What Duke coach Jon Scheyer said after the 83-76 exhibition win over Tennessee

What head coach Jon Scheyer said after No. 6 Duke’s 83-76 win over No. 18 Tennessee Sunday night in a preseason exhibition game at Food City Center:

Opening Statement

“One, I just want to thank Coach Barnes and the Tennessee program to do this game with us. It’s everything we could ask for and more. Amazing crowd, by the way, for an exhibition game. The way their fans showed out was incredible. And it’s exactly what we wanted for our team, just to put ourselves in a position in a tough game where we have to grow up very quickly. And I think we did that. And I saw just a ton of growth. I think we have a team with really good depth. Missing Maliq (Brown), of course, we gotta get him back. But I thought really everybody that played made this big time winning plays — 20-for-20 from the free-throw line, clutch free throws, that’s huge. We’ve been focusing on that, how rebound them. I think that says a lot of 16 offensive rebounds. It helps when you have a guy that has 23 of them. But I thought collectively. Patrick (Ngongba) stepped up in the second half. Isaiah (Evans), I thought, had tremendous growth of his overall game. His shot making is obvious. I think for the rest of his game, five rebounds and the way he competed, I’m really proud of him for that. And we’re going to keep building. Ton of respect for Tennessee, their program, their players. This was an amazing experience for us.”

Duke freshman forward Cameron Boozer having 24 points, 23 rebounds and six assists 

“Well, one, once Pat got fouls in the first half, we don’t have replacements. Maliq is a sub for about three people, so that’s where that hurt us a little bit. 

Cam just battled. He just competed every play. I think his toughness to overcome making mistakes is unique for a freshman. I think he’s going to, knowing him, he’s going to be critiquing himself. But to be at 24-23-6 with one turnover, he just carried us the whole way — his competitive spirit, his rebounding, cleaning up the glass. And then being able to go inside and get key baskets.And look, he drew six fouls in the game, so that’s a big thing as well.”

Duke’s defense down the stretch, limiting Tennessee in the closing minutes 

“Well, I thought the first half we were all over the place. And they got a dynamic guard in (Ja’Kobi) Gillespie. He’s as good as it gets. I thought we did a good job on him overall. He hit some tough shots. But they get you chasing because you’re putting so much energy into stopping him. And so I thought in the first half we played on our heels. And then the second half, I thought we just did a great job of having great physicality in the paint, great resistance. I thought Pat really just, whether it’s blocking shots or not, I thought he just did a good job of protecting for us. As a team, we just played really hard. So I think that was a great lesson for us that we can build off our defense and the offense will come.”

How facing Tennessee helps Duke measure up to other teams before the season 

“It helps us a lot. And not only playing a really good team, but I think it’s different being on the road. And let alone playing here. Which, to me, I understand this is an exhibition game, this is my first time here. But I can understand why this is one of the hardest places to play in college. I think this place is incredible. So, for us, we treated this as a fact-finding mission. Let’s learn about our team, let’s grow in a hostile environment against a really good opponent. And I think we did that. So, this was everything I could have asked for and more for our team. 

The consistency from Duke center Patrick Ngongba entering his sophomore year

“Yeah, just Pat is, he’s already been in some of the toughest moments we’ve played in. I mean, he’s been in ACC Tournament Championships, Final Four, NCAA Tournament games. So his experience as a freshman, I saw the growth in one year. He’s done the same thing this summer. He’s worked really hard on his body, and he’s so smart. He’s tough. He’s skilled. And he gives you just an outlet when things are getting crazy that you can just play through, too. So his efficiency was great. I love what he did basically in one half tonight. We gotta get him playing more than one half and keep him out of foul trouble.”

How much he coached the exhibition like it was a regular-season game for Duke

“Yeah, I think for us, going into the game, we were trying to play more out of our flow. Basically we’re playing not with an advantage and figuring out how to create an advantage. And so I wasn’t calling only as many go-to’s or actions. I think that was part Tennessee, you gotta credit their defense. And part for us, I was trying to let us work through that some. So that’s probably a little bit more we would call (in a normal game). And scouting, we scouted, we wanted to treat it like a real game because that’s part of this experience to me is can you execute in these moments? Can you execute with the crowd? But I think probably the offense for the most part, I think I can help them a lot more.”

What he saw from Nate Ament and how it compared to the player that Duke recruited

“I mean, he’s super talented. Now that we’re not going to play them, at least for a while, we’ll be rooting for Nate. Great kid, great family. Just his versatility, like his ability to impact the game all different ways, he had a double-double and he didn’t even make a lot of shots tonight. I thought our team did a good job of making him try to score over the top. I think that’s important because obviously he’s got great size. But Nate is gonna be a big-time player and there’s no doubt about it.”

If he has been surprised by what Cameron Boozer has done in two exhibition games (57 points, 36 rebounds)

“I mean, I didn’t know he’d have 24 and 23 tonight, but I’m not surprised. I’ve seen him play a lot. I’ve seen him and Cayden play a lot in high school. And he’s one of the best rebounders I’ve ever seen, I think he’s shown that. But I think he’s really shown how competitive he is. And that ability to not defer or to wait, sometimes that can be normal as a freshman to wait a little bit. He’s not doing that. I want to keep him on that track. But it was just a big-time effort.”