Cassius Stanley on the Duke-UNC Ending, Celebration

Freshman couldn't choose which buzzer beater was his favorite

Duke freshman Cassius Stanley scored 22 points in the Blue Devils’ 98-96 overtime win at UNC, but Stanley watched the game’s dramatic ending from the bench after fouling out in overtime. He went to the foul line eight times in the game and also added six rebounds as Duke fought back from a 13-point deficit. Stanley was one of the key factors in the rally, driving to the hoop to either score or draw fouls.

“Just go to the basket,” he said of the late game strategy. “Go to the basket. We saw how close we got--we were down 13, 11 at halftime. Once we came back from halftime, we just played basketball. We didn’t worry about going on a run.”

Tre Jones sent the game to overtime with a miracle buzzer beater off an intentionally missed free throw. Then Wendell Moore Jr. beat the overtime buzzer to give Duke the win. Stanley couldn’t decide which of the two dramatic shots was his favorite.

“That’s like who’s your favorite child,” he said. “They’re both beautiful.”

Stanley had a brief scare after Moore’s shot, when he instinctively jumped off the bench and ran out to celebrate with his teammate.

“I mean, I knew I ran to go hug him, and I was worried, because I thought I was the only one running I was like, ‘Oh God, no!’ because I didn’t know if we were allowed to clear the bench. Once I saw everyone was running, I was like, ‘Whatever happens happens.’ But this is great.”

Stanley was grateful to Tre Jones for scoring 18 of his game high 28 points in the final 5:48 of the game.

“He never gets you out of it,” Stanley said of the point guard. “He’s the best point guard in the country for a reason. You guys saw. We’ve known it the whole time. You guys saw it. He’s just a great guy to have, a great guy to have in the backcourt. He’s just really great.”