Duke immediately removed any doubt. There would be no upset in the 5-12 matchup in Orlando.

The Blue Devils used a 15-0 run to open the first half and a 10-0 spurt to begin the second half to turn their first-round matchup with Oral Roberts into a romp. Behind a game-high 23 from Jeremy Roach, Duke ran away for a 74-51 victory to move on to the second round.

The victory was the 10th in a row for Duke (27-8), which will face either No. 4 seed Tennessee or No. 13 seed Louisiana on Saturday. The 12th-seeded Golden Eagles (30-5) entered the game with their own winning streak — 17 games, the nation’s best. They hadn’t lost since Jan. 9. But they were unable to withstand the opening flurry from the ACC champion Blue Devils, who led 40-23 at the half and went up by as many as 27 points after just 4 minutes of play in the second half.

Roach had 7 points in the opening run, knocking down a triple and getting himself to the free throw line. A triple from freshman Dariq Whitehead with 7:35 to play put Duke up 28-10. Four more points from Roach late in the half pushed the lead to as many as 20 before the break.

It was Roach again to start the second half, scoring 6 of the Blue Devils’ first 12 points in the half.

After going for a career-high 23 points in the ACC Tournament title game win over Virginia, Roach has put up at least 20 in 3 of his last 6 outings.

With guard play a differentiator come tournament time, Duke has to be feeling great about its chances as its lead guard starts to take over once again. Roach was a catalyst for the Blue Devils last year at this time, and he appears to be finding that extra gear yet again as postseason play gets rolling. He was the best player on the floor Thursday night.

Duke shot 48% from the field and finished with 13 assists against just 8 turnovers. It also held an Oral Roberts team to 30% shooting — nearly 18 percentage points below its season average.