ANAHEIM, Calif. — Dillon Brooks vowed to keep playing with the same high energy despite the scolding he got from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski Thursday night after Oregon Ducks beat Duke 82-68 in a Sweet 16 matchup.
“I’m going to still come out with the fire,’’ Brooks, Oregon’s leading scorer, said Friday. “It worked against Duke and it worked against the rest of the teams I played against. So, you know, I have to keep doing it in order to be great and win games and to play well.’’
Next up: No. 1 seed Oregon plays No. 2 seed Oklahoma in an Elite Eight matchup Saturday at the West Region. While Brooks looked ahead to his matchup against the Sooners and high-scoring Sooner Buddy Hield, he also looked back — at his past struggles to contain emotion on the court.
“It’s been a hassle all my life to figure out how to channel it, find ways to make it for great use,’’ said Brooks, a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward. “But I feel like I found a way and I have to bring it everyday.
“I can’t pull it back because I tried that already and it hasn’t worked to any good extent. So I just got to keep playing with emotion and it’s just live or die.’’
That will come as welcome news to the Ducks.
“That fire keeps us going, gives us a lot of energy, and we need that from him,’’ Oregon guard Tyler Dorsey said. “He brings that every night.’’
Oregon forward Elgin Cook called Brooks’ energy “infectious.’’
“I love playing with Dillon,’’ he said. “He gets us all going, and we need that from him. He picks us up when the energy is not there."
NCAA TOURNAMENT SWEET 16 HIGHLIGHTS
