After losing to North Carolina 84-79 on his senior night, captain Jeremy Roach sat in front of his locker to talk to the media for presumably the last time at Cameron Indoor Stadium. His voice was low and his face stoic. He didn’t have much to say — he never has after a loss.
“I made some stupid plays throughout the whole game and that's the end of the story,” he said. “It’s really on me. There’s not much to say.”
The Leesburg, Va., native’s four-year impact is unquestionable. His list of on-court accolades is supplemented with character recognition like his two-year captainship. His March Madness heroics in 2022 etched his name into the Duke history books. He has four 20-point performances to his name this season and entered Saturday shooting 49.3% from the field.
On Saturday evening, after thanking (and being thanked by) his teammates, his former coach, his current coach and the fans who slept outside for weeks to see him play one last time, he just couldn’t close it out.
Roach shot 3-for-12, with two of those makes on four attempts from three. His only worse game inside the arc this season was against Miami, when neither of his two attempts fell. But then, he knocked down four treys and four foul shots for 16 points. His consistency from the line hasn’t faltered — he went 5-for-6 against the Tar Heels — but the performance from the captain wasn’t what the Blue Devil faithful expected in his last romp in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“I'm lucky because I'm able to coach guys that take responsibility,” head coach Scheyer said. “And so when we come back on Monday and talk about what we have to do better, it's not pointing the finger. It's not talking down. It's matter of fact …That's [Roach’s] mindset, that's his attitude. He's gonna get better from it.”
Don’t get me wrong: Roach’s shot selection was far from his best, but that loss does not fall squarely on his shoulders. It lies on freshman guard Jared McCain and his three first-half turnovers. It lies on graduate center Ryan Young and his three quick fouls. It lies on sophomore phenom Kyle Filipowski and his sluggish start. Fifteen-point deficits after eight minutes of play are not individual, and they are incredibly difficult to come back from. Scheyer’s squad was so close it could taste it — but it couldn’t quite cross that bridge.
This was a whole-team loss, and you could feel it as you walked into the locker room. It was heavy. Quiet. It didn’t echo the dejection after the Arkansas loss, or the exhaustion after Arizona won in Durham. This one felt different.
Last season, I sat in Scheyer’s press conference in John Paul Jones Arena after losing to Virginia on a blatant missed call. I heard him utter the words “I’m pissed.” That loss felt different.
That loss sparked a 10-game win streak and ACC tournament title. Combined with the demolition at Miami that same week and a players-only meeting, Duke lit a fire, and used that flame for as long as it could make it last. Last year, that limit was 10 games, to the Round of 32 in the NCAA tournament.
There were a few games this season that could have sparked a similar run. Blake Hinson standing on press row in front of the Crazies after taking down the Blue Devils on their home court. The first loss to North Carolina, where they also trailed by 15. The court-storming by Wake Forest. And there is no denying that Duke was the hottest team in the ACC over its previous 10 games with only two losses in that span.
The Blue Devils have recovered. They have surged back from deficits and played nearly every loss close. But there hasn’t been that moment, a turning point — or at least one that has stuck.
Would Scheyer prefer his team to enter the postseason with momentum or a vendetta?
Right now, he doesn’t have a choice.
Duke is the No. 2-seed in the ACC tournament, and barring upsets on either side of the bracket, is set up for a rematch against its rival in the championship game. It has the potential to play multiple rounds in the NCAA tournament. But it won’t get through without a fight, and something has to drive that.
Roach knows what it takes to win in the postseason. He knows how sweet that ACC title, that Final Four trip tastes. He knows what his team needs to do to get back there. He just needs to make sure everyone is on the same page and all in.
As his coach said, “it’s go-time now.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.
Rachael Kaplan is a Trinity junior and sports managing editor of The Chronicle's 119th volume.