Jon Scheyer is trying to ride Duke’s defense all the way to a championship and it’s shown some solid progress.

Duke held Vermont to 47 points on Saturday as the Blue Devils avoided following in Kentucky and Auburn’s footsteps. The Wildcats were upended by 14-seed Oakland and the Tigers lost a heartbreaker to 13-seed Yale in the Round of 64.

Duke currently allows 66.8 points per game and that side of the ball showed up big in the win. The Catamounts’ scoring average was 71.6 points per game this season.

The Blue Devils forced 12 turnovers and made sure to capitalize, scoring 10 points off turnovers. Scheyer noted that it wasn’t a perfect outing by any means, but he was proud of the way his defense played at the post-game presser.

“I thought the defense was terrific for us. I thought the collective effort and focus was there,” Scheyer said. “Are there some breakdowns of things that you have to clean up? Sure, like, of course. But Vermont is a tough team to guard, the way they spread you, their movement.”

Next up is James Madison, who is fresh off an upset of 5-seed Wisconsin. James Madison put up 72 points on the Badgers, which was 2 points higher than Wisconsin’s season average for points allowed.

It will be a tough task for the Blue Devils to slow down the James Madison offense that is averaging 84 points each game. However, while having a good offense is important, Scheyer knows that the best teams advance in March because of their defense.

“James Madison is no different. They do the same. They really spread you and put you in situations where you really have to talk off the ball and obviously on the ball. I’m proud of the effort,” Scheyer said. “You advance in this tournament not by your offense but you advance by your defense. That’s something over that seven-day stretch in between us playing we put a lot of emphasis on, and our guys took that to heart.”

If the Duke defense can show up like it did against Vermont, James Madison may have an early exit from the NCAA Tournament. For example, UConn was the national champion last season and allowed 64 points per game to opposing offenses.

Scheyer and Duke will try to end James Madison’s March Madness run on Sunday. A trip to the Sweet 16 will be on the line for both teams. Duke missed on a chance to play in the Sweet 16 last season after losing to Tennessee in the 2nd Round. The Blue Devils are currently -7.5 favorites via DraftKings.

Tipoff is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. ET on CBS.