Why Duke Will Learn From and Benefit After First Loss

The Duke Blue Devils' unbeaten season ended at the hands of Texas Tech at Madison Square Garden last Saturday. It was a game that had its runs by both teams. The Blue Devils went down early and then came back to take a commanding lead.

But they could not hold it as the Red Raiders came back, and in the final minutes, it was back and forth, and Duke came up short by one point. There were a lot of different things that could have been better for Duke, and it is all about learning now.

No one expected Duke to have the start they had this season. They definitely did not have them going undefeated this season as well. There is no panic as Duke heads back home to prepare for their ACC opener. This will be the time for them to go back and look at what went wrong and right on film. Head coach Jon Scheyer does a great job of finding all the little details that he tells his team about. They know they could have been better, and now they will have something to go off of.

Dec 20, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer coaches against the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the second half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Jon Scheyer on Duke's First Loss

The coaching is one of the best in college basketball as well. They know what they want to see from their players the next time they are out on the court. Now it is all about putting that into practice and showing they could do it in the game as well. Duke, in the end, could benefit hugely from this game and learn from the loss.

“I hate it for them. I’ve been in their shoes as a player,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said. “When I was a sophomore, we played Pitt in the same building, and we lost in overtime. I took a shot to win it in overtime at the buzzer.”

Dec 16, 2025; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer reacts during the second half against the Lipscomb Bisons at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils won 97-73. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images | Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

“At the end of the day, the loss is going to sit with me until we play again,” Scheyer said. “But you learn so much more playing the schedule that we have."

“There’s no silver lining or rationalizing. I think the biggest thing is putting our team in a position to be our best in March. That’s why we played the schedule. We’ve got to continue to win and earn our way there.”

Dec 20, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer coaches against the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

“For our group, we’ve learned a lot,” he said. “I didn’t know how good we would be. I can sit here now and say, ‘We can do whatever we want to do, it’s there for us.’ But we’ve got to work at it."

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