Jon Scheyer not expecting Duke to have Jeremy Roach against Clemson

Duke point guard Jeremy Roach, who has been dealing with a toe injury over the last several weeks, has missed three of the Blue Devil’s last few games. As of last night, Jon Scheyer isn’t expecting that to change this weekend either.

Scheyer provided a pessimistic update on the status of his junior guard following No. 24 Duke’s 77-69 win over Pittsburgh on Wednesday night. He said that, barring anything unforeseen, Roach will be out for the team as they head to Clemson this weekend, which hurts considering how young his roster still is.

“Jeremy, unless something crazy changes? He won’t be available for Saturday either,” said Scheyer. “We want to make sure that he’s back to 100% before he comes back. But, I think we talked about it. We’re a man down still so we need to step up even more.”

Roach is averaging 11.9 points, 3.2 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.1 steals over his 14 appearances this season. With this toe injury, he has been unavailable for Duke in their games against Maryland Eastern Shore, at Boston College, and versus Pitt. The interesting part of that, though, is the Blue Devils are 3-0 in those games without him.

With him likely out of the lineup again this weekend against a 14-3 Tiger team, Scheyer will need improved contributions from players like Tyrese Proctor, Jaylen Blakes, Jacob Grandison, or even Dariq Whitehead as part of their guard rotation. If the team can get that, they’ll feel much better about their chances of hitting the road in ACC play, which hasn’t been an automatic win for Duke so far, and picking up a victory.

Scheyer analyzes Duke’s road struggles

Road games have been a struggle for Duke this season as the Blue Devils have started 1-2 in hostile environments in the first season under head coach Jon Scheyer. The most recent was a close win against Boston College after double-digit losses to Wake Forest and NC State.

The game against the Wolfpack was never close as they jumped out to a double-digit lead in the opening minutes as Duke took 7:40 to score any points at all. After that loss in Raleigh, Scheyer said, it’s up to the team to make the most of these experiences.

“I think it’s hard to have great perspective right now when you’re in the moment and you’re disappointed, to say the least, with the loss.  But you know it’s a long year and, fortunately I knew this when I took the job, (but) there’s going to be some moments like this where people can doubt you,” Scheyer said. “They can doubt us as a team. And, sometimes, the best way to learn is to experience and, for this group in particular, to experience this game. To experience playing on the road.”

With two conference road losses on the record, Scheyer isn’t writing anything off. He’s planning to use it as fuel to get a young, talented team clicking.

“You wish it was 2-0 on the road and we’re 4-0 in conference. But that’s not how it works. And so, for us, it’s all about how you learn from it and how you grow from it. And that’s how I’m going to approach it.”