Skip to main content
Join Now
Team Avatar
Duke

WATCH: Coach K curses after early defensive mistake by Duke

by: Austin Brezina03/27/22AustinBrezina59
On3 image
Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images

It didn’t take long for Duke and Arkansas‘ Elite Eight matchup to get intense, as an early mistake by Duke caused Coach K to curse on the sideline. As cameras showed his reaction to an easy layup by Arkansas in the game’s opening minutes, the broadcast showed Mike Krzyzewski shouting an expletive on the bench.

Coach K curses after early mistake

Following an early easy bucket by Arkansas, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski shared an outburst that showed exactly how much this game still means to him at this point of his career. Coach K’s fire worked after the first timeout of the game, as Duke’s defense seemed to pick up significantly while both offenses continued to make spectacular plays. Duke’s early offense was missing attempts from long range, something that Krzyzewski addressed in an on-court interview.

While mentioning his team’s lack of three-point attempts, he noted of the Arkansas defense that “they don’t leave the window open very long.”

Shortly afterwards, Duke picked up the intensity and went on an 8-0 run to take a quick lead. Many were expecting Duke to face Gonzaga for their potential ticket to the Final Four, but Arkansas’ shocking victory over Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 set them against the Razorbacks instead. Arkansas showed early that they were not looking to be finished in the Elite Eight, leading to an exciting first half between the teams.

Arkansas’ head coach entered Saturday’s game having coached 100 games exactly with his team, a milestone made sweeter with the win over Gonzaga. However, Krzyzewski reached a very different 100 milestone himself during the Sweet 16 — 100 career NCAA Tournament wins.

Krzyzewski’s on-court interview

Mike Krzyzewski wants Duke to get more settled in against the Arkansas defense. The Blue Devils coach spoke with CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson midway through the first half of the Elite Eight contest against the Razorbacks, where he criticized Duke its early turnovers.

“Two things: One, we’ve got to get accustomed to their defense,” Krzyzewski said. “They’re really good. The thing we got were offensive rebounds. When you have a really small window to shoot, we passed up on three shots from the outside. They don’t leave the window open very long. So our turnovers occurred when we didn’t take the shot and we tried something else.”