BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Jon Scheyer knows better than most the pressure that comes with wearing a Duke uniform. The highs feel higher and the lights are brighter than most.
“When things don’t go your way, you feel worse than you really are,” said the Duke coach and former star guard. “When you lose in the ACC tournament and we lose our last regular season game, it feels like the end of the world — even though that’s what all these guys come back to do and come back for this moment. right here.”
Just a week ago, the Blue Devils were still smarting from a five-point home loss to UNC in the final regular season game and a subsequent five-point loss to UNC in the ACC Tournament. Center Kyle Filipowski said he and his teammates cannot and should not feel entitled to win this time of year just because they are Duke. They have to fight hard and win, just like they did a year ago when they lost to Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
deeper
Marks: Duke needs to get tougher soon
So these Blue Devils advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 93-55 victory over No. 12 seed James Madison in Sunday’s South Region game at Barclays Center. That’s why players like Filipovsky and Tyrese Proctor are returning to school. This feeling is right now.
“This is what you dream about as a kid,” Proctor said.
“We learned from last year’s game. We don’t want to repeat the same mistakes,” Filipovsky said.
Jared Maxim 🕺🕺
🔥 30 burgers, 11 minutes left
🔥 The player with the most 1H points in this tournament
🔥Duke players with most 3-point FGM in NCAA Tournament (8) pic.twitter.com/azdmyZ9b0H
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) March 24, 2024
So fourth-seeded Duke went to James Madison right off the bat and nearly doubled Duke by halftime. Jared McCain became the first freshman to score 30 points and zero turnovers in an NCAA tournament game since the field was expanded to 64 players in 1985. He hit a career-high eight three-pointers. In the first round against Vermont, Filipovsky took just one shot and scored 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 interceptions and 1 block. As a team, it was the cleanest game you could ask for in this environment – the Blue Devils shot over 50% from the field, had 22 assists on 33 field goal attempts, and committed just six turnovers in the game.
“I don’t know if we expected this,” Scheer later admitted.
But he does know his team will be better than it was at the end of the regular season. Players and coaches alike often talk about how humbling this game is. That was true in losses to NC State and UNC (though, as it turns out, those two teams were also in the Sweet 16.)
“The silver lining of (the ACC tournament loss) is that it gives us a week to look at ourselves, look in the mirror,” Scheyer said. “I’m proud of our team for staying on task.”
This work includes one-on-one conversations as well as conversations with the entire team. Scheyer wants to figure out where his players are mentally first before figuring out what went wrong on the field in both losses. The defense was pretty solid, but the offense hurt the defense. How can they improve their connectivity? Their ball movement? How can they learn from two tough losses but not let them define them?
Scheyer said after the game that he felt Sunday was the Blue Devils’ best passing performance of the season. Filipowski said the key to this game was Duke’s defense; JMU scored 14 of its first 17 points on Friday against Wisconsin on turnovers and in transition. The Blue Devils don’t want Duke to do what they do best, so they have to set the tone early and often.
“I know our guys were enthusiastic tonight, too,” Filipovsky said.
No one knows what the future holds for this Duke team, but no one saw this coming. The Blue Devils will now face Houston in the Elite Eight next weekend in Dallas. Yes, the lows were low – but that’s behind them now and the highs are coming.
“You have to be grateful for the bad moments you have,” Schell said. “If you handle them the right way, it puts you in a better position to prepare. I think that’s what happened in the Vermont game and tonight against James Madison.”
(Photo by Jared McCain: Elsa/Getty Images)
