Cougars aren’t buying into payback storyline after Blue Devils ended their season a year ago
SAN ANTONIO – Blame the one-and-done, overhauled roster that Duke has for this one.
Or the state of college athletics, given the transfer portal and influence of NIL.
Or maybe it’s just that Houston’s players are smart enough to not provide bulletin board material.
Duke knocked Houston out of last year’s NCAA tournament, beating the Cougars 54-51 in the Sweet 16 in this same state, up in Dallas.
That was a tough-luck loss, as Houston was ahead 16-10 when star guard Jamal Shead suffered an ankle injury and was out for the rest of the game.
Now, the Cougars get another shot at Duke — though, they’re not buying into the revenge aspect against the Blue Devils.
“I think it’s a chip that we have, but I think to us, it’s just another game that we have to prepared for,” senior guard Ramon Walker Jr. said. “This team didn’t play last year’s team. That was last year’s team.
“This Duke team is different in itself.”
He certainly has that part right.
One player — Tyrese Proctor — remains at Duke who played in last year’s meeting. Fellow returning guard Caleb Foster was injured late last season and missed the game; otherwise, all of Duke’s players moved on.
“It’s two completely new teams. New roster, so we’re approaching this game like we would any other game,” guard Emanuel Sharp said. “Coming out and competing.”
These programs’ familiarity with each other extends beyond last year’s meeting, too.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer had his first team, in fall of 2022, travel to Houston for a closed-door scrimmage. While official stats aren’t all that applicable to those types of scrimmages, the consensus seems to be that Houston won it.
Again, though — that was a vastly different Duke roster, and Houston’s roster hasn’t been immune to change.
Thirty-eight games into a season, there isn’t much benefit of watching the tape of a game to figure out an opponent’s sets or actions.
“Um, probably like a clip or two,” Walker said when asked if he’d watch last year’s tape. “But we don’t really watch it back because it’s completely different.”
Duke’s idea is to have the same result; Houston’s aim to reverse how last year’s game ended.
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