Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus UCF on October 21, 2025 at 7 p.m.
/
7 p.m.
Men's Basketball
vs UCF
.png&width=24&height=24&type=webp)
Quotes: Duke 79, Kent State 72
12/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement
“We won a really tough basketball game tonight. One of the reasons we scheduled Kent State was because of our respect for their basketball program. I told my team for the last two days that we were not playing a basketball team, we were playing a basketball program and a culture that is accustomed to winning and has a well-conceived offense and defense. They're selfless in how they play; they're playing like a unit. That's what we try to do over the years. We knew we were going to be in for that type of game. [Omni] Smith had an amazing game. DeMarcus [Nelson], in the last 10 or so minutes, to be able to hold him down a little bit was a key factor in us winning. It's a lot harder to hold a kid down that's having a career night. For us, our kids had to do some really good things in the last 10 minutes of the game to win. It was a very good win for us and a heck of a basketball game. Kent State really executed well and we did not talk in the first half. Communication is what brings you to play as one. The score said that they were scoring against us; they weren't scoring against us, they were scoring against individual players. That's how we played defense today until the last 10 minutes ? individually instead of collectively, and that's really the first time all season that that's happened. Josh [McRoberts] came up huge in the last 10 minutes; he put us on his back. This is the best that Greg [Paulus] has played. I think he's got his legs under him and he's healthier. He had to play really hard and tough. Jon [Scheyer] was really good for us. Thank goodness that as a group we played really hard at the end and were able to win it.”
On Josh McRoberts and the team's play in the final 10 minutes
“You have a better chance of winning when somebody makes plays like that. That was big in Josh [McRoberts'] development with where we need him to be. Our guys hit big free throws down the stretch. We had to do a lot of good things. They didn't' lose the game; we won the game. That's what I told our guys the last two days. I said, “They're not going to lose to you. You have to beat them.” I think the healthier that Greg [Paulus] is getting means that we don't have to depend on Josh to be outside. He's establishing himself more inside.”
On making progress
“We wouldn't have won if we didn't make some progress. Our offense was a lot better tonight. You cannot assume that you're going to play defense. You have to come ready to play. Our program has been built because I am a defensive coach. I have a passion to play defense on every exchange. I've been here 27 years and every play that's played at Duke University, I'm passionate about playing defense and that's what I require my team to do. When they don't do that, then we are not the Duke basketball program. That will always be our stable. That's how we develop toughness and togetherness, and that was missing today for 30 minutes.”
On Gonzaga
“It's a great game. Our schedule I think is ranked in the top five of the country and it's because we're playing all these people. It will be a heck of a game. We're going to be looking forward to it. Hopefully some of the younger guys will step up. We're always in a little bit of discovery about our guys. Gonzaga is good.”
Kent State Coach Jim Christian
On tonight being a moral victory
“I don't view it as a moral victory, but I think there are things from this game we can take and build on. I thought for 40 minutes our effort was great. I thought that our intensity level; we didn't dip and we stayed together. Those are the types of things I think we can build on as we move forward. I don't believe in moral victories and we came down here to try to compete and give ourselves a chance to win this game.”
On starting guard Omni Smith the last four games
“A lot of it's in practice, and he's our best penetrator and we knew coming into this game we had to have somebody who could alleviate pressure. Duke is such a great pressure defensive team. He's our best guy at relieving pressure and creative basketball so I thought he could make some plays. I didn't know he could do that, but he had a tremendous performance tonight.”
On junior forward/center Haminn Quaintance's performance
“He's practiced one day in three weeks. He's not going to say that, but I'll tell you that. That was half, he played one-third of the reps in practice in one day, so he hit the wall. He still had 10 points and 10 assists. For a center that's pretty good. He was clearly hurt, and his back got tight.”
On freshman guard Chris Singletary's performance
“He came in and guarded very well tonight. He gave us energy off the bench and played extremely hard. Again, it's a positive thing he can build from as well. Those are the type of contributions we want from him. I thought as a freshman playing in this type of environment and this type of game against a fantastic basketball team, that's a thing he can build on.”
On the team's performance before Quaintance hit “his wall”
“I thought in the half court we executed very well. We had a lot of problems when we tried to push the ball on the break. I thought Omni (Smith) made a good point in that we tried to make the hard plays instead of just making simple plays. When you play a team of this nature, you have to maximize every possession. And you've got to get shots at the basket in those situations, you can't try to make a home run play where you turn it over and they get a steal which leads to one of their runs. I thought in the half court we did that. A lot of our turnovers were on the break, we were trying to force some things. Guys saw the play but sometimes that's not the simple play. In this game, you have to make simple plays against a team that puts that much pressure on you and guards that well.”
On McRoberts as a challenge for Kent State
“We play in the MAC, we don't see guys like that. He's backing guys down, he's firing passes, he's scoring in the post, he's an All-American and he played like it. We knew coming in he was going to be a very difficult matchup, and you have to almost pick your poison. He's so good that if you double him, they shoot 43% from the three, so we try to make him play a little bit and hopefully catch him on a bad night. That definitely was not the case. He was an All-American playing like an All-American.”
On free throw and foul discrepancy
“You know coming in here that it's a very difficult place to play. They attacked the basket a little better than we, they have a little more size than we have as well. We shot six out of 11 (from the free throw line). To play a team like this, when you get your opportunities you have to make your free throws. We've got to get better at that. I thought it was a very good officiating game.”
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballCoach Scheyer Media Availability
Wednesday, September 24
Jon Scheyer Press Conference: Summer 2025
Tuesday, July 08
Duke vs Houston: Press Conference
Sunday, April 06
Duke vs Alabama: East Region Champions Press Conference
Wednesday, April 02
