Jon Scheyer praises Duke's first half performance amid hostile environment against Arkansas

Bud Walton Arena was rocking as Arkansas and Duke squared off Wednesday night in the ACC-SEC Challenge. At halftime, it was the Razorbacks on top 33-32 — and the Blue Devils had to not only fight through foul trouble, but also a very loud crowd.

In fact, it was so hard to hear, Jon Scheyer had to ask ESPN’s Kris Budden to repeat her first question about how his Duke team battled in such a hostile environment during his halftime interview. But considering the Blue Devils were down one point even after losing Kyle Filipowski to foul trouble early on, Scheyer said his team did just fine considering the setting.

“We’ve done well overall,” Scheyer said. “Flip gets two fouls right away, that puts us in a different position. I thought we did a great job battling, mucking some stuff out. Good job TJ Power did coming into the game. Look, it’s a one-point game. This is where we want to be. We’ve got to regroup though. I thought we could’ve been more poised on offense.”

Power provided a spark from beyond the three-point line as he made both of his shots in the first half. It was a rough showing as a whole for Duke, though, as the Blue Devils shot just 34.5% from the field and 4-for-13 from three-point distance. Jeremy Roach led Duke with eight points.

Jon Scheyer: ‘Poise and rebounding’ will be key in the second half for Duke vs. Arkansas

Scheyer said one of the keys to a strong second half will be to settle in and look strong on offense. If the Blue Devils can do that — and stay out of foul trouble — that could be critical to pulling off an impressive road victory.

“Having poise and rebounding,” Scheyer said of the keys to the second half. “Look, they do a great job putting pressure on you at the rim, getting to the foul line. We put them there right away. We got in the bonus pretty quick. That’s gonna be something for us in the second half.”

No Duke player reached double-digit scoring in the first half while only Trevon Brazile reached that mark for Arkansas. The Razorbacks’ offense was efficient, though, with 10 assists on 12 made field goals through the first half. For comparison, Duke had just five assists on 10 made baskets.

That’s part of the recipe for success for Eric Musselman’s group, and it should make for an exciting finish as Arkansas and Duke battle it out in Fayetteville.