Jon Scheyer credits Duke for fighting back for halftime lead vs. NC State after slow start

It wasn’t the best start for Duke on Monday night against NC State, but coach Jon Scheyer was proud of how his team responded. The Blue Devils fell behind 9-0 but battled back to take a 33-30 lead into halftime.

Duke played most of the first half without star forward Kyle Filipowski, who picked up two early fouls and was limited to just four minutes while going 0-for-2 from the field. Tyrese Proctor nailed a couple of late 3-pointers and finished the half with 11 points to lead the Blue Devils in Filipowski’s absence.

Speaking with ESPN at the break, Scheyer offered his thoughts on how Duke managed to get through the many obstacles thrown at it early.

“We fought,” he said. “That was a crazy, disjointed half. You’re playing the whole half without Flip. I thought we did some good things, we just have to be poised against them. They’re good. They can make you play a different style. We just need to regroup here and come back in the second half and fight like we did at the end of the first half.”

Wolfpack forward DJ Burns Jr. scored five of NC State’s first nine points and finished the first half with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Slowing him down will certainly be a focus for Duke in the second half, and Scheyer stressed that defending him without picking up additional fouls for Filipowski will be a major key.

“He’s tough,” the coach said. “He’s gonna make tough shots. You can’t overreact. You can’t give him 3s as well and Flip can’t foul. We’ve got to keep him out of foul trouble. But he’s a good player and he’s capable of doing that.”

Duke missed its first four shots of the game and did not score its first points until the 16:49 mark when Proctor knocked down a jumper. That was the beginning of an 11-0 run from the Blue Devils to take their first lead of the game, and the teams continued to trade blows throughout the half.

The Blue Devils are so far having a rough day shooting the ball as they are just 17-of-45 (37.8%) overall and 4-of-20 from 3-point range. They’ll aim for more efficiency in the second half as they hope to hang on for the win.

As for NC State, the Wolfpack are fighting for the NCAA Tournament hopes and aren’t likely to go away easily as they desperately need a win.