Last night, well after most people on the East Coast were in bed, the Duke Blue Devils tipped off against the California Golden Bears on the West Coast.
After four dominant quarters of Blue Devil basketball, Duke was heading into its next game with a 71-56 win over the California Golden Bears.
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer was more than pleased with his team's performance, which was capped off by a legendary locker room visit for the players.
During the postgame press conference, Scheyer made sure to let everyone know just how well he thought his team played, highlighting the program's biggest emphasis heading into the ACC matchup.
Duke's defensive intensity paid off vs. Cal
"I thought our guys did a really good job on defense," Scheyer said. "That's been the point of emphasis for us. How to sustain the defensive intensity, the defensive awareness you need."
The home-court advantage clearly didn't play into Cal's hand, despite the Blue Devils traveling all the way from Durham to Berkeley (roughly 2,800 miles).
"It was a great thing for our program, a great test," Scheyer said. "They have really dynamic guards, and offensively, they really scare you."
Well, Duke shut down those supposedly "scary" guards and held Cal to just 56 points, giving up only 26 points in the second half. The Blue Devils forced five steals and five blocks, resulting in the 11 total turnovers by the Golden Bears.
"I thought our guys did a really good job on defense. That's been the point of emphasis for us. How to sustain the defensive intensity, the defensive awareness you need." pic.twitter.com/fFiVjaoMit
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) January 15, 2026
Cal shot an abysmal 37 percent from the field and just 22 percent from beyond the arc. Simply put, Duke dominated on the defensive end of the court.
The only red flag for the Blue Devils was, once again, their free-throw shooting, making just 47 percent of their shots from the charity stripe. Going 8-of-17 from the line is not something that Duke can maintain if it wants to keep winning. Even Cal shot 76 percent (13-of-17) on its free-throw attempts.
Yes, the Blue Devils dominated on defense, which was a point of emphasis, according to their head coach. Now, maybe Scheyer can focus on getting his team's free-throw percentage up.