Duke basketball: Jon Scheyer gambles with Jeremy Roach time
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Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer planned to limit Jeremy Roach's minutes on Saturday afternoon. After all, the 68-66 home win over the No. 17 Miami Hurricanes (15-4, 6-3 ACC) marked the junior captain's first action in 17 days after missing the previous three games with a lingering toe injury dating back to late November.
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Roach was not in the starting lineup for the unranked Blue Devils (14-5, 5-3 ACC). But soon after entering four minutes in, there were signs that the 6-foot-2, 180-pound guard was back to his old self. All in all, his aggressive playmaking, efficient scoring, and proven leadership demanded a heavier-than-expected load.
"I probably played him more than I thought we would," Scheyer told the media in his post-game press conference. "But he was in there, and he felt fine. And, you know, his game shape, that's never really been a thing with him. He was making some big plays, and I just felt down the stretch, we needed him in there."
The 21-year-old racked up a pair of assists and a silky up-and-under driving layup in his first five-minute stint. By halftime, with the score knotted up at 38-38, Roach had eight points without missing a shot from the field, plus three assists in 12 minutes on the floor.
He finished the bout with 14 points, his first double-digit performance since early December, and four assists. That's not to mention his two steals, both in crunch time, as the Duke basketball defense sealed the victory despite the offense generating only five points and zero made field goals across the final five minutes.
"It's probably the best I've felt since [the Iowa game on Dec. 6]," Roach noted in the locker room after the game. "I'm just happy to be out there with my brothers and just happy we got the win. It's just big for our confidence, getting a win like that."
So perhaps it was wise for Scheyer to refrain from taking Roach out of the game again after calling his number five minutes into the second half. Yes, the program needed momentum from beating a ranked conference foe after falling out of the AP Top 25 for the first time in two years and dropping to No. 9 in the ACC standings (now No. 8).
On the other hand, the Blue Devils now have only one day off before facing the Virginia Tech Hokies in Blacksburg at 7 p.m. ET Monday. And even though Jeremy Roach played admirably with no signs of pain throughout the contest, the potential for next-day soreness and lingering effects isn't lost on Jon Scheyer.
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"We'll see how feels [on Sunday], what he can do on Monday," Scheyer said. "He's not close to being himself fully yet, or 100 percent, but really proud of him and the step that he made."
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