Quotes: Duke 82, Rhode Island 79

Opening statements:

“What a great game. It was a magnificent game. They had two players who played at a big-time level. Their whole team played at a big time level. The kid [Delroy] James really got them started off, and in the first half he wore us out and [Lamonte] Ulmer got seven rebounds. A very athletic basketball team, and poised. At the end of clocks, not that they were holding the ball, we were playing pretty good defense and then we would just rush and do something at the end of the clock or in the last ten seconds and they took advantage of it. A big part of it was James' ability to break it down from the four spot. That's the position that we've had so well for all these years. And then in the second half [Jimmy] Baron had one of the great halves of any kid that's played against us. It's not like we didn't guard him. He had one shot that had to be 28 or 30 feet and we're right there. We could have switched a little bit better on two of them, but it's not like he's just open. The really good thing that we did with him was on the last couple possessions I put Kyle [Singler] on him so that we had someone really big, and Kyle didn't foul. He took his vision away and being the really good player he [Baron] is, he was trying to get fouled and Kyle had the discipline and we won. Jon and Kyle kind of willed us to win. There was some really good stuff happening out there in case you didn't watch.”

On the crowd:

“As good as the players were for both teams, the crowd was right there. This was a big time crowd today. Our crowd helped us so much today. They were fantastic. It was one of those February games in November. It's a big-time game today. I don't know how you get prepared for a game like this until you get in it. I thought in those last five minutes we did everything right, which you can't practice, you've just got to be there. They [Rhode Island] didn't do anything wrong, they just missed a couple shots. I thought we used our timeouts wisely, tried to rest so we could come down on defense a little bit better. There was a lot of stuff going on out there today. It was very, very good basketball out there today.”

On Rhode Island's last possession and possibility of fouling:

“We would have fouled if we were close enough, but we tried to make sure a big guy was on the ball and that they would have to take a couple dribbles. [Jimmy Baron] obviously could hit something like that, but he didn't hit shots running full speed and throwing them. Once he got by you, you can't foul him, but we were gonna go for the ball no matter who had it, not try to foul, but make a play on the ball. He was pretty quick in getting it, but in doing that he had to put his head down. I thought we defended that fairly well, but we were prepared to do both.”

On whether Duke players were getting tight during the middle of the game:

“I didn't think our guys were tight at all. I thought we were a little bit individual in the first half. I don't think our guys expected the level of play. Don't get me wrong, we respected Rhode Island. They're good, they're really good, but they played at a really high level tonight and I thought it knocked us back. We didn't complete plays early. We missed about four layups or four plays right by the rim. I think we were at one time 2-for-13, and I think that got to us a little bit and guys were passing things up. The last four minutes of the first half were critical. They didn't score. I think it was 34-22, and it ended 34-33 and we have possession of the ball. So the last four minutes of the first half and the last four or five minutes of the game we have to play outstanding basketball to put us in a position to win. I really respect what they did. That was a great game for us to be in.”

On enjoying the game:

“I don't know how much we enjoyed it. It's one of those things like skydiving or bungee jumping. I'm supposed to enjoy this, and then I did it and I really didn't enjoy it, but afterwards you're going to be cool and say ?Man that was cool, I really loved all of that.' I don't think while the game is going on say ?Wow I'm enjoying this', but what you are is completely captured by the game. This is a game that completely captures you. I felt like I was playing Spain, the way they were hitting their shots. I tried to put Dwyane Wade in and nobody came out. Thank goodness [Jon Scheyer] and Kyle [Singler] did their impersonations pretty well.”

On Jon Scheyer driving to the basket successfully:

“We thought we could drive a little bit better than we did most of the game. I thought we went right into in the last part of the game, and in the first part of the game we dribble dribbled dribbled and they got their defense set and then we tried to do it. We didn't move the defense, and in the last five or six minutes we moved their defense a little bit. But Jon and Kyle made big-time plays today.

On players who picked up their level of play:

“We're lucky to have Dave [McClure] and Lance [Thomas]. They just played so hard. Greg was in a tough position today because two days ago he really hurt his arm. He took a charge, and his arm swelled so much he couldn't move his hand. This was Friday, and he kept ice on it all night and some of the swelling came down and yesterday he was able to somewhat close his hand and then he spent all night and today icing to where in our shoot-around he shot it a little bit. That kid played with a lot of guts today.”

On how a game like this helps development:

”Well you can't practice a game like this. It's the best game played so far in college basketball. For us to be in it, that's a good thing. That's one of the reasons we try to schedule the way we do. We knew Rhode Island would be good and be very good early. They were great early last season and then they lost a couple of close games. They were top-25, so we knew their history. Baron's got to be one of the top shooters in the country, and we knew he was going to be ready as a senior. So we knew this would be a tough game, especially in-between the trip New York, but we did not look ahead. Our guys were ready to play. If we looked bad, it's because of how well [Rhode Island] played, not how poorly we played.”

Junior Jon Scheyer

On Free Throw Shooting:
“I think after the last game we definitely didn't shoot free throws well. For myself I missed two and I was kind of upset with myself. I got back to the line a little bit and shot some extras. I think we shot them better tonight. It was a thing of having confidence at the line and knocking them down.”

“[I] do the same thing I do every time. I feel like I have been there before .Ever since I was young, when I was at a free throw line at a gym or something, I would imagine myself in pressure situations, so when I am actually in those situations it seems normal.”

“They were a really good team - we knew that coming in. Obviously they played really well, and we haven't played in a high-level game like that yet. [Jimmy] Baron didn't miss tonight. He hit some pretty tough shots and I though we played pretty good defense for the most part. Guys made big plays down the stretch, we had two huge stops, and I thought Kyle [Singler] played unbelievable defense on that last possession to get that last stop.”

On Jimmy Baron:
“He's a great player. We wanted to win so bad and we'd get it down to a two-point game and then he'd hit a three and it'd go to five. We would come back down and score and then they would score. It was a game where it was hard to stop people. Ultimately, we knew we were getting good shots and opportunities. We just needed to get stops. Finally when we did that, we were able to get the win. If he was going to hit that last shot at the buzzer, that's tough. You think eventually he's going to miss. I thought Kyle played defense and then he missed a couple of shots down the stretch, but obviously he kept them in it most of the second half.”

“We're winners and we want to win bad. For us in a game like that, we had to go get that win. Nothing was going to be handed to us. It was a really tough game to win because obviously they shot really well and defensively they're big and athletic. We're not bigger than them, faster than them or taller. It was a really good matchup.”

“Especially going into New York and the rest of the season, I don't know if anybody's played a game like this yet. Rhode Island obviously is a great team and they showed that today. To beat a team like that this early and get tested at home and come out with a win is a great thing for us.”

Sophomore Kyle Singler

On Free Throw Shooting:
“I tried clearing my head. You can't let anything get to you. I knew we were down on all four them. I needed to sink them for the team to win. I stepped up with confidence and knocked them.”

“I think last game we didn't really shoot free throws well. "Tonight we shot them well and shot them with confidence. Sometimes you are going to have games when you don't shoot them well and you're going to have games when you shoot them well. We practice game free throw shots and tonight they paid off.”

“I think in the first half things were a little stagnant. We didn't really get into a flow. Jon [Scheyer] played very well for us in the first half and even in the second half. He had a great game. As the game progressed, we played better and that's the sign of a good team, where whenever it counts, we kind of turn it up. You don't want to see it that way, but we were able to get stops when we needed to and we converted baskets when we needed to.”

“[Jimmy] Baron is a good player and a good shooter. It is kind of deflating when you see him just knock down basket after basket. We knew we were going to score the ball, but it was just a matter of getting stops. We weren't able to get a lot of stops throughout the game, but when we needed to and when it counted, we got stops. We didn't rebound the ball as well as we wanted to on the defensive end, but we got the rebounds when we needed to.”

“It's actually a very good game to play in heading into New York because they're the type of team we'll be playing when we're in New York. It kind of gives us a perspective on things. I'm not going to say we played bad or Rhode Island is a better team, but they are a good team and they played tough. They knocked down tough shots. At some times I think we played too hard and kind of got hurt from it, like back doors.”

Senior David McClure

“Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] told us that Baron was going to be a J.J. [Redick]? type shooter. He said he had a very similar style of player and he showed it. He came into Cameron and stepped up and hit some big shots. It's definitely a game that we're going to need on our resume down the road.”

“I thought down the stretch we did a really good job of playing defense and that was big. We forced them to go away from what they do normally. That's a big thing in a game like this.”

“You knew that they were going to go to [Baron]. He was the hot hand and he was their guy. I think everybody wanted to guard him because everybody wanted to be the guy to stop him. Everybody felt that they were doing all that they could do.”

“Fortunately in my younger days I got a chance to guard a guy named J.J. Redick everyday in practice, so I'd seen some of those going in in the past. It's kind of different when it's happening against you in a crunch game like that. You do wonder what you can do, but we stayed strong. It put a lot of pressure on us and I think it showed where we are as a team.”

Rhode Island Coach Jim Baron

Opening Statement:
“I thought it was a hard fought game. I am really proud of the way our guys played. Duke, I really think, is a Final Four team. I am just really proud of our guys. We didn't get intimidated by the crowd. We played to win the game. We played aggressive. We kept attacking the bucket. I thought we had some bad fouls to put them on the foul line. I thought we really rebounded the basketball, especially in the first half. They are a very good team. They have a lot of weapons. But I tell you, I couldn't be more proud of our kids coming in here, after we played Friday night. They put their heart out there. I'm really proud of the way our kids really stepped up. It came down to shooting free throws. Our guys really fought the fight.”

On turning it around so quickly after Friday night's game:
“When you have some inexperience, I told the guys to just keep moving forward. I think this team is going to grow as we go along. We really talked about rebounding the basketball, and our guys really stepped up. I thought [both Delroy James and Jimmy Baron] really stepped up and made some plays. I thought Jason Francis, who really hasn't played at all, came in and gave us some great minutes. We turned it over more than I would have liked.”

On the final seconds:
“We wanted to get it to Jimmy [Baron]. He was hot. [Duke] ended up putting a 6-7 or 6-8 kid on him. I thought [Jimmy] got a great look. I thought we went to the glass really hard, because we wanted to score on the glass. It happened to go off us.”

On Jimmy Baron:
“He is a special young man. He works his tail off. The guys really saw him coming off the screens. Again, he has worked his tail off, and I can't be more proud of what he's done and how hard he has worked to prepare himself. [Duke] put every guy possible on him. They were switching, changing defenses on him. He just stepped up and kept us ahead.”

Junior Delroy James

On playing in Cameron:
“We just came here to play basketball. A lot of people who come into Cameron Indoor already lose before they even play basketball. So we have come in here and blocked the crowd out.”

Senior Jimmy Baron

On Duke's defense and his day:
“I thought Duke did a really a good job fighting the screens. A lot of the shots we hit, especially the shots I hit, came off dribble penetration. I had to create my shot. Duke's guards, (Jon) Scheyer, (Greg) Paulus, (Nolan) Smith, and (Kyle) Singler, when they switched out, did a really a good job fighting the screens.”