Why No. 3 Duke basketball may benefit from tough schedule, loss to Texas Tech
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Scheyer scheduled elite nonconference opponents to test and expose team flaws.
- Loss to Texas Tech revealed free-throw issues and limited offensive rebounds.
- Scheyer views 11-1 growth as preparation for ACC and March tournament push.
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer’s eyes had a touch of both pain and anger late Saturday night.
It was understandable. His third-ranked Blue Devils had just suffered their first loss of the season, an 82-81 defeat at the hands of No. 19 Texas Tech in the SentinelOne Classic at Madison Square Garden.
Good coaches always second-guess themselves first, and Scheyer did that. Which move, which decision could he have made better to give his team the winning edge?
“I’m sure I’m going to kick myself,” he said.
There also were many things to pinpoint in a tight loss, and Scheyer did that, too: Duke missed 12 free throws. The Blue Devils had just six offensive rebounds. Their first-shot defense, Scheyer said, could have been better. They could have done a better job against the Red Raiders’ Christian Anderson, the sophomore guard who ignited for 23 of his 27 points in the second half and made big shot after big shot down the stretch.
“You let a good player like him see one go in, and it changes the confidence, changes the dynamic of the game,” Scheyer said.
MSG usually kind to Duke
Duke had won nine straight games at Madison Square Garden and 10 of the past 11. Duke players call it “Cameron North.” They had beaten Kansas at the Garden earlier this season, and led by as many as 17 points in the second half Saturday. Many in Saturday’s sellout crowd of 19,812 wore Duke blue, although there was a nice — and rowdy — collection of Texas Tech fans.
Scheyer recalled losing at the Garden when he was playing at Duke and how horrible that one felt.
“I hate it for them. I’ve been in their shoes as a player,” he said. “When I was a sophomore we played Pitt in the same building, and we lost in overtime. I took a shot to win it in overtime at the buzzer.”
Scheyer missed nine of his 10 shots, including all four of his 3-pointers, and scored four points in the game. Duke, which was 10-0, took a 65-64 loss to the undefeated Panthers.
“It’s the sickest feeling,” he said.
Scheyer thinks bigger picture
But instead of dwelling on how it unfolded Saturday night, in losing a 17-point second-half lead against Texas Tech, Scheyer preferred to take a big-picture, 12-game view of his team. Yes, he would like to be taking a 12-0 view. But to go 11-1 against the schedule Scheyer pieced together this season has given him more than a snapshot of where his team stands going into the Blue Devils’ ACC season, beginning Dec. 31 against Georgia Tech.
The Blue Devils had some easy wins. But Scheyer also scheduled a preseason exhibition game at Tennessee. He had Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, Michigan State and Texas Tech lined up as nonconference games, along with the Florida game in the ACC/SEC Challenge.
Before Saturday’s game, nearly all the metrics about this Duke team were good, positive, impressive. They were ranked in the top 10 in offensive and defensive efficiency in the KenPom.com rating. Freshman Cameron Boozer was making a case, game after game, as the nation’s best player, stacking double-doubles.
Of note: Boozer was the only Division I player in the past 30 seasons to have at least 250 points, 100 rebounds and 40 assists in his first 11 college games. He has been that good.
“At the end of the day, the loss is going to sit with me until we play again,” Scheyer said. “But you learn so much more playing the schedule that we have.
“There’s no silver lining or rationalizing. I think the biggest thing is putting our team in a position to be our best in March. That’s why we played the schedule. We’ve got to continue to win and earn our way there.”
The Blue Devils won the ACC championship and reached the Final Four a year ago amid the brilliance of Cooper Flagg. the No. 1 pick of the 2025 NBA draft, and a starting lineup that had Kon Knueppel, now doing his own thing with the Charlotte Hornets.
This Duke team has Cameron Boozer at its centerpiece and Scheyer has been using nine players, which he said was an unusual number for him. It’s still putting the pieces together as Scheyer and his staff decide on the right combinations.
“For our group, we’ve learned a lot,” he said. “I didn’t know how good we would be. I can sit here now and say, ‘We can do whatever we want to do, it’s there for us.’ But we’ve got to work at it.
“We have to have great humility, understanding how precious these games are. And we’ve got to be ready to come back for ACC play.”
This story was originally published December 22, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
