Quotes & Notes - February 18
at Florida State
After every game I always watch the press conference, read the quotes, and study the box score. Quotes & Notes is my wrap-up of Duke’s most recent game(s).
Quotes
“This was a great step for our team. To be able to get this win without Tyrese [Proctor], who is clearly a key part to this team, has been from the beginning of the year – a lot of guys stepped up. I know we’re going to talk a lot about Jared [McCain], as we should, but I thought Jaylen Blakes and Sean Stewart, the minutes they gave us – it’s not going to show up in a box score but it came at critical times. Florida State just keeps coming at you. The minutes they played, I just thought was huge. Sean, in the second half, what he did. He got a few loose balls, those were critical. Caleb Foster, for a freshman to handle the ball for 34 minutes and have three assists and one turnover, again you’re not going to necessarily see it in the box score but it was key to the win today what those three guys did. And then Jared, it was a special performance. I’ve been lucky, in my 15 years but especially as a coach for 11, to see a lot of special performances by any player, but especially freshmen, and that was up there with any of them. It really was. For me, it was his grit. His will. His determination to win was special. So, I’m really proud of this win. Proud of our team, stepping up a little bit under-manned. We need to keep on building from here.”
- Coach Scheyer on the Florida State game
“I think we were just tough. We were really tough throughout. We weren’t perfect, and very rarely can you be perfect on the road. Especially here. You have to be able to turn the page quickly when you make a mistake, when they turn you over, because you’re not going to walk out of here with zero turnovers. It’s not going to happen. There were a couple of key plays, that’s why I mentioned Jaylen and Sean, because they got loose balls for us. Our guys were all over the floor. To outrebound them by nine and have 15 offensive rebounds, I think that’s a big step and something we need to learn from.”
- Coach Scheyer on winning loose balls and rebounds
“Every single game I feel like I can come out and make every shot. It’s just the confidence I have in myself and my work ethic. When I saw the first one go in, I’m just going to keep shooting. And they happened to go in. As a shooter, your confidence stays up, even if you miss or you make, so I’m going to keep shooting. And they happened to go in today.”
- Jared McCain on when he knew he was going to have a big game
Stats
With 10 assists to 17 turnovers (0.59 ratio), it was only Duke’s third game of the season with an assist-to-turnover rate of less than 1.00. Credit Florida State’s switching defense and active hands for making it difficult for the Blue Devils to run their offense. The Seminoles made 7 of their first 8 field goal attempts for an early 16-11 lead, but would only score 51 points for the remaining 35:04. Duke outscored FSU 13-5 in second chance points, while grabbing 13 offensive rebounds after halftime. Duke’s 10 of 16 performance from three-point range, including 7 of 8 for Jared McCain in the first half, helped offset Florida State’s +14 margin in points in the paint. McCain finished with 35 points, matching Zion Williamson’s record for points in a game by a Duke freshman.
Notes
In Case You Missed It: The Duke Baseball team opened their season this weekend. The Blue Devils defeated Indiana 6-3 on Friday, before exploding Saturday with 11 home runs in a 23-5 win over George Mason. In their final game of the weekend, Duke takes on host Coastal Carolina this afternoon at 3 pm. But the best thing from college baseball’s opening weekend was East Carolina’s Parker Byrd, who competed with a prosthetic leg less than two years after his right leg was amputated following a boating accident. Byrd pinch-hit in the eighth inning Friday, drawing a walk in the Pirates’ season opener.
Next Play: Wednesday Feb 21 | 7:00 pm ESPN | Duke travels to Coral Gables to take on Miami.
Thanks for reading, Go Duke!
Sources