The Duke Blue Devils were stunned in their Elite Eight game against the UConn Huskies, falling 73-72 after Braylon Mullins nailed a long-range three-point shot with 0.4 seconds remaining on the clock.
Jon Scheyer watched his team hold a lead as big as 19 points on Dan Hurley’s squad, and seemingly had the win in the bag with 10 seconds remaining. However, an inbounds play went awry as players tried to advance the ball past halfcourt, with Silas DeMary Jr. and Mullins able to force a huge turnover ahead of the game-winning shot.
For Scheyer, it was the second-straight season he’d watched his Blue Devils fail to live up to expectations at the NCAA Tournament.
In the previous installment, Duke, led by another standout player, Cooper Flagg, couldn’t close the door on the Houston Cougars, who came back from down 14 points to eliminate the Blue Devils just before the NCAA Championship Game.
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Several days removed from last Saturday’s disappointing loss, coach Scheyer addressed the string of March Madness losses that his team has suffered.
“I’m still digesting. I’m still feeling it, and I haven’t gone there yet,” Scheyer told Westwood One Sports’ Josh Graham, regarding revisiting footage of the loss to UConn.
Asked about how he coaches his players to not let one game define their entire season, Scheyer had an interesting take, suggesting he doesn’t avoid the emotional effects of those losses and combines that with the team’s successes as a building block for the future.
“I’m not shying away from the fact that there’s some credible heartbreak and disappointment when you lose the way we did on Sunday. We’ve lost two unimaginable ways in the last two seasons. At the same time, we’ve been in back-to-back-to-back Elite Eights for the first time in 30-something years. We’ve had really good success in the tournament, it just hasn’t ended with a win the way that we want,” he said.
According to Scheyer, this season’s Duke squad deserves praise after their 35-2 record with the schedule they went through. He said it would be “scary” if Duke wasn’t close, but he realizes they are “knocking on the door” for the championship based on their recent runs in March Madness.
“We just gotta find ways to win the margin, regroup with a different team for next year. Not gonna quit. We’re gonna stay at it. We’re gonna stay at it til we’re there,” he said.
The stinging loss came with their standout player, Cameron Boozer, and his brother, Cayden Boozer, both playing exceptionally for most of the game against UConn. Cam will likely take his talents to the NBA after this college run, as he’s considered a top-three pick for June’s draft.
However, Scheyer and Duke have the No. 1 recruiting class for 2026, which includes power forward Cameron Williams and point guard Deron Rippey Jr., and small forward Bryson Howard. With that in mind, it appears they’ll likely be back in the mix sooner, rather than later.
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