Duke basketball: Jon Scheyer takes blame for loss to Arizona

Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer took the blame for the loss against Arizona. 

The first challenge of the season for the Duke basketball team came with a lot of obstacles presented by No. 12 Arizona as the Wildcats walked out of Cameron Indoor Stadium with an impressive victory over the Blue Devils.

Both teams showed rust — as expected for a high-level game in early November — but Duke just was not sharp for a team that returned four starters from a season ago.

Sophomore forward Mark Mitchell was making his season debut after being held out on opening night against Dartmouth due to an ankle sprain, however, head coach Jon Scheyer was concerned with how his team played.

“I think the biggest thing for me – we didn’t play together, and that’s hard for me to swallow,” Scheyer said after the 78-73 loss.

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“That’s not okay for us. We didn’t play Duke basketball and I take full responsibility for that.”

Duke could not find ways throughout the second half to take the lead when it had opportunities and, once it did take an advantage, failed to get a critical defensive stop.

“There’s too many plays where we just [had], zero-pass, one-pass possessions,” Scheyer explained.

The Blue Devils had 14 assists on 28 made field goals.

Duke basketball ready for challenge of Michigan State

Things do not get any easier for No. 2 Duke (1-1) when they will have to travel to Chicago to play No. 4 Michigan State (1-1) in the Champions Classic on Tuesday night.

“We’re just giving the ball up and that’s on me, and that’s something we’re going to get back to working on tomorrow, Sunday, Monday,” Jon Scheyer added.

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The Blue Devils committed 11 turnovers against Arizona, which resulted in 16 points for the Wildcats.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00p.m. EST (ESPN) between Duke and the Spartans.