Opening Statement:
“Juan [Dixon] had his team really well prepared and they are old … they’re men. They reminded me a lot of Stephen F. Austin from
last year. We showed how young we were today. They sensed it. Some of these kids are four years older than us and they’ve been
through it. They are great kids and it was a chance for them and they played their butts off. They were more physical than us and
we had so many unforced turnovers. We had 22 turnovers and they were like ‘how did that happen?’. They played good defense but
it’s a containment defense so you shouldn’t turn it over as much. If you get 22 turnovers in a game and go 4-for-10 from the free
throw line, it’s a recipe for disaster. Our rebounding was excellent -- we had 50 rebounds. Our two young guards really came and
helped us. There was a lot of game pressure on our team today. It’s such an unusual atmosphere and there’s no pressure on the
other team. None. Especially for a young team at home, there can be a lot of game pressure because you’re supposed to win.
You’re supposed to win and win at home except home isn’t like it has been.
Obviously, Jeremy [Roach] helped with his leadership
and DJ [Steward] really came through. We really put ourselves in a position, and they [Coppin State] put us in that position too,
where there was an immense amount of game pressure down to six points. During that time period, some guys really stepped
forward. DJ hit some big buckets, Matthew Hurt hit a big three and although he had limited minutes, [Jaemyn] Brakefield really
helped us. We have a lot to do but give them credit. They played well and they got to the free throw line. That’s another thing you
have to adjust to in not having a game yet or a scrimmage are the fouls. They’re touch fouls -- you have to keep your hands off
people. You’re not really gaining an advantage because your habits aren’t there yet. It’s your first collegiate game and all the
sudden, [Anthony Tarke] backed you down. He’s 230, 6’6” and if you don’t use your forearm and use your hand, it’s a foul. There’s
so much to learn from.”
On cleaning up turnovers:
“Obviously we work on it every day. It’s tough to explain some of those turnovers. You throw the ball across the half court and you
throw it out of bounds. Why would you even be looking there? Or you leave your feet. I don’t know if there were some jitters. But
again, they [Coppin State] played solid defense. In the history of me being here, he [Juan Dixon] is one of the greatest competitors
we’ve ever faced and one of the great guys with his Maryland teams. They played with that toughness. We’ll work on it. You won’t
win many games if you turn it over 22 times. We’re shooting over 50% from the floor and that’s 22 times you didn’t get a shot. And
you gave them a run out in some of those. Overall, our defense was pretty good, but not on those run outs.”
SOPHOMORE FORWARD WENDELL MOORE JR.
When asked what Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski was telling the team when it was struggling in the second half:
“The main thing he was telling us was just to play hard. We felt like we were playing not as hard as we could, and, in turn, giving up easy baskets
that we shouldn’t have given up. So his main message to us was to play hard and keep taking care of the ball.”
On Duke’s turnovers:
“We just have to be stronger and more under control. Playing a team like [Coppin State], they have a lot of older guys who’ve played a lot of
college basketball. So they’re coming in here hungry, trying to take something that’s ours, also on our home floor. The biggest thing for us is to
be strong because teams know we’re young so they’re going to try to attack that.”
When asked why he thought Duke made as many mistakes as it did today:
“I don’t think it was so much about the practice or the chemistry. It was just a matter of us being stronger with the ball. We can’t allow older
teams to come in and be more physical than us because we’re younger. I felt like we kind of allowed that to happen at some points in the game
tonight where [Coppin State] would get a couple of steals and go on a couple of runs, and I think because we’re so young, we had a hard time
figuring it out, myself included. I’m supposed to be a leader on this team, so it’s supposed to be my job to kind of fix that when it happens. I
didn’t do as good of a job as I could tonight. That’s something we just have to improve on going forward – our leadership.”
COPPIN STATE HEAD COACH JUAN DIXON
Opening Statement:
“We came out kind of slow defensively, but in the second half we were able to pick it up a little bit. Executed our principles, which
we did a much better job of in the second half, but we have a lot of work to do. This is a very good Duke Basketball team. This game
should give us a lot of confidence. We missed some shots. I think we probably cut the lead to five or six late in the second half, but
we’re super excited about the guys’ effort and we’re going to continue to get better. We have Dejuan Clayton and Anthony Tarke
leading our team. Those guys were super aggressive today making plays on both ends of the floor.”
On the Impact Anthony Tarke Has On the Program:
“(Anthony Tarke) means so much. He’s a game-changer for us. When we started this recruiting process in April with Tarke, it’s a
guy we knew could take this program to a level where it’s never been. Just his length, his athleticism, his toughness and we give
Anthony a lot of freedom. He’s never had this much freedom, hand on the basketball, making plays. The kid is an elite defender.
He’s showing people he can handle the ball, make plays and get to the basket. I’m super excited for his future. This is a kid. You
know, they’ve got a ton of five-stars on the other side but like I told my guys, we develop five-stars and that’s very important to us
as a staff. We take pride in that. Our guys went out and competed. You know, we missed some opportunities but this is game we
can get better from once we watch film.”
On the Atmosphere in Cameron:
“It definitely affected the game-plan. With the masks, it’s hard for us to communicate with our players. It was loud out there. Duke
applied pressure for 40 minutes on our guards, so we just wanted to give our guards the freedom to go out there and make plays.
We definitely don’t want them out there thinking. We want them playing off their instincts. We’re very fortunate to have Dejaun
Clayton. He’s a guy that’s been a cornerstone of our program for many years and now he has his partner in Anthony Tarke. So,
we’re extremely excited about our season and we truly believe we can do something special. If our guys can play against this top10 team like this, we feel as though we can compete with any team in the country, and with short bodies. Justin Steers, 6’7, a long
athletic four. Bryce Hunt, who plays the five at 6’7, 230. So, we’re like right there. Reggie James ruptured his Achilles and we’re
looking to add another big during the conference season, so we’re right there man. We’re good. It’s good film to learn from.”
