Recapping everything Jon Scheyer said after Duke beat UNC in rivalry matchup

Four starters scored in double digits as Jon Scheyer's Duke defeated rival UNC 87-70 on Saturday. Kon Knueppel led with an efficient 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while Cooper Flagg added 21, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Scheyer began the post-game conference by thanking fans for showing up and keeping the energy high in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

"Such an incredible environment tonight," he said. "I thought our guys really helped with the defense and we played on that end to get the crowd going but from the get-go, you could just feel the special environment. Credit to all the students, everybody really thankful for that."

The Tar Heels and Blue Devils have a longstanding rivalry in college basketball, making it one of the biggest games of the season. Jon Scheyer highlighted how he prepared his team for the matchup:

"I think the nature of this game, it's exciting, there's anticipation, you know there's going to be a great crowd. So you can feel happy but really the team that has an edge really won this game. That's something we kept talking about, out edge, our focus."

After praising Tyrese Proctor and Maliq Brown, Scheyer appreciated how well his freshmen and newcomers adjusted to the intensity of the game. With that, he also highlighted how the team was unaware of Duke's student ritual of burning benches after defeating UNC (6:22):

"Sion makes so many plays, makes it easier for everybody on the court. Our freshmen didn't look like freshmen. They didn't even know you burned benches, so our whole team did know that happens. So, I love the fact they were just focused on the task at hand."

With that, Jon Scheyer talked about Cooper Flagg's ability to create a multidimensional impact in a rivalry game, highlighting his overall basketball acumen (7:15):

"It's who he is that's the beautiful part, he almost had a triple-double. I screwed up in the second half, I should've subbed him, I didn't sub him early enough ... but besides that segment, he was just in control the whole game.

"They're doubling him inside, he's making the right pass, they didn't, he would go to score, he's a savant with the game and he makes everybody better around him."

Jon Scheyer talks about freshmen duo of Kon Knueppel and Cooper Flagg

Jon Scheyer talked about the immediate impact Kon Knueppel and Cooper Flagg have had on the Duke Blue Devils' success this season. He highlighted the mental and skillful similarities in their games:

"They absolutely feed off of each other. I think it starts with their competitiveness, they're just really good competitors, they play both sides of the ball and they have high-level field ... that's a pretty good starting point, then you add in their skill, their versatility.

"For Kon in tonight's game, he's posting he's posting, he's in pick and roll, he's really doing everything ... Cooper's already doing everything."

Jon Scheyer said that Flagg and Knueppel have also held each other accountable in several games, demanding each other to shake off their struggles and be on their A-games.