Quotes: Duke 97, Georgia Southern 54

Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski

Opening statement:
“Well we played really well. I don't know if we can play much harder than that and I thought we beat a good team. I mean they played hard. I just thought that every kid played hard and unselfishly. It was an outstanding game for us. It was a great game.”

On what he wanted from the upperclassmen:
“To show the leadership of how we wanted to play for 40 minutes. Kyle was amazing tonight. Lance [Thomas] and Dave [McClure] defensively were terrific. They created so many points. They got us to about nine points in about a minute through his play. [Steve Wojciechowski] Wojo had a really nice plan for our defense to take away a couple things they do from the elbows. I thought our big guys really defended that well and I thought Brian did well too.”

On forcing ball to the sidelines on the full court press:
“They run a lot from the elbows so when you do that you take away your own middle penetration because you put four guys right there. Some of that is then set up if you have the quickness to take advantage of it. But in full court pressure we had a smaller lineup and we tried to play off their big. Our guys just hustled and made some great hustle plays and all of a sudden it was like a pinball machine. The lights were going on and you look up and holy mackerel we're up by a lot of points. That was neat and there were a lot of good Duke Cameron plays today. Dave [McClure] got that ball and kicked out to Jon [Scheyer] who hit a three”

On concern about the free throw shooting:
“[I'm not concerned] at all. First of all we're a good shooting team. When you play really hard like this, and although we've played really hard in two exhibitions and last night, this is at a high level tonight. It was a high level performance and you get a stop action and you lose a little bit of discipline. You're taking a breath and you lose that little bit of concentration. I told my guys after the game that a number of them just didn't shoot the same form they do just because they're playing so hard. It's Nov. 11 and the familiarity of playing that hard and the stop actions is something you have to get used to again.”

On David McClure's play:
“I think he's in such a great role. He is perfect for his role because he can defend bigs and the perimeter. He's good about it, you know what I mean, he likes it. He knows he has worth even if he doesn't score. I told him before we started playing to look at himself like it's a pro team and I already know what you can do. If I play you for four minutes in one game don't worry about it because you might end up playing 24 in another and just always be ready and understand your worth. In practice we have him with the first unit a lot, but then he'll go to the second. He's kind of a little bit of a wild card for us, but his ego is as good as any of the starters, which is a cool thing.

On the ability to have the ability to replace point guard with experience:
“We feel good about what's happening at that position, but also that those two kids can play together. Greg [Paulus] was out most of the summer with a knee problem so he got really far behind. Greg is one of our hardest workers and preparers. He really prepares well, but with that injury it kept reoccurring and it prevented him from working the way he normally would prepare. He still isn't 100 percent but he's had a good month, then he hurts his finger. He's coming on and he's won a lot of ball games for us and he's going to be in a position to win more for us.

On improvement in the ball handling against Georgia Southern:
“I think we made the extra pass. We're going to commit some turnovers because we play fast and there are a lot of possessions. We got 58 rebounds tonight. There were a lot of possessions and stats are so superficial so having 11 turnovers in this game is like having five in a slow game. I'm pretty good about where we're at as far as handling the ball. I think we'll be alright.”

Sophomore Kyle Singler

On the difference from last night's performance:
"I think just the atmosphere was a lot better. The flow was good, and we were just moving better, making connecting plays on both defense and offense. It was just a lot more fun to be in the game, and I think that's the main difference. I would say we also had one game under our belt. Whether it was nerves or what, I felt guys were more comfortable out there. We were making the extra pass, guys were getting involved, and it was a lot of fun."

"We were able to win a lot of offensive boards and 50/50 balls. Our defense really gave us a push toward the end of the game to push our lead. That's going to be a staple of ours where our defense fuels our offense."

"I think we played a good overall game besides shooting free throws. I don't know whether it was the ball being slick or whatever, but we were playing hard tonight and sometimes you can rush your shot when you get up to the line. Guys have to settle down and just focus a little more on their shot and their form and balls will go in."

On being named MVP:
"It's a good award. I feel honored to be named [MVP]. It was a fun game to play tonight. It was a team win and it was the best game we've played to date, so it was a lot of fun to play in."

On advancing to the final four of the tournament to be played in New York:
"That was one of our goals from the start of our season. We're excited ? New York is going to be fun and there are going to be some good teams. It's the next step in our season."

Junior Gerald Henderson

On the run to end the first half:
"Coach wanted us to end the half strong, so we kind of switched it up. We put a little more pressure on their point guard with some double teams and guys made plays. Cameron was pretty special tonight. It was pretty loud in there and it's fun when we're playing like that."

On his mentality heading into the game:
"I wanted to have fun. That was something that we all talked about as a team, just going out there and really enjoying playing with each other, not worrying about scoring, no worrying about anything ? just go out there and play hard and make plays. Make plays together. I went out there today with that mindset and it was good results. It was a lot of fun."

Junior Jon Scheyer

On the Duke free throw shooting:
"It was one of those weird nights where I felt like I had a better chance of passing it in than I did shooting it in. I think for all of us it was just kind of like a fluke thing. We're a really good shooting team and we're a really good free throw shooting team, so we're going to move past it and we'll be alright from the line. It was weird, like it was contagious. We're going to be alright though. We're going to knock them down."

On Duke's defense:
"Our defense is a huge thing for us. We've talked about our defense defining us and we can control that every night ? how well we play defense. It starts with Nolan [Smith] on the ball with his pressure. I think we've been doing a good job of keeping people out of our paint and making them take tough shots. That's been really big for us."

On advancing to the semifinals of the tournament:
"Before we go up to New York, we have Rhode Island on Sunday. But after that game, New York is a big thing. Every game or every tournament we're in, we want to win it. So once we get there and know who we're playing, it'll obviously be a really big atmosphere and some big-time games, so we're going to have to be ready to go."

Georgia Southern Head Coach Jeff Price

“Our team is obviously not ready to play a game of this caliber. I thought we had a great win last night and hoped to have some carry over. But with six new players and just a lot of newness on our team, we just weren't ready for a game of this magnitude against a really, really good team. We had the opportunity to play in this two years ago and play Duke then also, and a lot their players are back and their experience is tremendous. They are a much better team than we played two years ago. They just pushed us out of everything we wanted to do, they pressured really well. The thing I was most disappointed with our team was I just don't think we played hard enough in the first half and did the hard things. We gave up way to many second shots on block outs. To their credit they were really aggressive on the boards. I can understand us not being ready for a game like this, and I thought our effort in the second half was a lot better.”

On what changed the tempo in the last few minutes of the first half:
“You just want try to hang in there. I think with two and half to go in the first half it was maybe a 15 or 16-point game and it just got away from us. It's a hard place to play, a tough atmosphere for a young team. [Duke] started pressing, double teaming the ball and they got some easy baskets out of their press. That was obviously the part of the game that totally broke it open.”

On how this prepares them for Southern Conference play:
“That's why we play in these games. We don't plan to lose like we did tonight. We play in them to get better. The Houston win was a big confidence builder for our team. We were not ready for a team like Duke. We are still playing Florida, we play UTEP. We are playing an awfully good schedule, and hopefully when we get into our league we will be prepared. Our league has gotten really good. Obviously, Davidson is in our conference and they were just a shot off from the Final Four. It's just a really good league and hopefully these games will prepare us.”