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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Now that the scrimmage is done, the Duke Blue Devils can get on with their NCAA tournament life.

The third-ranked Blue Devils picked up their 30th win of the season with a dominating 73-44 victory against overmatched Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the first round of the tournament Friday night at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.

The Blue Devils (30-5), the top seed in the South Region used a business-like first half and a steady second half to dispose of the 16th-seeded Golden Lions (18-16) to earn a spot in Sunday's second round against either Louisville or California.

"It was a workman-like performance for our team," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We're more talented than they are, but we played hard the whole game."

Junior Kyle Singler led Duke with 22 points as four Blue Devils scored in double figures. Guard Jon Scheyer, who was 3-for-5 on 3-point attempts, had 13, Lance Thomas 12 and Nolan Smith 10. Singler also had 10 rebounds as the Blue Devils dominated on the boards by a 41-24 advantage.

The Lions were making their first-ever appearance in the tournament and played like it early. Duke led by 14 points less than 10 minutes into the game and stretched the margin to 19 twice in the first half including a 39-20 lead at the break.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff helped the Blue Devils along by shooting a mere 25 percent from the floor, committing nine turnovers and 13 fouls in the first 20 minutes which led to Duke scoring 15 of its 39 first-half points from the free-throw line.

"Defense was the key to the first half for us to set a tone," Scheyer said.

Duke kept the pressure on in the second half outscoring the Golden Lions 34-24 and Krzyzewski liked what he saw.

"I thought we handled both halves very well," he said. "We knew they would be looser in the second half because we had a 19-point lead. I thought we played offense better in the second half. It wasn't a sloppy game."

In fact, the Blue Devils shot better than 56 percent from the field in the second half and wound up at 51.1 percent for the game.

"This was a springboard for us," Thomas, a senior, said. "We were limiting them to one shot and rebounding well. If we continue doing that we'll beat anybody in the tournament."

Arkansas-Pine Buff coach George Ivory said he thought his players, who were led by guard Tavaris Washington's nine points, were tight to start the game.

"I think they got a little nervous," he said. "Sometimes you play not to lose and we were trying to not make mistakes."

He said he also was a bit surprised by what he thought was excessive aggressiveness on Duke's behalf.

The Blue Devils ended the game 19-of-28 from the free-throw line while Arkansas-Pine Bluff was 6-of-7.

"I can't say much about it, but when one team shoots 28 free throws and the other seven, that's a big difference," he said.

The 30-win season is Duke's second consecutive and 11th in history.

"It's nice to have," Krzyzewski said. "That's a lot of wins. But the best thing is to have 31 and moving on."

ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF (18-16) — Davis 1-5 0-0 2, Weathers 3-9 0-0 7, Calvin 2-5 3-3 7, Smith 3-9 0-0 7, Washington 4-7 1-2 9, Moore 0-3 0-0 0, Ootesey 1-3 0-0 3, Collins 0-0 0-0 0, Townsend 2-5 0-0 5, Lasker 0-0 0-0 0, Montgomery 0-1 2-2 2, Barnett 0-1 0-0 0, Kennedy 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 17-53 6-7 44.

DUKE (30-5) — Singler 7-12 5-6 22, Thomas 4-6 4-6 12, Zoubek 3-4 1-2 7, Smith 3-10 4-4 10, Scheyer 4-7 2-2 13, Ma.Plumlee 0-1 2-4 2, Dawkins 0-1 1-2 1, Mi.Plumlee 3-6 0-2 6, Kelly 0-0 0-0 0, Davidson 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-47 19-28 73.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff 20 24 — 44
Duke 39 34 — 73

Percentages—Ark.-Pine Bluff (FG .321, FT .857), Duke (FG .511, FT .679)

3-point goals—Ark.-Pine Bluff 4-19 (Ootesey 1-2, Smith 1-3, Townsend 1-3, Weathers 1-4, Davis 0-1, Kennedy 0-2, Moore 0-2, Washington 0-2), Duke 6-13 (Scheyer 3-5, Singler 3-5, Dawkins 0-1, Smith 0-2).

Fouled out—Dawkins.

Rebounds—Ark.-Pine Bluff 24 (Davis 5), Duke 41 (Singler 10).

Assists—Ark.-Pine Bluff 8 (Calvin, Kennedy, Washington 2), Duke 12 (Smith 5).

Blocked shots—Ark.-Pine Bluff 4 (Weathers 2), Duke 4 (Ma.Plumlee 3).

Turnovers—Ark.-Pine Bluff 16 (Calvin 5, Washington 4, Kennedy 3), Duke 14 (Dawkins 3, Thomas 2, Scheyer 2, Zoubek 2, Singler 2).

Steals—Ark.-Pine Bluff 7 (Washington 3, Townsend 2), Duke 5 (Smith 2).

Total fouls—Ark.-Pine Bluff 19, Duke 12.

A—na.

Officials—Mike Littlewood, John Hughes, D.J. Carstensen.