What Jon Scheyer, Duke said about facing Tennessee in second round of NCAA Tournament

ORLANDO — What Jon Scheyer and Duke players said on Friday as No. 5 Duke prepares for No. 4 Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA Tournament’s East Region on Saturday (2:40 p.m. Eastern Time, CBS) at Amway Center. The Vols advanced with a 58-55 win over Louisiana Thursday night after Duke beat Oral Roberts 74-51.

His thoughts on the matchup between Duke and Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA Tournament

“Well, one, they’re a great team. They’ve had — they’ve played a really tough schedule this year. They’ve been battle tested. They’re experienced. They have great size. They play incredibly well together. They’re one of the best assist teams in the country. They’re one of the best rebounding teams, and they’re one of the best defending teams.

“For us, we feel it’s a great challenge. This game, the run of 32 is never an easy game. It’s obviously not going to be that way tomorrow. But a lot of respect for them and their group, and obviously they’re really well-coached.

“Rick Barnes has been somebody that I’ve known actually since the recruiting process. I took a visit there when I was — my sister went to Texas, so I took one visit there, and he’s a great coach. I have a lot of respect for him. His teams are known for being incredibly tough and together.

“You know, it’s going to be a great challenge for us, but we’re really excited to have this opportunity.”

His memories of the recruiting visit to Texas and being recruited by Rick Barnes

“Well, it was a really good visit. My sister, she wanted me to go there, but she didn’t because that was her thing, that she didn’t want me to screw that up, the little brother coming her way. But I just remember being so impressed. They had some really great teams then.

“At the time if I knew Kevin Durant was going there, I think I would have looked a little bit harder at it, but I didn’t know that at the time. The campus is beautiful, and obviously it’s a great place down there.”

How he can get the same energy from his Duke team against Tennessee that it had Thursday night against Oral Roberts in the first round of the NCAA Tournament

“Well, you need to continue to rise to the occasion, and we’ve done that towards the end of the regular season in ACC play. You need to do that when you go into the ACC Tournament. We need to do that yesterday, which we did, and we understand now the next step that needs to be taken.

“It doesn’t take any convincing to share with our guys how good Tennessee is. They’ve seen them play. They know their name, the ranking they’ve had the whole year.

“I think our guys understand what’s at stake, but also how good we have to be tomorrow. We have to be ready to play and ready to compete.”

Duke enters Saturday’s second round riding 10-game win streak

Recruiting Tennessee’s Josiah-Jordan James out of high school

“Right. Well, one, Josiah is a great kid. Well, he’s not a kid anymore. I loved getting to know him. I thought he had a natural feel for the game when I watched him play in high school. Great family. He went to a great high school, was really well-coached. He’s had a great career there.

“He’s somebody who knows how to play the game. Whatever the game requires, he can do. He can score, he can pass, he can rebound. He’s a really good defender. He’s got great size.

“I have a lot of respect for him as a player and what he’s done there during his time and who he is now. Obviously tomorrow, I hope he’s not doing all those things. That’s the goal. But he’s a great person and great player.”

Tennessee losing starting point guard Zakai Zeigler so late in the season, still adjusting in the NCAA Tournament

“Yeah, well, Zeigler of course is a great player. I hate that that happened to him because he’s — he did so much for their team, running the show and defending and all that. Anytime an injury happens, though, a team can have other strengths that they may not have had before. And you look at the size they put on the floor now, they’re as big as any team we’ve played against, especially in the perimeter. They’re really switchable. They can really attack the boards from basically every position.

“Of course they’re still figuring out their team fully, but man, they’re really good. But again, I’m not diminishing at all what happened with Zeigler because he’s a great player and you hate to see that happen. But Tennessee is bigger, and they can really guard, and they had a lot of depth before and they still have a lot of depth where they can come in and hurt you from many different positions.”

Jahmai Mashack handling some point-guard duties with Zakai Zeigler out

“Mashack is a big time athlete, can really impact the game on both ends. He’s a great defender, really gets downhill on offense. He brings great energy. He just brings another dynamic to their team. And it’s different, but he’s really good. I mentioned before the versatility they have on defense. Mashack can guard multiple positions. He’s got active hands, and he’s just — it’s a different dimension. I’ve been really impressed with him just watching him, and he’s a heck of a defender. I can tell you that much.”

The challenge in defending Tennessee’s Santiago Vescovi

“Vescovi has got a great belief in himself, you can tell. Anytime he shoots he thinks it’s going in, his teammates think it’s going in, probably because most of the time he makes it. We’ve had a couple guys in our league who move really well without the ball. He’s probably just as good at continuing to move.

“They do a great job screening for him off the ball. They set as many off the ball screens as any team in the country, and he’s the main guy they screen for. He has a knack for getting open, hitting clutch shots, and of course he can put on the floor, too. He can hurt you in other ways besides shooting. He’s just a tough, really good college player.

“He’s one of those guys where you can’t just guard him for 10 seconds and then you relax. You have to be really disciplined with him to make life as difficult as possible, understanding he’s probably still going to score. But you need to limit him as much as you possibly can.”

The difference in styles of play between Oral Roberts and Tennessee and making that adjustment with a quick turnaround in the NCAA Tournament

“Yeah, it’s really polar opposites when you think about it. I mean, Tennessee, they’re as good as anybody that I’ve seen getting in the paint, playing inside out. And like you mentioned, Oral Roberts is very different with that, the way they space you and shoot it.

“We’ve done it before, fortunately. In the ACC Tournament, playing Pittsburgh and then playing Miami and then playing Virginia, three very different styles. And the one thing about our defense, the way that it’s built, I think it lends itself to versatility, being able to defend different teams.

“Now, no matter what, you can play great defense and the shot goes up against Tennessee, they’re going to the boards. You still need to rebound with them and make them a half-court team and be strong with the ball. But I think for our guys to transition quickly, the ACC Tournament was great preparation to be able to do that, and you actually have another day. We would have been playing by now if this was the ACC Tournament. So I think that extra day of preparation really helps.”

Up Next: No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 5 Duke, Saturday, 2:40 p.m. Eastern Time, CBS

The challenge inside against this Tennessee team

Duke freshman forward Mark Mitchell: “Yeah, they’re a really tough physical team. We know they live to live in the paint, kind of similar to us. Just try and keep them out of the paint and just rebounding. I think those are two things we’re just trying to focus on. We know they love to crash the glass and pack the paint. Just continue to play together, but on the defensive end just keep them off the offensive glass and protect our paint. We know they have some big guys down there, but I think if we play our defense, we’ll be good.”

What stands out about Tennessee’s post players

Duke graduate-transfer forward Ryan Young: “Yeah, I think the biggest thing is their size and their aggressiveness that stands out individually about them. But as a group they’re pretty deep. They’ve gone to a few different lineups throughout the course of the year, and it seems like throughout the course of a game will stick with whatever guys are going at the moment. I think their versatility stands out a little bit as a group. They can go to some similar lineups similar to the way that they can, but they’ll go to different bigs and different times. So I think we’ve got to be ready for anything, but be able to match their physicality and their size inside.

What stands out about Santiago Vescovi

Duke freshman guard Tyrese Proctor: “Yeah, I actually lived with Santi for a little bit back in the academy so I’m pretty familiar with his game. He’s obviously gotten a lot better. But just the role that he’s taken as a player coming in and having an impact on Tennessee straight away stood out to me. And he’s a real physical guard and a good all-around player. I think just limiting him. And obviously Zeigler went out and they got guys that can come and step. So just limiting their perimeter is a big thing, keeping them out of the paint.”

The emphasis placed on trying to turn Tennessee over in the backcourt

Duke freshman guard Tyrese Proctor: “Yeah, I think just sticking to what we do best. We’re obviously a really good defensive team and we just stick to what we do best. And I don’t think we have to change anything necessarily, just make sure we lock in on the keys and our scout that Coach Scheyer has emphasized and one of them is keeping out of the paint, so just emphasize that and rebounding.”