Quotes & Notes - March 21
Oral Roberts, Tennessee
After every game I do three things: watch the press conference, read the quotes, and study the box score. Quotes & Notes is my wrap-up of the most recent games of the Duke season, including postgame quotes, stats, and other thoughts.
Quotes
“Well, one, I thought it was a great win for us. Oral Roberts, they haven't lost in a long time. They're going in, these guys probably got sick of us watching so much film. They're so explosive. I thought our defense really set the tone for us today, the job we did.…I thought we had some key responses when they made their run, which you knew they were going to make at some time. So really proud of the effort, proud of these guys right here. They did a great job. Five of them, it was their first NCAA Tournament game. You really couldn't tell, and I think that's a credit to them and their competitiveness and their ability to rise to the occasion.”
- Coach Scheyer on the win against Oral Roberts
“Well, one, congratulations to Tennessee. They played an outstanding game. They're incredibly well-coached. They're tough. They've been through it before. They made some big-time plays. I'm incredibly proud of our team. We've had really a great season, and it's hard to reflect on all of that right now in the moment. I'm hurting for these guys. They've given us everything you could ask for. They've fought through adversity. They've stuck together when things weren't looking as good and came into this game one of the hottest teams in the country, and we felt like we were supposed to win this game, as did they. Really felt like a Sweet 16, Elite 8 game type of game. They're really good, and credit them, they shoot almost 50% from three, and Nkamhoua has one of his best games, maybe his best game ever, and you've got to tip your hat to him. But really proud of our team and what we've done. It hurts. It stings. It's going to be that way for a while. But really proud of our guys...”
- Coach Scheyer on the loss to Tennessee
Stats
Duke’s loss to Tennessee was highlighted by several stats in favor of the Volunteers. Tennessee’s 18 points off 15 Duke turnovers were one main factor in the outcome, with 12 of those points coming in the first half. The Vols outrebounded Duke 35-30, including a 12-6 advantage on the offensive glass, which led to a +7 margin in second chance points (Tennessee 12 Duke 5). Tennessee was efficient from 3-point range at 1.29 points-per-shot, the second highest output for a Duke opponent all season (at Virginia Tech 1.58). The -15 in “line” points (3-pt + FT) was the second largest deficit in that category for Duke all season (-19 vs. Purdue). When you combine it all, and include Olivier Nkamhoua’s 23 second half points on 8-10 from the field, Tennessee was the better and deeper team, with 9 guys playing double-figure minutes for the Vols. On another day, the game may have looked differently, but that is both the beauty and agony of the NCAA Tournament - shake hands, credit your opponent, and keep your head high.
Notes
While I have focused on the Tennessee game, I don’t want to skip over the Oral Roberts match-up. ORU came into the game against Duke with a 30-4 record and a 17-game winning streak dating back to January 9th. The guys should be extremely proud of their performance against the veteran Golden Eagles, who started four seniors and a junior before bringing in two more seniors off their bench. Duke’s defense continued to be strong, holding Oral Roberts to just 51 points compared to their season average of 84.3 ppg. As they showed a couple of years ago, Oral Roberts is good enough to win multiple NCAA games, and credit the Blue Devils for their preparation and execution while facing a difficult first round opponent.
Regarding Mark Mitchell’s injury that prevented him from playing Saturday, I’ll just say a couple of things. One, I feel terrible for Mark and the entire team. It was obviously unfortunate timing - until Saturday, he had started every game this season. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I’ve seen a couple of ideas circulating that I want to push back on. Questioning Mark’s toughness and/or the decision not to “give it a go” is a flat-out awful take. I could elaborate more, but I’d have to start using four-letter words, so I’m going to refrain for now. I’m certain Mark wanted to be out there and I’m certain his teammates wanted him out there - same with the injuries to other guys throughout the season. Players want to play. Also, people who think Mark’s absence was not a big deal because he “only” averages 9 points and 4.5 rebounds, obviously don’t watch basketball - a box score cannot fully illustrate his versatility and contribution on both ends of the floor. Two, there is no way to know how the game would have been different with Duke’s regular lineup and rotation. Of course, Tennessee has been without their starting point guard Zakai Zeigler since February 28th, so we don’t know how the game would have been different with him available either. However, I think it’s also fair to say that there is a difference between game planning without a player for a couple of weeks and learning that a player is unavailable during warm-ups. Injury is not an excuse for the outcome of any game and no one can definitively say what would have happened otherwise. As I’ve said all year, more than one thing can be true. Tennessee was terrific and still would have been an incredibly tough opponent at full strength. Duke lost a starter shortly before tip-off of an NCAA Tournament game, which is incredibly difficult to overcome.
After Duke’s NCAA loss in 2019, I remember Coach K saying something to the effect of “we are disappointed, but our season was not a disappointment.” I love that perspective and, although I’m sure the loss will sting for a while, I hope the guys don’t feel like this season was a disappointment - it wasn’t for me as a fan. I loved watching this team grow and stick together through adversity. I plan to do a season wrap-up soon but, in the meantime, just want to say how proud I was to pull for the ACC Champions all year.
Thanks for reading, Go Duke!
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