Duke walked off the floor on Saturday with another conference win, an impressive one against SMU.
However, according to head coach Jon Scheyer, there’s still plenty to fix.
After the win over SMU, Scheyer made it clear that the result wasn’t the takeaway, but the process was.
“But we have to be better. That is the bottom line. I have to help them be better. It starts with me, and we have to be steadier. We are a little bit like this [up and down] now, on a roller coaster ride. For me, it's growth and learning. What an opportunity to learn from a win, which is a blessing. To be 4-0 in our league is great, but my thing is about growth and learning.
“We will get back to the film, get back to practice and continue to do that. I want to say one more thing, I'm really proud of Cayden Boozer. What he did for us tonight [is that] he completely steadied us. He was terrific. [Patrick Ngongba II matched] his career high, and we know Pat and how special of a player he can be. I thought they had a great response. You can get into starting, you can get into all this other stuff, all this superficial stuff, [but] then those guys are pros. They had a great attitude, and they had the two biggest plus-minuses in this game. I love seeing that,” Scheyer said, per the school.
Duke played well in tough moments on Saturday, mainly because Boozer controlled the game and Patrick Ngongba impressed.
The environment was another factor, something that players decided to point out.
Sophomore guard/forward Isaiah Evans pointed to the crowd inside Cameron Indoor as a bonus, especially with students back on campus.
“I kinda forgot that the students got back, and when it filled up like it did, we knew it was going to be one of those games. It was real electric today. It's great to have that original Cameron feeling back.”
While an 82-75 win wasn't as dominating as some expected due to be, it was still a nice win for the Blue Devils as they improved to 4-0 in the ACC.