Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Kansas on November 18, 2025 at 9 p.m.
.png&width=24&height=24&type=webp)
Men's Basketball
vs Kansas
Quotes: Duke 103, Long Beach State 81
12/30/2015 8:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
“I thought [Long Beach State] played really well. Obviously they're a tough team to defend. We scored a lot of points. We gave up a lot of points and we won. To end up the non-conference 11-2 is really good. Now that's in the bank and we have to get ready for conference. We'll be anxious to do that and start off really well at Boston College.”
On the team's ability to score a lot of points:
“We have good scorers and if we're ready and play off one another we have the ability to put points up. In the first half for a long time I didn't think we were that. I thought the zone stood us up and we were just kind of casual. We weren't attacking hard enough. The big thing is when you're attacking and you get fouled, then you score when the clock is off. So you're going to score more points in a half if you score when the clock is going and when the clock is stopped.”
On Grayson Allen's play this evening:
“I still think Grayson can play better, but he obviously was a godsend today or else we had a chance of losing. He has the ability to draw fouls in addition to shoot and score. So you have a greater chance of putting up a lot of points if you get to the free throw line. Then if you have a combination between a two and a three-point shooter it's the epitome of having a scorer because you're really good at all three areas, twos, threes and free throws. Grayson can do that. Actually Brandon [Ingram] can do that. We need to get Luke [Kennard] in a consistent basis doing that. Then you become tough to defend. I thought they did a really good job. The kid [Noah] Blackwell and [A.J.] Spencer – they've been in a lot of big games in big arenas. They had Oregon, they had UCLA with a minute-and-a-half to go – they had a chance to beat them there. They had Arizona so they've been to a lot of places so I thought they were very poised and handled themselves offensively. Because they had five guards out on the floor at times they can be difficult to defend. They work, they work. I thought they did a good job.”
On controlling individual foul trouble with limited bench:
“We've always been aware of team fouls and individual fouls so we teach that from the beginning. You're in the double bonus, you want to drive more. We play our guys too when they've had fouls so they get accustomed. Derryck [Thornton] had three fouls – I thought his third foul was a tough call, I thought he was pushed off, but he got it. So now do you start him in the second half? Yes. How do you learn unless you're in that position. He did a good job. He didn't get his fourth until about five minutes. Brandon [Ingram] had two and he played most of the first half. So you try to put them in those situations so while they're playing these games they're learn from experience more so than from being told. Our guys did a good job of staying in the ball game with foul trouble.”
On whether he actually considered not playing Grayson Allen against Utah:
“No. I'm very much a players' coach. Everything is geared for the player and their personal lives for at least the past three decades. If I'm sick I want to play. My mom and dad and my brother show up to work every day. As long as he is willing to do it and I've had guys who have been sick who have gone for 25. You don't win by following some formula set up. If we had a last shot I might set it up for him even though he's 3-for-18 because what the hell? I believe in him. I believe in him if he's sick or if he's tired. I believe him getting the job done. When we didn't, let's learn from it. He was bad for about three or four days. It was good that we didn't play after that. He's rounding into shape now.”
On the team heading into ACC play:
“I'd like Amile [Jefferson] to be healthy. We're just going to try to keep doing our best and try to win. It was nice to close out non-conference 11-2, a good schedule. Overall, we've improved a lot. It was our 125th straight win in non-conference here. It's not big news because it's us, but it's pretty big news. To spend 16 years not losing any non-conference at home. I'm proud of my guys for continuing that tradition. I hope we can not lose conference. That would be even better. We're proud of those things and we're 11-2. And now we're 0-0. It's not like football. You have to earn it now and be really good in your conference and earn the right to play in a tournament where only one team wins. There has to be a toughness that's developed and we have to continue to get there.”
Duke Junior Matt Jones
“I felt that the guys were ready to play. I felt like guys' heads were in it. Obviously, coming out of the gates, they came out harder than we did. We didn't come out with the energy that we were expecting, so we've just got to fix that up.”
When asked what Coach Mike Krzyzewski said to the team at the first media timeout of the first half:
“He was definitely disappointed. We were disappointed in ourselves. Coach K, he gives his heart in the game, night in and night out, so that was just him trying to revamp our team, kind of just giving us energy and hoping that it seeped through to the rest of the team.”
On the upcoming ACC regular season schedule:
“We're excited. We're getting prepared. Obviously, we have young guys that have never been in ACC play, so it's up to us veterans to really just make sure that they know that any day you can lose. We've got a really good Boston College team [on Saturday], so we just have to prepare ourselves and know that we have to be ready for a fight.”
Duke Sophomore Grayson Allen
“They were in their zone most of the game, and I felt like they were staying out on our shooters a lot, so I felt like I could really penetrate the middle and, if there wasn't a kickout, attack the basket and just keep going. I just started to see it as the game was going by. Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] wanted us to be more active on offense when we were attacking their zone. I just saw lanes to drive out there, and as the game went on, I was able to see them quicker and more often.”
When asked what Coach Mike Krzyzewski said to the team at the first media timeout of the first half:
“We just needed to come out stronger. We came out flat. They came out strong and they attacked us and came right at us, and we came out soft and kind of backed down away from them. We can't do that and [Coach Mike Krzyzewski] saw it and he got the message across to all of us.”
On what Duke did differently in the second half as compared to their sluggish first half:
“We just picked it up. I think it's that simple. We didn't really come out as strong as we needed to [in the first half], so as the game went on, thankfully we picked it up as a team.”
“I think it would've been nice if we would've come out and played all 40 minutes like we needed to, but they were a really good team. They attacked us and they played very hard. That's a good test to get us ready for the ACC [regular season schedule].”
Long Beach State Head Coach Dan Monson
Opening Statement:
“I brought my two boys with me because they're the only two guys on our bench that didn't have a turnover today, so they're the only ones I allowed to come with me, but we struggled and that's why we played this game. You can't simulate that kind of pressure that they put on us and you can't simulate that kind of foul pressure, driving. We've been struggling defensively through this stretch. They're as good of an example as you can have and we know what we need to work on next year. I really appreciate Coach Krzyzewski letting us come in here and it's an honor to play in here and play in here in this historic program and building and I wish we would have played a little bit better. We were a little short-handed inside and obviously the fouls mounted on us. We just could not control them on the offensive end. You don't want to give up 100 points to anybody. I know they're one of the best offensive teams in America but it's embarrassing to give 100 points to anybody. We didn't represent ourselves quite as good as we wanted to.”
On defending Grayson Allen:
“Well, yeah, we needed to keep him in front of us and make him shoot over us. He either got around us or we fouled him on the bounce. We needed to make him more of a jump shooter. I haven't seen it, but I think if you look at a shot chart, he had 33 points and he had half of them at the foul line, and I'd say he had most of the rest of them, he had two threes. I'd say the other 24, I'm a math major but it's from Idaho, so I don't know how much that counts. So he had however many, and the rest of it's got to be from the paint.”
Opening Statement:
“I thought [Long Beach State] played really well. Obviously they're a tough team to defend. We scored a lot of points. We gave up a lot of points and we won. To end up the non-conference 11-2 is really good. Now that's in the bank and we have to get ready for conference. We'll be anxious to do that and start off really well at Boston College.”
On the team's ability to score a lot of points:
“We have good scorers and if we're ready and play off one another we have the ability to put points up. In the first half for a long time I didn't think we were that. I thought the zone stood us up and we were just kind of casual. We weren't attacking hard enough. The big thing is when you're attacking and you get fouled, then you score when the clock is off. So you're going to score more points in a half if you score when the clock is going and when the clock is stopped.”
On Grayson Allen's play this evening:
“I still think Grayson can play better, but he obviously was a godsend today or else we had a chance of losing. He has the ability to draw fouls in addition to shoot and score. So you have a greater chance of putting up a lot of points if you get to the free throw line. Then if you have a combination between a two and a three-point shooter it's the epitome of having a scorer because you're really good at all three areas, twos, threes and free throws. Grayson can do that. Actually Brandon [Ingram] can do that. We need to get Luke [Kennard] in a consistent basis doing that. Then you become tough to defend. I thought they did a really good job. The kid [Noah] Blackwell and [A.J.] Spencer – they've been in a lot of big games in big arenas. They had Oregon, they had UCLA with a minute-and-a-half to go – they had a chance to beat them there. They had Arizona so they've been to a lot of places so I thought they were very poised and handled themselves offensively. Because they had five guards out on the floor at times they can be difficult to defend. They work, they work. I thought they did a good job.”
On controlling individual foul trouble with limited bench:
“We've always been aware of team fouls and individual fouls so we teach that from the beginning. You're in the double bonus, you want to drive more. We play our guys too when they've had fouls so they get accustomed. Derryck [Thornton] had three fouls – I thought his third foul was a tough call, I thought he was pushed off, but he got it. So now do you start him in the second half? Yes. How do you learn unless you're in that position. He did a good job. He didn't get his fourth until about five minutes. Brandon [Ingram] had two and he played most of the first half. So you try to put them in those situations so while they're playing these games they're learn from experience more so than from being told. Our guys did a good job of staying in the ball game with foul trouble.”
On whether he actually considered not playing Grayson Allen against Utah:
“No. I'm very much a players' coach. Everything is geared for the player and their personal lives for at least the past three decades. If I'm sick I want to play. My mom and dad and my brother show up to work every day. As long as he is willing to do it and I've had guys who have been sick who have gone for 25. You don't win by following some formula set up. If we had a last shot I might set it up for him even though he's 3-for-18 because what the hell? I believe in him. I believe in him if he's sick or if he's tired. I believe him getting the job done. When we didn't, let's learn from it. He was bad for about three or four days. It was good that we didn't play after that. He's rounding into shape now.”
On the team heading into ACC play:
“I'd like Amile [Jefferson] to be healthy. We're just going to try to keep doing our best and try to win. It was nice to close out non-conference 11-2, a good schedule. Overall, we've improved a lot. It was our 125th straight win in non-conference here. It's not big news because it's us, but it's pretty big news. To spend 16 years not losing any non-conference at home. I'm proud of my guys for continuing that tradition. I hope we can not lose conference. That would be even better. We're proud of those things and we're 11-2. And now we're 0-0. It's not like football. You have to earn it now and be really good in your conference and earn the right to play in a tournament where only one team wins. There has to be a toughness that's developed and we have to continue to get there.”
Duke Junior Matt Jones
“I felt that the guys were ready to play. I felt like guys' heads were in it. Obviously, coming out of the gates, they came out harder than we did. We didn't come out with the energy that we were expecting, so we've just got to fix that up.”
When asked what Coach Mike Krzyzewski said to the team at the first media timeout of the first half:
“He was definitely disappointed. We were disappointed in ourselves. Coach K, he gives his heart in the game, night in and night out, so that was just him trying to revamp our team, kind of just giving us energy and hoping that it seeped through to the rest of the team.”
On the upcoming ACC regular season schedule:
“We're excited. We're getting prepared. Obviously, we have young guys that have never been in ACC play, so it's up to us veterans to really just make sure that they know that any day you can lose. We've got a really good Boston College team [on Saturday], so we just have to prepare ourselves and know that we have to be ready for a fight.”
Duke Sophomore Grayson Allen
“They were in their zone most of the game, and I felt like they were staying out on our shooters a lot, so I felt like I could really penetrate the middle and, if there wasn't a kickout, attack the basket and just keep going. I just started to see it as the game was going by. Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] wanted us to be more active on offense when we were attacking their zone. I just saw lanes to drive out there, and as the game went on, I was able to see them quicker and more often.”
When asked what Coach Mike Krzyzewski said to the team at the first media timeout of the first half:
“We just needed to come out stronger. We came out flat. They came out strong and they attacked us and came right at us, and we came out soft and kind of backed down away from them. We can't do that and [Coach Mike Krzyzewski] saw it and he got the message across to all of us.”
On what Duke did differently in the second half as compared to their sluggish first half:
“We just picked it up. I think it's that simple. We didn't really come out as strong as we needed to [in the first half], so as the game went on, thankfully we picked it up as a team.”
“I think it would've been nice if we would've come out and played all 40 minutes like we needed to, but they were a really good team. They attacked us and they played very hard. That's a good test to get us ready for the ACC [regular season schedule].”
Long Beach State Head Coach Dan Monson
Opening Statement:
“I brought my two boys with me because they're the only two guys on our bench that didn't have a turnover today, so they're the only ones I allowed to come with me, but we struggled and that's why we played this game. You can't simulate that kind of pressure that they put on us and you can't simulate that kind of foul pressure, driving. We've been struggling defensively through this stretch. They're as good of an example as you can have and we know what we need to work on next year. I really appreciate Coach Krzyzewski letting us come in here and it's an honor to play in here and play in here in this historic program and building and I wish we would have played a little bit better. We were a little short-handed inside and obviously the fouls mounted on us. We just could not control them on the offensive end. You don't want to give up 100 points to anybody. I know they're one of the best offensive teams in America but it's embarrassing to give 100 points to anybody. We didn't represent ourselves quite as good as we wanted to.”
On defending Grayson Allen:
“Well, yeah, we needed to keep him in front of us and make him shoot over us. He either got around us or we fouled him on the bounce. We needed to make him more of a jump shooter. I haven't seen it, but I think if you look at a shot chart, he had 33 points and he had half of them at the foul line, and I'd say he had most of the rest of them, he had two threes. I'd say the other 24, I'm a math major but it's from Idaho, so I don't know how much that counts. So he had however many, and the rest of it's got to be from the paint.”
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ 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
