Jon Scheyer says UNC win 'definitely' helps Duke's development

The Tobacco Road Rivalry is big for a lot of reasons. Its history, its meaning to the state, the value that it holds to the two programs. However, after Duke’s win over North Carolina this weekend, Jon Scheyer says it was pivotal for another reason.

Scheyer talked about confident this victory made his team following the 63-57 outcome. He said their preparation paid off with a win as the lessons they’ve learned to this point of the season finally got them over the line in a close matchup.

“It definitely helps,” Scheyer said. “I felt, after my time playing here, that there’s two major ways to get confidence. One is preparation. You get confident by the preparation that you put in. But two is confidence from your experiences and actually doing it and winning.”

“We’ve been right there, we’ve had some close games. We just haven’t been able to get the key stop, get the key bucket to go up two possessions. And, tonight, we did,” said Scheyer. “There was multiple times in the huddles where our players were talking and I didn’t have to say anything. Because we’ve been going over it after our losses and wins. You hate to lose but you probably learn more in the losses as well. So, for our guys, they were just really hungry and made some big-time, winning plays down the stretch.”

Duke won this game because of what they did defensively. They held the Tar Heels to 34.3% shooting from the field and 25.9% from distance while also beating them on the glass by six rebounds. Dereck Lively II was key in that effort as he was a menace in his breakout game with 14 boards and eight blocks. Combine that with some late offensive heroics from Jeremy Roach and it was enough to get the Blue Devils across the finish line.

This is now Duke’s third straight win and their fourth in five games. As they continue to push onward in the ACC, this is the kind of emotional, high-pressure win that could propel them throughout February. Scheyer is counting on it, too, with a pair of road trips to play Top-25 teams in Miami and Virginia up next on their schedule.