The top-seeded Atlantic Coast Conference champions opened play in the South Regional with a dominating 73-44 victory Friday night over No. 16 seed Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Kyle Singler had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Duke, which never trailed. Scheyer scored 13 and Lance Thomas 12. Nolan Smith added 10 points on a subpar shooting night (3 for 10) for the junior guard.
The Blue Devils advanced to play Sunday at 5:20pm against No. 8 seed California, which beat ninth-seeded Louisville 77-62.
"This was a springboard for us. We were limiting them to one shot and rebounding well," Thomas said. "If we continue doing that we'll beat anybody in the tournament."
The victory gave coach Mike Krzyzewski his 11th 30-win season in three decades at Duke, which has made 10 trips to the Final Four under him, though none since 2006.
The Blue Devils (30-5) played like a team intent on changing that, pressing their overmatched opponents to start the game, building a 39-20 halftime lead and never giving Arkansas-Pine Bluff (18-16) a sense that the SWAC champions might have a chance to win.
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