Duke's Cooper Kupp returned to action in time for the NCAA Tournament on Friday. (AP photo)

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Cooper Flagg had long watched March Madness and imagined being a part of it.

A sprained ankle suffered last week wasn’t about to delay that dream for Duke’s freshman star.

“I mean, this is something that I’ve dreamed about since I was 6, 7 years old, watching every single year with my family, my friends,” Flagg said.

In other words, there was no way he was going to sit out the top-seeded Blue Devils’ 93-49 first-round romp against 16-seed Mount St. Mary’s on Friday, short of being on crutches, in a cast or unable to even stand on that left ankle. He had missed the past two games with the injury suffered during the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament but looked comfortable and unbothered in his NCAA Tournament debut.

Flagg finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks in 22 minutes of work, finishing a team-best plus-31 before getting an early end to the workday with victory in hand.

“Honestly for me, after watching the whole ACC Tournament, it was more of just like a plan to just be ready for this game, and we just put a plan in place,” Flagg said. “We have phases, a strategy of just getting back, getting prepared, and being ready.”

The 6-foot-9 Flagg is a potential No. 1 overall NBA draft pick and was selected unanimously as an Associated Press first-team All-American, blessed with an all-around game that can make him a game-changing threat as a scorer and playmaker.

All at the age of 18.

And the Blue Devils need him if they want to make good on a season-long quest to win their sixth national championship. So even though the Blue Devils were likely set for a blowout against an overmatched foe, there was still a lot riding on what Flagg could do on the court.

The good news for Duke was that Flagg — greeted by loud cheers and a call of “Cooooooooop!” during introductions — provided quick answers.

His first basket came when he took a feed from Tyrese Proctor and banked it in on a drive while being fouled by Xavier Lipscomb, sending Flagg to the floor flat on his back. He landed with his fists clenched and his arms in a light flex that has become a go-to celebration move, then nodded as though getting the contact had welcomed him to the fight less than two minutes into the game.

Minutes later, he made a backdoor cut to take Patrick Ngongba’s feed for a dunk.

“I though he looked pretty good,” freshman teammate Kon Knueppel said. “He was sharp.”

Flagg’s every move was watched closely by home-state fans, his teammates and coach Jon Scheyer.

“The biggest thing for me was him not pacing, I didn’t want him to pace,” Scheyer said. “Then obviously making sure he was moving, where he wasn’t off-balance of favoring one leg or the other.”

Flagg checked out for the final time at the 10:53 mark with Duke up 32, then spent the final minutes hopping around, laughing and cheering on the reserves getting mop-up duty to close this one out.

“We were ready for him to play more,” Scheyer said. “But I think the way it worked out obviously was really good.”

Flagg got hurt when he rolled his ankle after having his foot clip the foot of a Georgia Tech player as he came down for a rebound in the ACC quarterfinals last Thursday. Flagg watched from the bench the rest of the tournament alongside versatile defender Maliq Brown, who went down with a shoulder injury moments before Flagg’s injury.

Still, Flagg was healthy enough to climb the ladder and snip a piece of net after Duke’s title win last weekend.

Scheyer said Flagg had spent time in a swimming pool using an underwater treadmill in the days after the injury. Flagg had said Thursday he was ready to go after building up more activity, which included returning to full practice Wednesday.

That’s why Flagg’s anxiousness Friday had nothing to do with his ankle.

“I didn’t have any doubts in my ankle at all,” he said. “But I definitely had some jitters. Like I said, this is something I’ve dreamed about since I was a little kid.”

FLORIDA 95, NORFOLK STATE 69

First-team All-American Walter Clayton Jr. scored 23 points and Florida defeated Norfolk State ensuring all four No. 1 seeds made it out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament unscathed.

Alijah Martin added 17 points for the Southeastern Conference champions, who built a 32-point lead in the first half en route to their seventh straight win. This one set up a potential second-round showdown with two-time defending national champion UConn, should the No. 8 seed Huskies get past ninth-seeded Oklahoma.

Christian Ings scored 16 points and Jaylani Darden added 15 for 16th-seeded Norfolk State (24-11).

This one was over early as Clayton knocked down a 3 and was fouled for a four-point play, giving the Gators (31-4) a double-digit lead five minutes into the game that they would never relinquish. The lead ballooned to 53-21 with four minutes left in the first half, even as Clayton took an occasional breather on the bench.

Norfolk State showed some life by closing the first half on an 11-0 run sparked by Ings, but the Spartans never made it close.

UCONN 67, OKLAHOMA 59

UConn’s improbable bid for a third straight national title continued when Alex Karaban came through with a critical 3-pointer and a floater in the lane during a late run that helped the Huskies hold off Oklahoma.

Karaban had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Huskies (24-10), the No. 8 in seed in the West Region who extended their March Madness winning streak to 13 games, tied with Duke from 1991-93 for the second-longest without missing a tournament.

Karaban’s 3 on the catch from the right wing at the 3:40 mark gave UConn a four-point lead, and he followed with the floater at the 2:18 mark that pushed UConn ahead 64-58.

Solo Ball scored 14 points to help coach Dan Hurley’s Huskies advance to face top region seed Florida, a popular pick both to end UConn’s run and win the national title.

Freshman Jeremiah Fears had 20 points to lead the ninth-seeded Sooners (20-14), who shot 32.1% and made 3 of 17 3-pointers. Oklahoma managed just one field goal over the last 6 minutes.

MICHIGAN STATE 87, BRYANT 62

Coen Carr had 18 points and nine rebounds, and second-seeded Michigan State rolled over No. 15 seed and America East champion Bryant.

Jase Richardson added 15 points for coach Tom Izzo’s Spartans (28-6), who trailed for most of the first 15 minutes before taking control.

Michigan State, which has one of the deepest squads in the 68-team field, had five players score in double figures.

Michigan State will face 10th-seeded New Mexico on Sunday in the second round of the South Region. The Lobos advanced with a 75-66 victory over Marquette.

Rafael Pinzon led Bryant (23-12) with 21 points and Earl Timberlake scored 14.

The Bulldogs scored the game’s first five points and stuck with the Spartans for most of the first half. Keyshawn Mitchell’s 3-pointer put the Bulldogs up 24-21 before Michigan State responded with a 10-0 run. Carr had the first five points in the burst and scored 15 points in the first half.