NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - DUKE VS TENNESSEE

March 18, 2023

Jon Scheyer

Tyrese Proctor

Kyle Filipowski

Jeremy Roach

Amway Center

Duke Blue Devils

Media Conference

Tennessee 65, Duke 52

JON SCHEYER: 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 and these guys next to me right here.

Q. You mentioned it's tough to reflect on all the success you guys had this year. But looking back at it with this group of guys, is it something that amazes you, everything you have accomplished with such a young group?

JON SCHEYER: I don't know if it amazes me, but I'm proud to accomplish what we have. These guys are champions next to me. They're ACC champions. They have 27 wins. They've had a really good year.

I think I speak for all these guys, they can tell you if they feel differently, but we expected to be in this position. That's what we wanted. That's why these guys chose to come here. You want to be in position where you have a chance -- we were planning to go to a Sweet 16 against a great team.

So it's hard to reflect fully right now, but I do know I'm proud. I'm grateful to all these guys that they've stuck with it and they've made the decision to come here and come back and all that, but it hurts in the moment right now.

Q. Jon, you start Dariq instead of Mark Mitchell tonight, and I assume Mitchell is not available. But Dariq probably one of your most effective offensive players in the first half, yet he does not get a shot in the second half. I'm wondering if you could explain what happened on offense that he was so limited.

JON SCHEYER: Well, one, Dariq has had a really good year, and he had some big shots in the first half. It was our entire offense.

Credit them, they did a great job with making passes difficult. They contested, they switched a lot. It was hard to run our offense.

To me, it wasn't just about Dariq. It was about the shot quality that all of us were getting. Dereck didn't get a shot in the game. You have to credit them and what they did defensively.

For us an offense, I could have helped these guys more. We could have done more things to get quality looks. You have to really work for everything in a game like this. You have to work to get open. You have to work on your drives, and that's really what it comes down to.

Q. Coach, obviously Mark was out and at least publicly that was a pretty last-minute decision. Can you talk about what it meant to have one less player in the rotation, especially in such a hard-fought game and what that kind of did to the players and did to the pace of the game?

JON SCHEYER: Well, it happened last second. Mark hurt his knee. We're not sure quite what's wrong. We need to still do some follow-ups with him. But he didn't feel great yesterday, and we felt like he was going to give it a go today and try.

But Mark has been a warrior for us all year. Showed up every single day, competed every day, and right before the tip he just didn't have the same burst. So obviously not going to put him out there if he didn't feel great, and he didn't. That happened late.

He's been a key guy for us. He's started every game. He's been -- he's really the guy where he defends everybody, he's a jack-of-all-trades. You can have anybody on the court with him.

It was a little hectic right before the game. And now also understand, they're missing their starting point guard, too, so that's not any excuse in any way. But for us, of course we miss Mark. Dariq did a good job stepping up. He's done that throughout the year. I thought we ran out of gas down the stretch.

Q. I asked Dereck the same question in the locker room, and he says basketball is a game about runs. But how frustrating knowing anytime you guys made a couple big shots, they'd come back with a big three and the cycle kept on happening. Did you feel like you had to reach into a bag of tricks and try and find anything that could work?

JON SCHEYER: Well, it was a disjointed game. One, we didn't have Mark right before the game. Jeremy gets three fouls and his fourth pretty early. So one is trying to make sure we have as much gas in the tank as possible, but also trying to protect him. We need him in the game.

So we went zone, that's not something we do a lot of, but really trying to protect the paint.

Credit them, that's where they hit some threes. They haven't been a great shooting team like that, but they made us pay for that tonight.

You're not going to -- the first game that we had, it's not going to be that way most of the time. It's going to be back and forth and a game of runs. They made a couple more than we did.

Q. For Coach, how much did early foul trouble affect the game plan?

JON SCHEYER: Well, it wasn't ideal. That's part of how it goes. They did a great job of attacking the basket. I thought we probably settled a little too much in the first half. But look, if Jeremy getting fouls, Flip, any of these guys next to me, that's a big deal.

We still played those guys, and they did a good job playing through it. But you end up managing the game as opposed to being really aggressive and instinctive, which is what we've done a great job of doing.

Q. Tyrese, obviously today wasn't what you wanted, but to go up against -- we just talked to Santiago, to go up against him, two NBA Academy guys, how cool was that to go up against him on this stage?

TYRESE PROCTOR: Yeah, obviously pretty cool. Lived with him for a while when he came over to the academy, and it's just good matching up with him again back on a big stage.

Q. For Kyle, I know that even on a short turnaround y'all get a chance to watch film and do scouting and you've played the schedule that you played this year. How did Tennessee's physicality compare to some Purdues and Virginias and other physical teams you've played?

KYLE FILIPOWSKI: Yeah, we weren't really at our best when we played Purdue, and that was at the beginning of the season. Aside from Purdue, I'd probably say that Tennessee was the next, if not the most, physical team that we've played all year, aside from all the conference games. That's no hit on any of the teams we've played. That was just saying how physical Tennessee was today.

Q. Jeremy, how does a loss like this in the NCAA Tournament after going on a 10-game winning streak compare to maybe last year, and what kind of fuel will that bring to your fire in the off-season?

JEREMY ROACH: I mean, it hurt. We're not going to talk about last season, whatever. Obviously we wanted to make it as far as we could, but I mean, it happens. It's March. It's a one-game season. I'm just proud of these guys for fighting through everything that we've been through, injuries, losses, tough losses. And we just kept battling adversity, staying on the court, so I'm just proud of these people.

Q. Jeremy, kind of to build off of that, being one of the eldest in the locker room, what are you going to be telling the guys in the locker room when you go back there, the younger guys, about how to kind of regroup from this and attack next season?

JEREMY ROACH: Yeah, it's not the end of the world, we just lost a March Madness game. But come back to work. The work never stops. I mean, that's really it. The work never stops, stay the course. Keep your head high. We've got to be proud of this season. Obviously, like you said, ACC champs, one game away from being co-regular season. We had a hell of a season. It's something to be proud of.

Q. Coach, for you this season, what has been the most rewarding part of the season, and to the student-athletes, same question. I know it's a tough day, but what's been most rewarding about this year?

JON SCHEYER: I don't think it's even close for me. It's seeing these guys grow as players, as people, seeing our team do the same thing. I felt like we made huge strides from November to now. I think our team is night and day.

We ran into the wrong team on the wrong day. They outplayed us today, and you have to credit them. But I felt like we could play with anybody in the country. That's for me by far the most rewarding thing. To represent the school where I played, where I've coached for the last nine years has meant the world, and I'm just proud of these guys for what they've done.

Q. Jon, Olivier has had a couple games this year where he's done something like this and there have been some two, four, five-point games. What was the scouting report on him? Was there a way to just try to contain what he does or make sure he doesn't have one of those kind of games?

JON SCHEYER: Yeah, I mean, look, he's been a really good player. He's also -- he hasn't been the leading scorer. Vescovi is a key guy. He draws a lot of attention the way he moves and cuts without the ball and they set hard screens for him.

Olivier, credit him. I thought he hit some really tough shots. There were some contested shots in the paint. He hit three threes. I don't know if he hit three threes, but he obviously worked and an experienced player. You've got to give him all the credit in the world. I thought he played a great game. But sometimes that happens. Unfortunately, a player rises to the occasion, and you have to give him credit.

Q. Coach, what did you see during this game that you may want to work on for next year, or is there something you can work on to improve, to move on?

JON SCHEYER: Well, obviously there's a lot that we can do better. I'm not even close to being there with thinking about next year. I'll obviously evaluate this afterwards. I'm going to watch this game. I have to. I have to watch this game and think about how I could have helped these guys better, things we could have done.

But sometimes that's how the game goes. I don't want to overevaluate it, either. We were right there. You have to hit a few more shots and get a few more rebounds, and this game is fragile.

Anyway, I could answer that question at a later time, but I just want to say again how proud I am of these guys right here and what they've done and we'll continue to do.