Jon Scheyer assesses Jeremy Roach, Duke's first half against Miami

Duke and Miami certainly delivered some exciting basketball in the first half as both squads played well offensively en route to a 38-38 tie at the break. For Duke, it was a balanced effort, with no Blue Devil reaching double figures in the first half. Kyle Filipowski led the home team with nine while former Kansas State gunner Nijel Pack caught fire early for the Hurricanes, knocking down four threes and totaling 14 points in the first period.

As the teams headed towards the locker rooms, ESPN caught up with Duke head coach Jon Scheyer, who shared that this game will be a hard-fought 40-minute contest:

“It’s a hard-fought game. Played well, they’re really good. It’s going to be a 40-minute game,” said Scheyer. He then assessed starting point guard Jeremy Roach‘s first half of basketball after missing the previous three games with an injury.

“Jeremy, for us, his poise and presence on the floor — he’s been in these games. He’s shaking off some rust still, but the fact that he’s out there says a lot about him and the boost it’s given our team,” said Scheyer.

“We’ll see (how much we can get out of Roach in the second half). We’ll squeeze whatever we can. But everybody needs to step up. Thought we played a good half, need to finish possessions and really value the ball on offense.”

Even if Roach is playing slightly below 100%, just having his veteran presence back in the driver’s seat of the offense is calming for a Blue Devils team that definitely needs some stability in the backcourt.

Jon Scheyer seemed relatively pleased at the half. Surely he’d like to see Pack get shut down in the second half, but otherwise, Duke’s in a dogfight against a fellow ACC title contender. 20 minutes to decide a winner in a huge conference tilt.