Duke 74, Virginia 70
JON SCHEYER: I'll make this brief so you can talk to these guys. I literally could not be more proud of these three guys next to me, our team, Virginia. I think you guys probably know how good Virginia is. I don't think nationally that's quite clear just how good they are. That was a big-time battle. That's what we expected it to be. They're terrific. They're well-coached. They've got all the pieces, man. Congrats to them on an incredible season.
For these guys, just to step up, game after game, the response from Florida State, coming back yesterday. And I think we're going to learn so much from this. But the season these guys have had, the will to win end of the game. Honestly, I thought Cayden completely put us on his back in that first half, the job he did just running the show, scoring, defending, really do anything.
To play 40 minutes against Virginia when they're pressing you the whole game was just an incredible performance, man. Incredible. Cam and Isaiah were just okay (laughter).
All right, ask these guys questions and I'll go from there.
Q. Cam, I was curious, you were going up against a really good shot blocker and rim protector, and it was a rough day in terms of field goal percentage and getting clean looks. How did you battle through that? How did you keep from getting frustrated in those moments?
CAMERON BOOZER: Well, I definitely got frustrated. But first of all I've got give props to him. He's a great defender, great shot blocker. I think there's a lot I can learn from this game, but I just want to keep attacking, keep attacking, figure it out, find other ways to win. Obviously my shot wasn't falling. I wasn't getting in a rhythm. But just had to find a way.
Q. For Isaiah, it's really been no secret over the last two years that whenever you really heat up, this program is just about unbeatable. You didn't have any points until you finally scored late in the first half. How much of a personal duty did you feel to heat up tonight for your teammates to get this win?
ISAIAH EVANS: I just really felt like I had to just let the game come to me. If I didn't have it, then I didn't have it at the time. I feel like I do more harm than good when I'm trying to force me heating up. Again, it just happened naturally. I got two lay-ups and I got a three, then things just naturally came into place.
Q. Cam, with about 25 seconds left, you drive in, get blocked, but you get the offensive rebound and have the composure to be able to then kick it out to Isaiah who gets fouled. What were you thinking during that sequence and what did you see?
CAMERON BOOZER: I was thinking score and then obviously I had -- they blocked me. I just didn't get the ball. I think in games like this -- Schey talks about it all the time. Just getting the ball can really change the game. I think that last play kind of shows what was happening the whole game. You've got to find ways to win. He was blocking me all night, rebound, kick it out. Know the time and score.
Then obviously Slim being under control getting a foul, making a ton of free throws, yeah, man, great one from the guys.
Q. Cayden, was it just a matter in the first half of you thinking you could take your man or were they overplaying other guys that were opening up driving lanes? Cam, how cool was it to see your brother go off like that?
CAYDEN BOOZER: I think it was a little bit of both. In the beginning of the game, they just weren't guarding me so I kept scoring. And then once I get confident, I feel like no one can really stop me so I just kept attacking. I felt that was pretty much it.
CAMERON BOOZER: Yeah, I like that. That was a great line right there. I would just say I'm super proud of him. I see all the hard work he puts in and how great of a player he is. For him to come here two guys down, really step up for us, should give him tremendous confidence going into the tournament. We're going to need that from him the rest of the year. So yeah, good job, bro.
Q. Cam and Cayden, how does it feel to represent Miami on this stage, and also, Columbus just won their fifth straight title.
CAMERON BOOZER: Five in a row is really hard to do. Shout out to the Columbus guys, CPride. Obviously the best high school of every one that's on the team right now. Columbus is just the greatest.
I love Miami. I love Columbus. This is a big time win right here. Proud of us, proud of Columbus, proud of everyone who has helped me get to where I am. And yeah, it's just a great day, man. It's a great day.
CAYDEN BOOZER: Yeah, I think it was a great day for South Florida. Obviously Columbus got the job done. It was a close game but they got the job done. It was a battle today.
Just a great day for South Florida. It's always great to rep your hometown and just take pride in that.
Q. This is a question for Cameron and Cayden. What does it mean to be an ACC champion in your first year of collegiate basketball?
CAMERON BOOZER: I think it's great. I always want to be known as a winner. Being able to come out here, find a way to win. It was a great team effort. Obviously Cayden, Slim stepped up big time. Our whole team stepped up big time getting stops.
Virginia is great team and it's hard to beat a great team twice. So proud of my guys. We worked so hard to be here to have an opportunity to be in a championship game and win a championship so it was a great team win.
CAYDEN BOOZER: I think it was a great moment for all of us. This was big goal of ours since the summer to win an ACC championship and just to be able to do it with the group that we have is really special.
I think it just shows the competitive spirit that we all have, even when we're dealing with adversity, still find a way to win the game.
Q. I'd like to know about the floor slap. Did you guys coordinate that?
ISAIAH EVANS: Yeah, we had to be on the same page this time. Yeah, we definitely coordinated it. I almost lost my man, so it would have been very embarrassing, but I found him.
CAMERON BOOZER: By the way, I need to know how you find -- Carolina Blitz got everything on their page. I need to know how you find all that stuff.
CAYDEN BOOZER: We coordinated it. Because in the UNC game, Dame did it by himself and didn't tell anyone, so we made sure that we were all on the same page this time.
So we're undefeated so far.
Q. Cayden, you played the zombie or plague defense, whatever you want to call it, the spy on Thursday night against Florida State. What did you learn from that game, and what has led you to having career highs in back-to-back nights?
CAYDEN BOOZER: Yeah, I think that was just a really important moment for me. Obviously being spotted and just not really being guarded is a tough situation for anyone to be in. But to be able to have the adversity in the first half of that game and be able to just figure it out in that game, I think was just really important to be prepared for that because it might happen again in the tournament.
Just trying to be prepared for any situation, and I think these last two games just trying to be confident and not let the defense dictate what I do.
Q. Isaiah, you've been a part of back-to-back ACC championships now. What do you think has changed/grown for you as a player and as a person?
ISAIAH EVANS: Honestly, that's a great question. Experience. I get to play a lot more now. Yeah, so it's just great being more involved with the team.
But again, it's really hard to say. I've been winning since I've been here, and then we're winning this year. We've just been keeping it going. It feels great.
Q. Do you have any update on Big Pat and Caleb?
JON SCHEYER: No, Caleb is going to be a little while still. Again, he's progressing well.
As far as Pat goes, I think he's been doing his therapy, working with the medical team. They're just benchmarks. He just has to continue to take it -- it's a day-by-day thing to see how he can handle the next step and whether that soreness goes away. I can tell you he's improving. I feel very positive about it, but I can't say what that means as far as later in the week in terms of timing or readiness, because we have to take it step by step.
Q. Jon, 7-2 in games decided by six points or fewer, 9 of 33 shooting in the second half, and Cam's having everything swatted, it feels like, inside. How would you characterize your confidence and trust level in your group when it gets close and things aren't going according to plan?
JON SCHEYER: Honestly, I have the ultimate belief in this team. The schedule we've played, for me this year, has been the hardest schedule, when you combine the non-conference schedule, the improvement in the ACC, the different tests we've been in. That was a goal for me after last year, like, let's see how many tough situations we can put our guys in.
The way they've stepped up and answered almost every test. When we haven't, we've come back really strong.
I don't know. We felt we could be really good, but you don't know the character and the connectivity, and that's been the most exciting part for me to watch develop.
Q. I'm sure you've seen Cam play a lot of games. Have you ever seen someone get the best of him the way they did tonight, and for him to rebound and find ways to win the game, in the end, what does that say about him?
JON SCHEYER: Yeah, he's the ultimate winner. I think the thing that's so special about that play, it can be dejecting. It can be really discouraging when that happens.
To have the awareness to understand the shot clock -- like he could have easily gone back up, but he made the smart play to get it out. I think that was just such a big time play. I've seen him in different moments where he hasn't been at his best. But we're spoiled. I'm spoiled because he's 13-8-8. It's like, that's an off-night for him. It just is.
He's really spoiled us with his consistency.
Q. How impressive has the growth that you've seen over the last three days in Cayden, and given Caleb's situation, how important is that moving forward?
JON SCHEYER: It's huge. Look, part of what you try to do with roster building and all that -- I mean, look, we only have two guards on the roster. Most teams, they have three or more. Part of it was just the belief we had in Cayden and Caleb. They've played together some.
But look, obviously it's even a bigger opportunity with Caleb going out. You can ask the staff; we had complete confidence that Cayden was ready to do this and to take this to the next level.
But to answer it in this moment and against the teams we've played, ACC Tournament, I just think that's something inherently that he has where he was born with that. He was born with that confidence and that competitiveness.
Q. Since taking over the program, now four years in, three ACC championships, a Final Four appearance, hopefully another one on the way, what have you learned as yourself as not just a coach, but maybe as a person, since becoming a head coach compared to what you may have learned as a player/assistant?
JON SCHEYER: Well, I think the first year or two, you're just trying to survive. Just straight up, you're just trying to survive. I think I've tried to really explore these last two years just what my purpose is with this.
The wins are incredible, to share these moments with our players are the best. But if you can't develop relationships -- I think that's the thing that's most important that I'm proud of. Isaiah, I don't know who asked him the question about his growth, but it was two good questions. You're two for two. I don't know if I would ask another, just keep it.
Like for Isaiah, it was probably -- that's uncommon at the end of the year. You've got a guy, a McDonald's All-American, doesn't play as much. We had a really talented team. He could have transferred easy, could have gone pro. But to be able to double down on each other, go through this whole year, to be able to share these moments with Isaiah, we've been through so much together.
To me that's what's important and what I've learned.
Q. Jon, this league is 73 years old, and you are the first brand-new head coach to win three titles in your First Four years, so congratulations on that. I know you don't like to talk about yourself, so I'm going to broaden the question. This is also the first time in more than 40 years that the same school won the football and men's basketball title in the same academic year. What is going well at Duke that allows for the smooth transition from Coach K to you and allows for this multisport success?
JON SCHEYER: Well, how can you not think of Nina King and what she's meant to our school. You think about the fact, the last two nights, President Price, who really knows sports and follows us, it stems from their leadership. I'm fortunate to share a great relationship with Kara, with Manny and the job they've done has been awesome.
They were playing the ACC championship last year and you're yelling at the TV to get a rebound and all that. I just think we can help make everybody better by doing it. So it's been a really fun thing.
The timing of this all, the fact that Manny, Kara and I all started around the same time, I think there's a bond in that, too.
Q. Caleb seemed really vocal in the huddles today, all the time-outs. How has he been leading the team through the tournament?
JON SCHEYER: Yeah, he's incredible. Caleb, I've never seen a guy shoot so much in a scooter. He gets in the gym and he gets his shots up every day already. He literally has not taken a day off. His voice, he's right there with me in the huddles.
I think part of this is just how I've evolved, but literally it's the most our players have ever talked in huddles, and Caleb included. Multiple times a game, I have to ask him to shut up for one second just to get in a few coaching points.
But Caleb, his voice, what he means to our players, there's no question they wanted to win this for him tonight, as obviously Pat, as well.
Q. We got a chance to speak with you two summers ago when you talked about needing players that were physically and mentally tough. This is the second year in a row you've come into this tournament down two key guys and still managed to win. What can you talk about the mental toughness of this team?
JON SCHEYER: It's incredible. Look, it's the hardest thing to identify. It's the rarest commodity, that you're trying to get all the time.
We've put a lot of emphasis with our evaluations, with prioritizing where we think we're finding it. You have to be a little unfortunate. And then for the most part, I think we've done a great job just identifying it.
But you think about we're without Pat, we've got 20 offensive rebounds. It's two games in a row we've had everybody on the team have an offensive rebound. Isaiah didn't get one tonight. But I don't know, just our identity, we've created something where just the loose balls, the rebounds. And Virginia does, too. That's why it's such a back-and-forth game, because the will to get it has to go up as you go on in March.
Q. As I was watching this, I thought back to a game when you were assistant coach against Central Florida with Zion going against Tacko Fall, and it felt like maybe it wasn't his night. It was a close game. Are you going to be able to pull it out. It sort of felt like Onyenso had had his number. And the just wondered, how do you sort of deal with kind of breaking through when it doesn't seem like it's going for your guys?
JON SCHEYER: Yeah, I think the reality is to think you're going to have six games where it goes your way and it's smooth sailing. That's just not the reality of it.
For Cam, I think this is such a great experience for him to go through this. That's why I'm so proud -- because again, you have to credit them with their defense, but it was just a different kind of game, how hard it was to score, and especially for him.
So again, I've been in those moments, and I'm just so proud that we could -- you keep going back to what you can control, and you can control your defense. You can control your talk and how you continue to make those plays when it comes to rebounding.
I think that's something we learned tonight, that we can trust our defense even when our offense isn't maybe the smoothest.
Q. How do you win every game?
JON SCHEYER: I see two losses next to us. But I win every game because I have the best daughter in the world; that's how. I love you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports