s opening round, including the No. 2-seeded Blue Devils.

They’ll head to Greenville, S.C., Friday to take on No. 15 Troy, the Sun Belt Conference champion. The game will tip at 7:20 p.m.

The two times Duke lost in its opening rounds both happened in North Carolina, where it is 34-6 in the tournament. First in 2012 with a 75-70 loss to No. 15 Lehigh, and then in 2014 with a 78-71 defeat by No. 14 Mercer.

Both Blue Devils teams were highlighted by one-and-dones who were expected to carry Duke deep into the postseason.

Sound familiar?

Jabari Parker became the No. 2 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft; Austin Rivers was taken at No. 10 overall in 2012.

Duke, now laced with star freshmen who are getting hot at the right time, starts its 41st tournament with Troy, a small university in southeast Alabama.

The Blue Devils have never before played the Trojans, whose only other NCAA tournament appearance was in 2003, when they lost, 71-59, to Xavier in the first round – in a bracket claimed by another notable one-and-done frosh: Syracuse’s Carmelo Anthony.

So, who are the Troy Trojans?

The Sun Belt Conference champions

Like Duke, Troy had to win four games to claim its league tournament title, but it had a day of rest sandwiched between the first and second game. The Trojans knocked off regular-season champion Texas State in the final, leading by one point with less than 2 minutes remaining before pulling off a 59-53 victory.

Its last league championship was also in 2003.

A team that has turned things around

Last season, Troy was 9-22 and won just four conference games.

This season, the Trojans have flipped that into 22 wins. They have also gone 7-0 at neutral sites, a good thing as they are about to face Duke at Bon Secours Wellness Arena for the first time.

The home of Wesley Person Jr.

The son of Wesley Person Sr., a first-round pick in the 1994 NBA Draft, Person is in his junior season at Troy, and he is quite the three-point scorer. The 6-3 junior guard entered this year with an NCAA-best 60 consecutive games with a 3-pointer. He’s made 92 on the season, and shoots 40 percent from deep while averaging 3.1 treys a game.

Person will be up against a Duke three-point defense that has allowed 29.5 percent.

This story was originally published March 17, 2017 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Here’s what you need to know about Troy, Duke’s first NCAA opponent."