Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Texas on November 4, 2025 at 8:45 p.m.
/
8:45 p.m.
Men's Basketball
vs Texas
.png&width=24&height=24&type=webp)
Quotes: Duke 99, Georgia Southern 65
12/15/2015 10:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
“Overall I thought we got better as the game went along. They play hard and well. They're a young team with a lot of guards so they spread you out. Coupled with Amile [Jefferson]'s injury and coming off exams, I thought we needed to make sure we'd pick up full court and get some energy. But I think that wasn't a good thing to do against them because they'll come down and break. When we went to a half-court defense for the rest of the ball game, that helped us out. We did a much better job with the ball screen then. Just a much better job defensively. A big thing was keeping them off the line. They're a team that drives and gets fouled a lot. We did a good job with that and rebounding. Look, it's a huge period of adjustment for us. You don't lose Amile and then, okay, everything's good. We had seven guys that were playing, Amile was our best big guy – he's right there with anybody with a double-double. It's a huge loss for us. What he did, in practice there was a loose ball and people diving. He has a fracture in his right foot. It's non-surgical, which is really good. He'll be out for an indefinite period of time because you don't know how long that will take. The fact that it has no surgery is really good. He'll be in a cast from now until the time after Utah and they go home, just so it's protected. And then when he comes back on the 26th, the cast will be off. He'll be in a boot and then be re-examined. Not that we expect him to be back during that time. He'll be out for an indefinite period of time and there's no way we can tell you how long because we don't know. Overall, the fact that there's no surgery is good. Obviously he's getting the best of care. We have to keep the ship afloat while he's gone. We don't have many guys. Brandon [Ingram] did a great job tonight, especially pursuing the ball, rebounding. He obviously made a couple of spectacular plays at the bucket, but the best thing he did was rebound. His pursuit of the ball was fantastic. That's what Amile has been doing. And so that part of it is good. We have to take a look at how we play defense, what do we do on defense because not every team is going to have four perimeter guys. They're going to have big guys. The wear and tear, a huge difference for us will be what we do in practice. We can absolutely have no contact in practice. The worst thing that can happen to us is to lose a guy on an injury in practice. We have to take good care of ourselves. What does that mean? How do you do that? How do you condition? We're going to eventually look at ways of conditioning unconventionally, not just sprints and things like that that will wear on their legs, but water, elliptical. We haven't come up with a plan yet, but we have to look at all those things. We can score, and two things that can stop you from scoring, besides the other team, are having tired legs and being in foul trouble, not being in the game. So we have to think of ways of us staying out of foul trouble and having fresh legs. That's where we're at. We're not feeling sorry for ourselves, we're good. I feel bad for him because he's having a sensational year. Not a good year, a sensational year.”
On making sure Ingram's emphasis on rebounding doesn't throw him off:
“It didn't tonight. I think it made him even more aggressive. We're trying some things at the four where there are some positives because that four position, we have a scorer there. It's been since Danny Ferry – we're the ones who invented that. We've been doing that for almost 30 years. We do it with the U.S. team – that's where I put LeBron [James] and [Kevin] Durant. If they're available we'll take them too. I'm not concerned on offense except they're going to go at him. They're going to go at him. And then Grayson [Allen]'s such a powerful player. He got hit pretty good twice. You're [that far] away from not having another guy. We've got slim pickings right now and we've got to be really careful. How we play defense will be a key so we can keep our guys fresh and out of foul trouble. We don't have that plan yet.”
On the number of underclass players in the game and whether that's the new reality:
“It's not for us in this scenario, but for them it is because they had a great year last year. They were, I think, 22 or 23 and nine. Their coach did a great job with them. They have good players. They're just young. I think they'll keep getting better. They play a style where they're pretty aggressive. But for us, we're going to have young guys because guys go pro. That's the way it is.”
Duke Senior Marshall Plumlee
“I was very proud of our effort, particularly Brandon Ingram. A theme tonight was rebounding, and he really took that to heart and the stat sheet shows that. And they weren't just easy rebounds. I feel like he got a lot of rebounds in traffic, and that's something that Amile [Jefferson] was so tremendous at. It's really nice to see that out of Brandon, but everyone did a good job.”
On Brandon Ingram's rebounding performance tonight:
“It's something we know he's capable of, but to see it tonight, to actually see it in action, it's pretty impressive – to see a guy that athletic, that long, that quick, to be able to move his feet like that and get into position and make the plays that he's made. Again, it's something we knew he could do, but when you see it happen it's impressive. It's a really good feeling to know that even though we lost one of our biggest strengths [in Amile Jefferson], we have a lot of other big strengths on the team, and we're still finding out more strengths about our team. It's a process. We just try to get better every day, win every day. Whether it's a practice or a game, we want to win and get better.”
On the loss of Amile Jefferson to injury:
“In my opinion, he's one of the most underrated players in the country. In that sense, not only does he bring points and rebounding to the table and the energy, there are so many intangibles he brings to the table as well. I think it'll be pretty hard for one person alone to pick all that up, but as a team, how can we come together and bring that to the table, bring what Amile brought. He couldn't have been a better captain up to this point, a better leader. He's really shown some consistency and maturity that we should all try to emulate. It's a team effort. No one person is going to try to take up everything Amile did, but as a team we can come together and hit some of those intangibles he was so great at. As always, Amile continues to impress me with his attitude. Even now, in the most adverse of situations, he has a great attitude, and he was just as happy for everyone on the floor tonight. While he was sidelined, he was a coach to a lot of guys. He was in my ear telling me how I could play better. His presence goes so much beyond what happens on the court, so Amile is great for our team in a lot of ways. I love him like a brother.”
Duke Junior Matt Jones
“I think for starters we had to rebound better as guards. You saw a different Brandon [Ingram] out there – he had 14 rebounds I think. Overall, I felt like that was a focal point for us – for guards to rebound better because I know, with Amile out, he rebounded most of the balls for us. With that missing, we had to just kind of pick up the slack.”
“It was more like a team effort. Not one guy had to do anything different, but overall as a team, we knew we just had to pick it up. We're just going to need a lot of growth over the next couple of weeks. We're not too worried about it. We have a lot of competitors on this team, and everybody on this team can play. So 'next man up' is our motto.”
On how Duke will make up for Amile Jefferson's rebounding:
“We just have to be mature. That's part of the game, rebounding. Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] has confidence in us, both on and off the court and on both ends of the court. We just have to shoot the ball with conviction and if we do that, we'll be fine.”
Duke Freshman Brandon Ingram
On his stepped up second half performance:
“[It was just] the way the game was flowing. We just knew we had to pick up the slack. We ended the first half well and were just going back to it. After the first half, we knew we had to pick it up in the second half.”
On the keys to his rebounding in the game tonight:
“[The keys were] talking and defensively getting on the boards, just listening to my guys, all the captains and Coach K. We had a gameplan coming in, and we did everything we could to [execute] it. Going after balls and being aggressive, you always expect it to be in your hands. It feels great and I know it feels great for my teammates, just having confidence in me and I have confidence in them.”
Georgia Southern Head Coach Mark Byington
Opening Statement:
“I want to first thank Coach K for playing us. He has the option to play teams, and I knew coming into a game like this was going to be a tremendous learning experience. I have the utmost respect for Coach K, and I wanted our guys to see their culture. How hard they played today kind of knocked us back, it put us on our heels. Their offensive rebounds, when they missed shots they went and got it. I want our guys to learn that championship culture, and that is the way they are supposed to react. I have a young team, and I think they saw that. I am a guy that came to Coach K basketball camp when I was a kid, so to be in this gym and be able watch this, and go against them was a great experience for us. I wish that we would have competed more; I wish we would have battled a little more. I was proud of our guys, and I do not think they hesitated at all. I think they were aggressive and that is a big thing that we emphasized going into the game.”
On positives from young team:
“I know that I do not ever plan on doing this again [having a young team]. I know Coach K has done it, [John] Calipari has done it, and some other guys, but I was proud of how the guys competed early. To come in and ignore the environment, which is one of the best environments in the country was good. We have to fix some things defensively and understanding the important parts of the game. The biggest thing that I am going to take away is that I think we got talent, I think we got some guys that can play, and they just need the experience. I know that there is a Spanish proverb that hangs above my desk, actually right above a quote by Coach K, that says 'Experience is not always a kindest of teachers, but it surely is the best' and this was a great experience for us.”
On Georgia Southern freshman guard Tookie Brown:
“Tookie is 5'9 but he is tough. He is not scared of the moment, he is willing to make plays, he is willing to go in and compete, and that is what I want all of our guys to do. For a guy like him to be playing high school basketball last year and to come into Duke and really compete, I was proud of him.”
On fitting in their conference this year:
“There are some teams that are getting off to some great starts in our conference. We are going to deal with some teams that have similar size but not to this extent. There is similar size in our league but the difference is we don't see anybody like Brandon Ingram. Actually, most teams in the country don't see a guy like that, with his length and skill. I know that he is not the biggest guy in the world but he impressed me with his toughness tonight. He was really tough and went after everything. I knew that Grayson Allen was that way, but Brandon Ingram really impressed me tonight.”
On shooting four free throws compared to Duke's 32:
“Well, the 32 by Duke does not surprise me. They do a great job at attacking, and that is what they are building on and they attack, attack, attack. I did not know when our first free throw was going to come, but the referees did a good job, Duke did a great job at attacking. I wish we would have got to the line a little more, but bigger than that I wish we would have kept them off the line a lot more.”
Opening Statement:
“Overall I thought we got better as the game went along. They play hard and well. They're a young team with a lot of guards so they spread you out. Coupled with Amile [Jefferson]'s injury and coming off exams, I thought we needed to make sure we'd pick up full court and get some energy. But I think that wasn't a good thing to do against them because they'll come down and break. When we went to a half-court defense for the rest of the ball game, that helped us out. We did a much better job with the ball screen then. Just a much better job defensively. A big thing was keeping them off the line. They're a team that drives and gets fouled a lot. We did a good job with that and rebounding. Look, it's a huge period of adjustment for us. You don't lose Amile and then, okay, everything's good. We had seven guys that were playing, Amile was our best big guy – he's right there with anybody with a double-double. It's a huge loss for us. What he did, in practice there was a loose ball and people diving. He has a fracture in his right foot. It's non-surgical, which is really good. He'll be out for an indefinite period of time because you don't know how long that will take. The fact that it has no surgery is really good. He'll be in a cast from now until the time after Utah and they go home, just so it's protected. And then when he comes back on the 26th, the cast will be off. He'll be in a boot and then be re-examined. Not that we expect him to be back during that time. He'll be out for an indefinite period of time and there's no way we can tell you how long because we don't know. Overall, the fact that there's no surgery is good. Obviously he's getting the best of care. We have to keep the ship afloat while he's gone. We don't have many guys. Brandon [Ingram] did a great job tonight, especially pursuing the ball, rebounding. He obviously made a couple of spectacular plays at the bucket, but the best thing he did was rebound. His pursuit of the ball was fantastic. That's what Amile has been doing. And so that part of it is good. We have to take a look at how we play defense, what do we do on defense because not every team is going to have four perimeter guys. They're going to have big guys. The wear and tear, a huge difference for us will be what we do in practice. We can absolutely have no contact in practice. The worst thing that can happen to us is to lose a guy on an injury in practice. We have to take good care of ourselves. What does that mean? How do you do that? How do you condition? We're going to eventually look at ways of conditioning unconventionally, not just sprints and things like that that will wear on their legs, but water, elliptical. We haven't come up with a plan yet, but we have to look at all those things. We can score, and two things that can stop you from scoring, besides the other team, are having tired legs and being in foul trouble, not being in the game. So we have to think of ways of us staying out of foul trouble and having fresh legs. That's where we're at. We're not feeling sorry for ourselves, we're good. I feel bad for him because he's having a sensational year. Not a good year, a sensational year.”
On making sure Ingram's emphasis on rebounding doesn't throw him off:
“It didn't tonight. I think it made him even more aggressive. We're trying some things at the four where there are some positives because that four position, we have a scorer there. It's been since Danny Ferry – we're the ones who invented that. We've been doing that for almost 30 years. We do it with the U.S. team – that's where I put LeBron [James] and [Kevin] Durant. If they're available we'll take them too. I'm not concerned on offense except they're going to go at him. They're going to go at him. And then Grayson [Allen]'s such a powerful player. He got hit pretty good twice. You're [that far] away from not having another guy. We've got slim pickings right now and we've got to be really careful. How we play defense will be a key so we can keep our guys fresh and out of foul trouble. We don't have that plan yet.”
On the number of underclass players in the game and whether that's the new reality:
“It's not for us in this scenario, but for them it is because they had a great year last year. They were, I think, 22 or 23 and nine. Their coach did a great job with them. They have good players. They're just young. I think they'll keep getting better. They play a style where they're pretty aggressive. But for us, we're going to have young guys because guys go pro. That's the way it is.”
Duke Senior Marshall Plumlee
“I was very proud of our effort, particularly Brandon Ingram. A theme tonight was rebounding, and he really took that to heart and the stat sheet shows that. And they weren't just easy rebounds. I feel like he got a lot of rebounds in traffic, and that's something that Amile [Jefferson] was so tremendous at. It's really nice to see that out of Brandon, but everyone did a good job.”
On Brandon Ingram's rebounding performance tonight:
“It's something we know he's capable of, but to see it tonight, to actually see it in action, it's pretty impressive – to see a guy that athletic, that long, that quick, to be able to move his feet like that and get into position and make the plays that he's made. Again, it's something we knew he could do, but when you see it happen it's impressive. It's a really good feeling to know that even though we lost one of our biggest strengths [in Amile Jefferson], we have a lot of other big strengths on the team, and we're still finding out more strengths about our team. It's a process. We just try to get better every day, win every day. Whether it's a practice or a game, we want to win and get better.”
On the loss of Amile Jefferson to injury:
“In my opinion, he's one of the most underrated players in the country. In that sense, not only does he bring points and rebounding to the table and the energy, there are so many intangibles he brings to the table as well. I think it'll be pretty hard for one person alone to pick all that up, but as a team, how can we come together and bring that to the table, bring what Amile brought. He couldn't have been a better captain up to this point, a better leader. He's really shown some consistency and maturity that we should all try to emulate. It's a team effort. No one person is going to try to take up everything Amile did, but as a team we can come together and hit some of those intangibles he was so great at. As always, Amile continues to impress me with his attitude. Even now, in the most adverse of situations, he has a great attitude, and he was just as happy for everyone on the floor tonight. While he was sidelined, he was a coach to a lot of guys. He was in my ear telling me how I could play better. His presence goes so much beyond what happens on the court, so Amile is great for our team in a lot of ways. I love him like a brother.”
Duke Junior Matt Jones
“I think for starters we had to rebound better as guards. You saw a different Brandon [Ingram] out there – he had 14 rebounds I think. Overall, I felt like that was a focal point for us – for guards to rebound better because I know, with Amile out, he rebounded most of the balls for us. With that missing, we had to just kind of pick up the slack.”
“It was more like a team effort. Not one guy had to do anything different, but overall as a team, we knew we just had to pick it up. We're just going to need a lot of growth over the next couple of weeks. We're not too worried about it. We have a lot of competitors on this team, and everybody on this team can play. So 'next man up' is our motto.”
On how Duke will make up for Amile Jefferson's rebounding:
“We just have to be mature. That's part of the game, rebounding. Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] has confidence in us, both on and off the court and on both ends of the court. We just have to shoot the ball with conviction and if we do that, we'll be fine.”
Duke Freshman Brandon Ingram
On his stepped up second half performance:
“[It was just] the way the game was flowing. We just knew we had to pick up the slack. We ended the first half well and were just going back to it. After the first half, we knew we had to pick it up in the second half.”
On the keys to his rebounding in the game tonight:
“[The keys were] talking and defensively getting on the boards, just listening to my guys, all the captains and Coach K. We had a gameplan coming in, and we did everything we could to [execute] it. Going after balls and being aggressive, you always expect it to be in your hands. It feels great and I know it feels great for my teammates, just having confidence in me and I have confidence in them.”
Georgia Southern Head Coach Mark Byington
Opening Statement:
“I want to first thank Coach K for playing us. He has the option to play teams, and I knew coming into a game like this was going to be a tremendous learning experience. I have the utmost respect for Coach K, and I wanted our guys to see their culture. How hard they played today kind of knocked us back, it put us on our heels. Their offensive rebounds, when they missed shots they went and got it. I want our guys to learn that championship culture, and that is the way they are supposed to react. I have a young team, and I think they saw that. I am a guy that came to Coach K basketball camp when I was a kid, so to be in this gym and be able watch this, and go against them was a great experience for us. I wish that we would have competed more; I wish we would have battled a little more. I was proud of our guys, and I do not think they hesitated at all. I think they were aggressive and that is a big thing that we emphasized going into the game.”
On positives from young team:
“I know that I do not ever plan on doing this again [having a young team]. I know Coach K has done it, [John] Calipari has done it, and some other guys, but I was proud of how the guys competed early. To come in and ignore the environment, which is one of the best environments in the country was good. We have to fix some things defensively and understanding the important parts of the game. The biggest thing that I am going to take away is that I think we got talent, I think we got some guys that can play, and they just need the experience. I know that there is a Spanish proverb that hangs above my desk, actually right above a quote by Coach K, that says 'Experience is not always a kindest of teachers, but it surely is the best' and this was a great experience for us.”
On Georgia Southern freshman guard Tookie Brown:
“Tookie is 5'9 but he is tough. He is not scared of the moment, he is willing to make plays, he is willing to go in and compete, and that is what I want all of our guys to do. For a guy like him to be playing high school basketball last year and to come into Duke and really compete, I was proud of him.”
On fitting in their conference this year:
“There are some teams that are getting off to some great starts in our conference. We are going to deal with some teams that have similar size but not to this extent. There is similar size in our league but the difference is we don't see anybody like Brandon Ingram. Actually, most teams in the country don't see a guy like that, with his length and skill. I know that he is not the biggest guy in the world but he impressed me with his toughness tonight. He was really tough and went after everything. I knew that Grayson Allen was that way, but Brandon Ingram really impressed me tonight.”
On shooting four free throws compared to Duke's 32:
“Well, the 32 by Duke does not surprise me. They do a great job at attacking, and that is what they are building on and they attack, attack, attack. I did not know when our first free throw was going to come, but the referees did a good job, Duke did a great job at attacking. I wish we would have got to the line a little more, but bigger than that I wish we would have kept them off the line a lot more.”
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
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
