GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Duke got two tests to open its run as the No. 1 overall seed in March Madness. The Blue Devils responded both times, the latter coming when they got their defense and star freshman Cameron Boozer rolling after halftime.

Boozer shook off a quiet first half to finish with 19 points and Duke shot 61.5% after halftime Saturday to pull away from TCU for an 81-58 win in a physical second-round game at the NCAA Tournament.

The forward voted a unanimous first-team Associated Press All-American earlier this week had just two points and missed his only shot in the first half. But he scored three times during the 11-0 second-half burst — twice on high-low feeds from fellow big Patrick Ngongba II in his return to the lineup — as Duke (34-2) finally shook free of the ninth-seeded Horned Frogs (23-12).

“They did a great job swarming the point, protecting the rim,” Boozer said. “So I just didn’t have a lot of looks really. Second half we figured out some things that got me going downhill, got some high-lows.”

That 11-0 run was the capper on a 26-6 surge that spanned nearly nine minutes, with TCU missing 15 of 17 shots after Jayden Pierre’s layup tied it at 44-all with 13:56 left. TCU shot just 10 for 38 after halftime and 33.3% for the game, while Duke finished with a 42-25 rebounding advantage.

“I thought the defense in the second half was big time,” coach Jon Scheyer said. “We found it, and really that’s what willed us.”

The Blue Devils opened the tournament with an uncharacteristically shaky performance that had them flirting with only the third 16-versus-1 upset against Siena. Now they’re off to the Sweet 16 for the third straight season, earning a trip to the nation’s capital to face the St. John’s-Kansas winner Friday.

Micah Robinson scored 18 points for TCU, which beat eighth-seeded Ohio State on Xavier Edmonds’ basket in the final seconds of the first round. But the Horned Frogs couldn’t sustain a quality first 25 minutes after taking a 40-38 lead on Robinson’s jumper with 16:15 left.

TCU was playing in its fourth tournament in five years under Jamie Dixon, but the Horned Frogs fell short of a chance to reach the second weekend of the tournament for the first time in the modern era since expansion to 64 teams in 1985.

“Had the lead, got away from us,” Dixon said. “We certainly had some challenges with it, but I’m proud of our guys.”

Flagrant fouls

The game had four flagrant fouls on a day that had players repeatedly getting arms tangled and tussling through contact.

First there was TCU’s David Punch taking an elbow on Boozer’s first-half drive and coming up with a bloody nose. Punch came to the bench with holding his nose with blood pouring between his fingers, and officials later assessed Boozer with a flagrant-1 foul on review.

Early in the second half, TCU’s Tanner Toolson was called for a flagrant-1 after a review on Boozer when he went airborne to block his shot, landed on Boozer then grabbed him as he flipped over toward the floor.

And there was a late double-flagrant foul when Ngongba and Edmonds ended up tangled and fell to the floor.

Dixon’s tech

Dixon also picked up a second-half technical foul after officials didn’t call goaltending when Duke’s Maliq Brown blocked Toolson from behind. Dixon appeared to be complaining in frustration to officials when he was whistled at the 8:57 mark and Duke leading 59-50.

“I didn’t get set off. I had a conversation with them,” Dixon said. “There was no raising the voice. There was conversation, as he had asked for. What are you going to do? Obviously we know what it was. Everybody knows what it was.

“What can you say?” Dixon continued. “It’s a big play, big play. Then you compound it. I didn’t cuss. I didn’t say anything bad. Had a conversation with him. It’s a huge impact on the game.”

Up next

One thing is certain: The Blue Devils will face a Hall of Fame coach and national title winner in the regional semifinals. The fourth-seeded Jayhawks, led by Bill Self, meet the fifth-seeded Red Storm led by Rick Pitino on Sunday.

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Texas goes from First Four to Sweet 16, beating Gonzaga 74-68

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Jordan Pope and Matas Vokieaitis each scored 17 points, Camden Heide hit a game-sealing 3-pointer and Texas became the first team in five years to go from the NCAA Tournament’s First Four to the Sweet 16, beating Gonzaga 74-68 on Saturday.

First-year coach Sean Miller’s 11th-seeded Longhorns (21-14), who lost five of six entering the tournament and looked underwhelming in their First Four win over N.C. State, will face either No. 2 seed Purdue or No. 7 seed Miami on Thursday in the West Region semifinals San Jose, California.

The last First Four team to reach the Sweet 16 was UCLA, which made it all the way to the Final Four in 2021.

Graham Ike led third-seeded Gonzaga (31-4) with 25 points, but the Bulldogs struggled to generate much secondary scoring.

Coach Mark Few’s team bowed out in the second round for the second straight year after reaching the Sweet 16 in nine consecutive tournaments, a run that included two losses in the national title game.

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Sharp, Cenac lead No. 2 seed Houston into the Sweet 16, 88-57 over Texas A&M

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Emanuel Sharp scored 18 points, Chris Cenac Jr. had 17 points and nine rebounds, and seed Houston rolled past Texas A&M 88-57 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday to reach the Sweet 16 for the seventh consecutive year.

Milos Uzan added 15 points for the Cougars (30-6), the No. 2 seed in the South Region. Houston will play in its home city on Thursday against either No. 3 seed Illinois or No. 11 seed VCU, and coach Kelvin Sampson’s squad — which lost in the national title game to Florida last year — again looks like an opponent nobody wants to play.

Josh Holloway scored 12 points in a reserve role for Texas A&M. The 10th-seeded Aggies (22-12), who beat St. Mary’s in the first round, struggled against Houston’s aggressive interior defense. The Cougars won the rebounding battle 46-29, had 19 offensive boards and blocked seven shots.

Holloway kept the Aggies close in the first half with a pair of 3-pointers. His second, with 9:21 left, cut the deficit to 23-19. But Houston, behind 14 points from Sharp and 10 from Cenac, outscored the Aggies 23-9 after that for a 46-28 lead at the break.

The Cougars, who made 30 of 68 shots (44%), extended their advantage to 67-39 on a 3-pointer by Milos Uzan with 11:17 left.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness