Tre Jones: No Trick Shots This Time

Point guard hopes Duke doesn't need miracle finish

Tre Jones hit a shot for the ages in this year’s first matchup with North Carolina. Jones rebounded his own intentionally-missed free throw and hit a game-tying buzzer beater to help Duke cap a comeback, then go on to win in overtime.

“No trick shots this time,” he said before Saturday’s rematch. “Hopefully we don’t need them.”

After such a wild game in the first encounter, Jones doesn’t expect Saturday’s game at Cameron to be anything but more of the same.

“Usually, it’s different,” he said. “Any other opponent, it would be different, but I feel like whenever it’s them, it’s the same – it’s always a battle. It’s one of those games the atmosphere is crazy. Everything about it is just different. I think there’s not going to be a lot different about the game. Obviously, some stuff will be different, but I think it will be intense like it was last game [and a] crazy battle again.”

Duke’s last game was on Monday night, instead of the usual ACC schedule, which features a Wednesday game. That gave the Blue Devils a couple of days of rest heading into the season finale.

“We’re just tying to take it one day at a time,” Jones said. “Trying to improve every single day, knowing we have to improve for the NCAA Tournament. Getting a couple days rest is always huge, especially at this time of year. We don’t get that much and so I’m just trying to stay fresh, mentally and physically, but stay sharp with everything as well, not get loose while we were getting our rest and be able to be ready for Saturday night.”