Duke basketball defeated North Carolina on Saturday. Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer is revealing the short but interesting message he gave his team at halftime. Duke nearly blew a double-digit lead to go into the break up by just one point.
“This is great,” Scheyer said to his team at the half, per ESPN.
Scheyer said that he said that because he wanted to see his team face adversity. Duke basketball has blown out several teams this season, and the head coach wants his squad to deal with having to play in a close contest.
“We never want to be the hunted,” Scheyer said. “Sometimes, when you talk too much about what a team is trying to do, you become the hunted. We want to be the hunters. We have to continue to do that. From here on out, it’s end-of-season time if you lose. We have to be ready to go.”
Duke basketball listened to that message. The Blue Devils found their footing again in the second half, and the club defeated North Carolina 82-69.
Duke basketball is the ACC regular season champion
Duke basketball had a phenomenal season in the ACC. The Blue Devils finished the regular season with a 19-1 record in the league. The team’s only loss was to Clemson.
The club is also 28-3 overall on the season, led by freshman phenom Cooper Flagg. Flagg leads the team in virtually every statistical category. Duke’s only losses on the year are to Clemson, Kansas and Kentucky.
Duke is also running into the ACC tournament as the no. 1 seed, with an eight-game winning streak. Although Duke is favored to probably win the event, there’s some strong competition. Clemson and Louisville each finished the regular conference season with 18-2 marks.
Duke is likely to be the no. 1 overall team in the country in the rankings heading into the postseason. The team is nearly guaranteed a no. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament this year.
“We’ve never talked about being No. 1 … other than when this thing is all said and done,” Scheyer added. “Just my luck to be No. 1 going into the postseason. But we make it about finishing what’s right in front of us, doing our best in the moment, and if we do that, by the end, we want to be 1 when it’s done.”
The Blue Devils wait to see who will be their opponent in the conference tournament. Scheyer is in his third season at the school, and is looking for his first Final Four appearance.
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