Jon Scheyer happy to see Duke settle in late in first half vs. Kansas

Duke may have two games already under their belt but with Tuesday night being the Champions Classic against Kansas, it felt like the real debut of head coach Jon Scheyer. A top-10 matchup this early in the season is a good way to find out a lot about your team. Especially for Scheyer, who has a ton of young freshman talent on the roster.

The halftime score of 33-29 in favor of Kansas is one Duke will feel lucky to have. The start was not a great one, with the Jayhawks getting out to a double-digit lead early on. Scheyer said once his team was able to settle down and get some defensive stops, the tide began to turn in favor of the Blue Devils.

“Well, we just got stops,” Scheyer told ESPN’s Holly Rowe heading to the locker room. “At the beginning of the game, we didn’t get many stops. I thought we were a little nervous on offense to start. So, we settled in the game and after all that, it’s a four-point game.”

Jeremy Roach has been a big reason for getting back into the ballgame, having 11 points on 4-9 shooting. Of the freshman to make an impact, Kyle Filipowski stands out the most, having seven points and five rebounds.

Jon Scheyer on how Duke will adjust to offensive foul calls

Duke was called for five charges in the first half, something Scheyer was not too particularly fond of. He was working the referees in between whistles but wants the same mentality from his players coming out in the second half. Drive to the basket “strong” and make reads on what to do from there.

Even if the officials are going to call offensive fouls on those Duke drives, Scheyer seems like he is going to have to take them.

“I would rather have our guys strong,” said Scheyer. “That’s something we’ll have to work through. Keep driving strong, make reads from there. But, in the beginning, we were just driving finesse. So it’s better to drive strong and we’ll make the right read from there.”

If Scheyer is able to fully complete the comeback and get one over Kansas, he will have a signature win early in his tenure at Duke. Of course, a victory in November is not what the Duke job is about. It’s about going deep in the NCAA Tournament and winning national championships.

But it’ll be a step in the right direction.