Tyrese Proctor stated emphatically on Sunday that this is the reason he continues to play basketball for Duke. Participating in a 93-55 rout of James Madison in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center during the NCAA Tournament’s second round gave Proctor and the other three starters who returned from the previous season the opportunity to enjoy a brand-new experience. In 2023, Jon Scheyer’s first season as head coach of Duke led to an ACC championship, but the Blue Devils were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament on the first weekend. Proctor, Kyle Filipowski, Mark Mitchell, and Jeremy Roach all promised to continue playing collegiate basketball for the Blue Devils in the weeks that followed. The pain from last season’s season-ending 65-52 loss to Tennessee persisted.
“It’s obvious that we didn’t get what we wanted last year,” Proctor remarked. “That is the reason our key players returned.”
Making it to the Final Four and winning the program’s sixth NCAA title are Duke’s ultimate objectives. This explains why images of State Farm Stadium, which will host the Final Four this year, were posted all over the Blue Devils’ practice facilities over the previous summer. The Blue Devils had to go past the opening weekend of the competition and into the regional semifinals in order to get there, though. It’s easy to cross the bridge that was too distant a year ago.
“Everyone remembers what transpired with Tennessee during the second round,” Filipowski remarked. We anticipated it would be a similar kind of game, so I believe that just gave us and the returning guys a little bit more fire. Playing last year, I believe we learned our lesson. We had no desire to repeat that. I believe that tonight shown that you have learned from it and moved on. And boy, did it come through. The Blue Devils were motivated to face the Dukes first after witnessing James Madison use pressure to grab a 15-4 lead and go on to win 72-61 in the opening round on Friday night.
Jared McCain made Duke’s opening basket with a 3-pointer en route to an explosive 30-point shooting performance. A pull-up jumper was made by Roach. Duke led 7-2 after Filipowski made a slam off of his own miss. Duke led 15–5 after Proctor scored, and James Madison would never get closer than seven points the rest of the way. McCain then added two more 3-pointers. Filipowski stated, “That’s exactly how we wanted to come out.” “We performed admirably on defense. We performed a fantastic job of remaining composed and competing with them. That simply generated a lot of wonderful energy for the squad.
It was one of the Blue Devils’ best all-around games of the year. Without letting up, they declined to coast on their comfortable advantage. Rather, they increased their lead, leading 47–25 at the half and reaching 30 points with just under nine minutes remaining in the game. That’s significant, according to Ryan Young of the Duke Graduate Student Center. “There was something we discussed the entire game, particularly at halftime, you know? Because the season is gone for whoever loses this game. They’re returning home. And being a member of that squad gives you a new sense. This day, Duke refused to be that team.
In contrast, Wisconsin turned the ball over 19 times, while Duke only did it six times. Only one was issued by a Blue Devils guard. JMU was only able to shoot 38% while the Dukes turned the ball over 14 times. Out of 18 3-pointers, JMU only made 4. McCain, despite his excellent shooting on Sunday, gave this evaluation of Duke’s defense: it held Vermont 25 points below its season scoring average when Duke crushed the Catamounts 64-47 in the opening round on Friday. “March is when you want to be playing at your best, and this is our best basketball right now, especially defensively,” McCain stated. When we defend, it seems as though nobody can stop us. We possess far too much talent.
Duke’s opponents have found it extremely difficult to overcome their combination of skill, attention to detail, and toughness so far in the NCAA Tournament. Add to that the inspiration from a particular setback from a year prior, and these Blue Devils are extremely strong. Roach stated, “I definitely reminded the team this morning just how we felt at the Tennessee game last year.” This season, that obstacle has been overcome, and Duke will travel to Dallas to take on Houston, the number one seed in the South Region, with a Final Four berth just two victories away.