Scheyer makes history as Duke sweeps at home

Duke‘s Jon Scheyer made history on Tuesday, becoming the first head coach in the ACC to go undefeated at home in his first season.

The Blue Devils beat NC State 71-67, improving to 15-0 this season at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was their final home game of the campaign, as they close the season at North Carolina on Saturday, before heading to the ACC tournament and NCAA tournament.

“We just wanted to finish it out and get a win and, obviously, protect home court and go undefeated all season at home. I’m just glad we got it done,” junior guard Jeremy Roach said.

“It means a lot. Shoutout to all the Crazies. They’ve been doing a great job, camping out, supporting us all year. They give us that energy, that boost that we need, and it’s been a fun ride with them.”

It’s the first time since 2013-14 that Duke finished undefeated at home, and the Blue Devils are the first ACC team to run the table at home since Florida State in 2019-20.

According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Duke now has 18 undefeated seasons at home since the ACC was formed in 1953-54 — the most in the league. Eleven of those seasons came under Mike Krzyzewski, but it took the legendary coach six seasons before he finished one without a home loss.

“Going into every game, personally, I felt that we could not lose a game here,” freshman forward Kyle Filipowski said. “That’s just the mindset I had moving forward; that’s what we’re going to continue doing now.”

Scheyer was named Krzyzewski’s replacement in June 2021, but he didn’t take over until Krzyzewski retired following last season. The 35-year-old Illinois native played for Krzyzewski from 2006 to ’10 and then spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at Duke from 2014 to ’22.

Duke’s win over NC State on Tuesday was the Blue Devils’ fifth victory in a row. Roach led the way with 20 points, his ninth double-figure scoring performance in his past 10 games. The freshman trio of Mark Mitchell, Tyrese Proctor and Filipowski all scored in double figures, with Filipowski also grabbing 14 rebounds.

The Blue Devils are 22-8 overall and 13-6 in the ACC, projected as a 6-seed in Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology.