WASHINGTON, D.C. – Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer used the word “disappointing” three times Thursday in his postgame press conference inside Capital One Arena.
Following a one-and-done loss that ended the 11th-ranked Blue Devils’ hopes for back-to-back ACC Tournament championships, Scheyer pointed to what has become a familiar issue for his squad.
“Overall, look, I can go through the details of the game,” Scheyer said after Duke’s 74-69 loss to NC State. “I think for us, though, it’s about the competitive fire you need to have in the postseason.”
Igniting that fire was the problem Kyle Filipowski pointed to after the Wolfpack’s third win in as many days in Washington D.C.
“NC State wanted it more than us,” said Filipowski, who had 28 points and 14 rebounds before fouling out.
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“I think that was kind of the biggest thing. … There’s another level to it in the postseason.”
That spark was missing in Duke’s regular-season finale against UNC and the opening minutes of the Blue Devils’ win against the Wolfpack in Raleigh on March 4.
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Despite the head-scratching issues that plagued Duke in back-to-back losses, Scheyer’s belief hasn’t wavered in his group ahead of the NCAA Tournament.
“It would be a real problem if you didn’t believe in the team,” Scheyer said. “I think it starts there: do you believe in the group you have, do you believe in the team? And the answer is emphatically, 100%, yes. It starts there for me.”
But if those problems show up again, Duke could face an early exit from March Madness for the second season in a row.
“Overall, as a group, we’ve got to want it more than the other team,” Filipowski said. “If not, it’s gonna be the same situation as the second round (loss to Tennessee in the 2023 NCAA Tournament) last year.”
After winning the ACC Tournament last season, Filipowski said he felt like the Blue Devils “were just going with the flow” in the NCAA Tournament. He hopes the loss to NC State will sting enough to prevent the same situation this year.
“Obviously, this sucks, of course, because this is not what we had planned. I think we’ve done a good job bouncing back from some hard losses. We didn’t do that (against NC State),” Filipowski said.
“But, at the same time, our goal this whole year has been to go to Phoenix (for the Final Four). … We got one more shot.”
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached atrbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.
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