Jon Scheyer shares message to Duke players ahead of final possession vs. Clemson

Duke outlasted Clemson at home on Saturday in a closely contested, back-and-forth battle that featured 11 ties and 12 lead changes, defeating the Tigers 72-71 thanks to some clutch free throws from Tyrese Proctor.

The Blue Devils found themselves down by one point with seven seconds remaining in the ball game, and following the matchup, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer shared what was discussed in the huddle during the team’s timeout heading into their final possession of the ballgame.

“For us, we practice our end-of-game situations often and actually we practiced them two days ago just to go through. And to be honest, I don’t know if we’ve practiced it without Flip in with that first group, and so in the huddle just making sure our guys knew,” Scheyer explained.

Duke’s star big man Kyle Filipowski fouled out of the game on the previous possession, throwing a small wrench into the Blue Devils typical end-of-game procedure.

“We had four guards on the court, Mark [Mitchell] was in the position kind of as the screener there and with seven seconds we have a play that we go to at that time,” Scheyer said. “I guess we’ll have to get a new play now, but for Tyrese, you just want to attack the basket. It’s enough time, you can attack the paint, and then you surround him with shooting. If they collapse you got kicks and I though Tyrese did a great job of just playing through resistance and finding a way to get to the paint.”

Scheyer turned to Proctor when it mattered most, with the sophomore guard driving into the paint and drawing a foul with one second remaining on the clock.

Down by one point, one made free throw would tied the game and two would likely secure the win for Duke. And with ice water in his veins, Proctor nailed both free throws attempts, as Scheyer was asked what his massage was to Proctor prior to the big moment.

“I just told him you got it,” Scheyer said. “I knew he was gonna hit ’em, I knew he was in the position, he was already good. So me talking to him too much, I can only screw him up. Like he’s already going to hit them so I just told him you got it, gave him a pat on the back, and he said, ‘I got you coach’. Proud of him.”

Freshman guard Jared McCain led in scoring Duke with 21 points, representing his fifth 20+ point scoring outing in his impressive first season with the team. But Proctor’s 18 points were also crucial, with nine of them coming in the second half including a clutch three-pointer to give Duke a two-point lead and send Cameron Indoor Stadium into a frenzy.

“I thought also the three that he hit was huge, huge. It was kind of a made a play up out of nothing and he was right in front of me and there was maybe seven seconds left on the clock and when he caught it I said, ‘You got time’. Meaning drive it, don’t shoot it right away, and he shot it right away and I said, ‘Great shot’. But those two free throws were big time,” Scheyer said.

Duke extended their record to 15-4 on the season and 6-2 in conference play with the win, which they’ll look to keep going as they hit the road to face Virginia Tech on Monday at 7:00 p.m. ET in a matchup airing on ESPN.