Duke basketball knew its West Coast trip wouldn’t be easy, even if Stanford and Cal aren’t great programs.
Long travel, unfamiliar opponents, and more, doing what Duke did was impressive. There were many factors for that, more than just play.
After wins over Cal and Stanford, head coach Jon Scheyer made sure to give attention not only to his team, but also to the Duke fans who made the trip out West or are from out there and showed support.
Scheyer emphasized just how meaningful that support was, especially given how rarely Duke plays games on the West Coast.
"First of all, I just want to thank our fans. For the west coast trip, we haven't been out here very often, and the way our fans showed up at Cal and Stanford is an incredible thing. We don't take that for granted. It was great to see a lot of blue. And then, credit to Stanford. They had an incredible crowd, and I thought they were really ready in the beginning there. That's the first thing.
“The second thing, for us, it's just a great win. It's probably the most collective performance we've had on both ends of the ball. A ton of respect for Stanford, ton of respect for the teams they've beaten, especially here. We knew that it's hard to come out here on the west coast trip and get two wins. I think it's only been done once before last year. And so, for us, we viewed it as a challenge. I'm really proud of our guys for their maturity, their preparation, and then being able to not just get the win, but also grow and get better,” he said, per the school.
In Saturday’s game, Stanford came out playing well after beating UNC earlier in the week, but Duke ended up winning by 30.
What stood out most across both games was balance.
Duke has played team basketball and this West Coast trip showed it, but Cameron Boozer continues to be ridiculous, putting up 30/13/4 on Saturday.
Winning on the road is never easy, and Duke understood the rarity of the opportunity and embraced it.