Jon Scheyer praises Dereck Lively impacting Duke outside of scoring

Duke secured a big win over rival North Carolina Saturday, defeating the Tar Heels at home 63-57. Jeremy Roach‘s game-leading 20 points headline the Blue Devil’s victory, but freshman center Dereck Lively stuffed the stat sheet, having a big impact on Duke’s victory. Duke head coach Jon Scheyer spoke about Lively’s impact on Saturday’s win following the game.

“It’s a credit to what makes Derrick so special, you know for us I’ve seen him really change high school games or AAU games with doing the same thing,” Scheyer said.

Lively ended the night with just four points, but had a monster day on the defensive end, with a career-high 14 rebounds and eight blocks. Scheyer spoke more about his unselfish play, and how his play style is a key catalyst in Duke playing winning basketball.

“And so for him it’s, usually bigs are so hungry to score, that’s not necessarily the most efficient play or the best play,” Scheyer explained. “For him he’s all about the team, he’s all about winning, and the impact that he has on defense, besides the blocked shots.”

Duke’s win over their biggest rival marks their third straight victory, and in those three games, Lively has led the team in rebounds in two of them and blocks in all of them. The Blue Devils have also held opponents to just 57.6 points per game during their winning stretch, and Lively has definitely been a key reason why.

He’s not only been effective at defending front-court players and the rim, but also in switching and defending guards. North Carolina has three players that rank in the top 15 in points per game in the conference, and Lively was effective in guarding all of them on Saturday night.

“I would like to look back on the film, he had eight blocked shots, which I was told was the most even in a Duke Carolina game. But also the shots he changes just by being around the basket and then he had some big plays where just switching, so he’s staying in front of their guards who are really good,” Scheyer said. “It just speaks to the versatility that he has.”

There’s no question that Lively has impressed in his freshman season, and he’s playing some of his best basketball at the right time with eight games remaining on the schedule and the ACC tournament around the corner. Lively and the Blue Devils will face No. 23 Miami in their next matchup on Monday, as they’ll look to extend their win streak on the road against one of the conference’s strongest teams.