Wendell Moore on weight of Coach K's final game: 'We weren't going to lose'

The Duke Blue Devils are the second seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament. Duke has beaten 15th-seeded Cal State Fullerton and 7th-seeded Michigan State over the first two rounds of the tournament, but the Blue Devils have their sights set on more than just that. After the win over Michigan State on Sunday night, Duke forward Wendell Moore Jr. talked about the team’s mindset as the Blue Devils trek forward through the rest of March.

Everybody knows that this is the last season of legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s coaching career. That means that when Duke loses, Krzyzewski’s career will come to an end. But to Moore, Duke isn’t even thinking about what happens if they lose. Right now, the Blue Devils are focused on doing what it takes to win, and not worrying about what will happen after a loss.

“Honestly, the conversation, I mean, losing didn’t come up one time,” Moore began.

Hearing that response from Moore pleased Krzyzewski, as the longstanding Duke headman knows that as soon as the thought of losing enters your mind, it is already over.

“You’re not going to talk about losing or else you’re going to lose,” Krzyzewski responded.

Moore on Duke: ‘We knew we weren’t going to lose’

Next up for Duke is a matchup against third-seeded Texas Tech on Thursday. The winner of that game will advance to the Elite Eight, facing off against the winner of Thursday’s matchup between top seeded Gonzaga and fourth-seeded Arkansas.

In the postgame press conference after Duke defeated Michigan State, Moore was joined by Paolo Banchero, Mark Williams, Jeremy Roach, and Trevor Keels, in addition to coach Krzyzewski. Moore recalled how the five players at the podium grew so close as a unit, and because of that, it has strengthened their confidence in one another when they step on the court.

“Yeah, for us right here, just a little quick story,” Moore continued. “Us five guys are so close over this past year. Earlier this summer, coaches allowed us to take a trip down to PGM and watch our respective teams play against each other. All five of us crammed up in the car, drove down there, twice actually. Ever since then, we just called ourselves the road crew. We knew it was going to come down to us at some point.

“Once we got in the huddle, we just looked in each other’s eyes, and we knew we weren’t going to lose.”

Duke and Texas Tech tip off at approximately 9:39 p.m. ET on Thursday night.