Marvin Bagley III Brilliant as Duke Cruises Past Iona in 2018 NCAA Tournament

The No. 2 Duke Blue Devils bulldozed their way into the second round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament Thursday with an 89-67 opening-round win over the 15th-seeded Iona Gaels.

Freshman forward Marvin Bagley III led Duke with a game-high 22 points and added seven rebounds at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

Marvin Bagley III Game Highlights

Also, freshman guard Trevon Duval had 19 points and eight assists, while senior Grayson Allen added 16 points, nine dimes and four boards.

The Blue Devils were balanced offensively, as all five starters scored at least nine points, and four players scored 16 or more.

Iona had a decent offensive performance with a field-goal percentage of 43.3 percent, but it couldn't hang with a Duke squad that shot 53.7 percent from the field and 43.3 percent from three-point range.

By virtue of their win, the Blue Devils will face the seventh-seeded Rhode Island Rams in the second round Saturday.

Duke was never in danger, but Iona did manage to keep things close in the early going as it trailed by just three points nine minutes into the contest.

The Blue Devils started to pull away after that due largely to Bagley's play.

Duval was also feeling it early, and he made three trifectas in just over seven minutes. He ended up with four made three-pointers, which represented a career high.

Hank Tucker of the Duke Chronicle pointed out that Duval could be a key figure for Duke in the tournament:

The Blue Devils starting five contributed in a big way Thursday, though the team only received seven bench points.

Duke especially excelled on the boards by out-rebounding Iona 39-29.

As Shawn Krest of RaleighCo.com pointed out, Duke had a massive physical advantage that allowed it to clean the glass effectively:

Duke had a comfortable 50-39 lead in the first half's waning seconds, but Allen ensured that it would enter the locker room with momentum, as he nailed a three at the halftime buzzer:

Grayson Allen hits the shot with time ticking down

The Blue Devils carried their good form into the second half, with Bagley throwing down a dunk after just 12 seconds:

Marvin Bagley rises up and throws it down

Per Duke men's basketball stats, Bagley set a single-season dunks record for the Blue Devils on Thursday:

"

Marvin Bagley III has three dunks for Duke today. His 88 this season are a Duke single-season record (previous: 87 by Mason Plumlee 2013). #DukeMBBStats

— #DukeMBBStats (@DukeMBBStats) March 15, 2018"

Iona was overmatched in most areas, but it mostly struggled with Bagley since it didn't have the size or strength needed inside to contend with the 6'11", 234-pound big man.

Ben Swain of WRAL joked that Bagley may not be long for college basketball, considering his dominance against Iona:

Duke found itself on cruise control for much of the second half, and while it didn't shoot the ball nearly as well as it did in the first frame, it did plenty to leave the floor with a convincing win.

The Blue Devils did what they were supposed to do, but there were some encouraging signs that could bode well for their national championship chances.

Bagley and Allen are always expected to put up big numbers; however, Duval has been something of a wild card.

He is fifth on the team in scoring this season, but he was Duke's No. 2 scorer Thursday, and his eight assists were above his season average of 5.5.

Provided Duval continues to play at that level, Mike Krzyzewski's team should be able to move past Rhode Island in the second round and make some noise as a title contender.