Duke Basketball Coach's Opening Statement Following Loss to Razorbacks

Duke basketball began to persevere on Wednesday night, but it was too little too late.

Duke basketball at Arkansas (Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports)

On Wednesday night, Jon Scheyer's second Duke basketball squad recorded its second loss of the season and first away from home. The No. 7 Blue Devils (5-2, 0-0 ACC) left Arkansas' court-stormed Bud Walton Arena with an 80-75 defeat to the unranked Razorbacks (5-3, 0-0 SEC) as part of the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge.

Here's what Scheyer said in his opening statement to the media following the game:

"First of all, congrats to Arkansas. They played a really good game. We knew they would be incredibly hungry, desperate for this game. They had a couple of tough losses. Look, we have a lot of respect for their talent, coaching, and what they do. Even with [Arkansas starting point guard and top scorer Tramon Mark] being out, we knew it would be an incredibly difficult game.

"With that said, we expected to win, so the loss is disappointing.

"The beginning of the second half was key. We came out and just gave up a bunch of layups. We mixed up our defense a little bit, played some zone, played some man. It bought us some time in the first half with [Kyle Filipowski] being out [with early foul trouble]. So, we're thinking, down one at half, we feel pretty good...

"There wasn't the collective toughness that you have to have on the road with some of those stops and some of those rebounds.

"And credit them. They play a different kind of defense, which really can muck it up a little bit...So, it makes you have to make plays. And we didn't make enough of them.

Jared --> Rese --> Flip. Need more of it.

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— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) November 30, 2023

"Look, at the end, I thought we showed a lot of heart [in trying to climb back from a 14-point deficit with under seven minutes to play]. I know I have a locker room full of guys that are competitors, winners. A lot of teams would have been run out of the gym at that point...

"I think that's a credit to our guys with what they have inside of them. We just have to do that all the time."

Jon Scheyer's Blue Devils Let Down ACC at Arkansas

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