In their last game, the Duke Men’s Basketball team was able to pick up the victory on their home court against Maryland Eastern 82-55. And while some might overlook the importance of this win, Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer sees the value of this win. As Scheyer explained recently, the Blue Devil’s victory highlighted a pilar of Duke basketball that will be needed come March: defense.

“Yeah, it’s exciting. Because for a young group, this young of a group and a young team in terms of having experience playing together, that’s what it comes down to in March,” said Scheyer. “You need to get stops, and I think our offense will continue to develop through the course of the season. We’ve had not much practice time. So there are some possessions where we are just giving the ball, whether it be a tough shot we take; turnovers tonight were pretty good.

“That’s something I’m really looking forward to with the practice time, building our offense. But the defense is the base of who we are. When I found out I was going to be the head coach at Duke; two things always connected to Duke basketball: defense and sharing the ball. And we’ll continue to emphasize that. I’m just proud of the effort and the buy-in that our guys have had. I think we still have a lot of room to grow.”

Duke played solid defense on the night, limiting Maryland Eastern to just 39.3 percent shooting from the field. Best of all, they played excellent disciplined defense, limiting the number of fouls called. That resulted in trips to the freedom line. Maryland Eastern only attempted and made just two free throws on the night.

Scheyer: Duke guard Jeremy Roach ‘ready to go’ for ACC showdown against Wake Forest

Duke faithful got some good news on Monday, as Blue Devils leader Jon Scheyer revealed that guard Jeremy Roach should return to the court for Tuesday’s game against Wake Forest.

“Per @JonScheyer, guard Jeremy Roach is ready to go for Tuesday night when @DukeMBB plays at Wake Forest,” tweeted Stephen Wiseman of The Herald Son. “Roach sat out Duke’s win over Maryland-Eastern Shore on Dec. 10 due to nagging toe injury.”

Moreover, Roach missed Duke’s most recent victory over the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks, but it’ll be nice to have the star guard back on the floor for an ACC showdown with the Demon Deacons.

In his third season with the Blue Devils, Roach has averaged 13.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game on the season for Duke.

As Duke begins their ACC slate, they’ll be elated to have Jeremy Roach back at full strength for the grind. The Blue Devils are currently 10-2 on the season, and looking to hit their stride.