Fresh off their biggest win of the season, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer, alongside players Caleb Foster and Cameron Boozer, sat down for the postgame press conference.
After a slew of questions about plays, the then-No. 1 Michigan Wolverines, and the Blue Devils themselves, Foster was asked what it felt like for his team to finally "seal things up."
Of course, Foster gave a mature and poised response, which he always does as one of the veteran leaders on Scheyer's team. However, his head coach stepped in afterwards to clear the air that Duke hadn't sealed things up throughout its 24 wins before Saturday night.
Jon Scheyer leaps to his players' defense after win over Michigan
"These guys have won a lot of close games, too," Scheyer said after Evans finished talking. "This is no different than other games we've been in earlier in the year: Florida, Arkansas. Undefeated in college basketball is tough... these guys have been studs at the end of games."
The Blue Devils' head coach is completely and entirely correct. Yes, the win over Michigan was the biggest one at that point, but Duke also had seven other ranked wins before beating the Wolverines.
With wins over No. 22 Arkansas, No. 15 Florida, No. 7 Michigan State, No. 20 Louisville, and No. 24 SMU, and only dropping two ranked matchups (to UNC and Texas Tech), the Blue Devils had been dominant all season.
And then they upset the No. 1 team in the nation as the cherry on top of an incredible regular season so far. So, to ask if Duke was glad to finally have sealed up its late-game miscues was a miscue of its own, at best.
"They have such toughness, and so, I think there's a complete misperception. We're not gonna be perfect, we're not gonna win every game, but these guys have won close games, big games. They've gotten leads, they've kept leads, and we're gonna keep growing and learning with that."
With the win over Michigan, the Blue Devils improved to 25-2 overall and secured their spot atop the national rankings. Scheyer and his team are just a couple of weeks away from one of the top seeds in the ACC Tournament, and likely the No. 1 spot in the NCAA Tournament a few days later.