Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus UCF on October 21, 2025 at 7 p.m.
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7 p.m.
Men's Basketball
vs UCF
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Quotes: Duke 82, Xavier 64
12/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
"Our kids played a heck of a game. The defense was outstanding. We talked so well and had switches and we played off their five to clog up the lanes so we wouldn't foul. They were averaging 35 free throws a game because they are so balanced and they are a really good team. Offensively, we really executed well. Our two wings had fabulous games. (Jon) Scheyer and G (Gerald Henderson) were outstanding. Brian Zoubek had four blocks and had some really nice passes. We played really well as a team and we beat a real good team. I am happy about our team coming off the exams. I thought the Asheville game really set us up for this because we had a great second half against Asheville."
"It's one of those halves that's unexpected against an outstanding team. We were very well prepared. Our team mentally took a step up, I could feel it. They prepared so well these last two days. I knew we were going to play well, I didn't know we were going to win because they are a good team. We played great. You know what I think with Jon (Scheyer), Jon wants to be a player that sometimes doesn't look for a shot and by the time the shot is there the place he is looking for, the shot passed. He should look for a shot first and then make a play. If he didn't have a shot, he can make a play. Jon's been a good leader for us."
"If we could bottle that first half we would be pretty good. Tournament type situations and they expose your weaknesses and sometimes they can create a strength that hasn't been seen before because it's a necessity to play well. In this arena not just this arena but this type of arena. It's just a good thing win or lose it would be a great game for us. When you win you're a lot happier. We saw some things in preparation for this game even in our work out today I could tell the veterans were a little bit more mature. Not that they're giddy, they're getting a little bit older."
"We won a big game at Purdue. We played much better today, we played great today. This was crazy good. This place has been a magical place for us and also for NCAA basketball. We go on the court, I don't go out until the last few minutes and I was just really jacked up for the game and the court looked great. It was a court that had one (three-point) line; they had Duke in one Xavier in another (lane). It was really classy. I told my staff I said you know what, it's like going to the best restaurant. It was done well. They had an NBA game last night and they have one tonight. They have to bust their rear ends to make that happen. I just think that extra attention sets the stage for some good things. They have always done that. They have always done that. It's always been an honor for us to be here. Having that one damn line is better, it's just better."
"Well we try to get a national, not that the national teams from New Jersey are bad but just to someone who we know is going to be a top 10 team or a high seed. Last year we played Pittsburg. One of the greatest game we ever played was against Texas here. J.J. got 42 and we were number one and they were number two or vise versa."
Duke Junior Jon Scheyer
"It felt good. I don't feel like I've been getting many bounces this year. It's good when you get a win like this. We played really together and made the extra passes except for maybe the beginning of the second half. Besides that, we made the extra passes, played together and we created shots for other people rather than create them for ourselves. That's a big dimension that our team has had recently. It was big for us. For us obviously we always need to be hungry when we step on the floor. When we won against Michigan we won as a team and I think for us it's a big learning experience. Every night when we step on the floor we have to play like we did today."
Duke Junior Gerald Henderson
"I don't think this game was a wake-up call. I'd say more we had to evaluate where our team was. Obviously we know we're a very good team when we play a certain way like we did today. We can't have games where a completely different team. If we're going to achieve the things we want to achieve we have to play consistent Duke basketball every game. We didn't want to just think the second half that we were going to win the game. We really just wanted to uphold our standards. That's what it's really all about ? performance. We had a pretty good grip on the game but we really wanted to see how good we were."
Duke Senior Greg Paulus
"Obviously Xavier has had such a rich tradition in the last decade. We wanted to come out and get a quick start. Did we expect it to be that type start? I think that you hope for it and you want it to be that way. We knew that Xavier was going to keep fighting and keep scrapping and keep coming at us. We didn't want to let our guard down and let that 15/16-point lead go down to seven or eight. That way they couldn't creep back and get some confidence. We tried to keep doing what we did in the first four minutes of the game. Whenever I'm out there I'm ready to go. We're going to take our shots; we usually take pretty good shots. Whenever we make the extra pass we make connecting plays on offense. Usually we shoot a high percentage offensively."
Players Mentioned
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