Not a good look, Duke. Blue Devils bumble and stumble to humbling loss at UNC.
With every off-target shot, every errant pass and every poorly run possession, the worst fears of Duke’s coaching staff and the team’s fans everywhere were on display Saturday night at the Smith Center.
The first 11 minutes of the Blue Devils 91-73 loss to rival North Carolina resembled a horror show for a proud program taking a rare step down this season.
Duke missed 14 of the 17 shots it attempted. The Blue Devils turned the ball over seven times -- with two of them coming on shot clock violations when a Blue Devils big man had the ball in the paint a few feet from the rim.
UNC raced to a 26-6 lead with 9:22 left in the first half. Duke (11-11, 9-9 ACC) was dumbfounded, its season that had long ago gone awry now careening toward something truly horrid.
“You know, it’s not a good look,” Duke freshman guard D.J. Steward said.
Just a week earlier, in a Saturday night game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke faced Louisville while riding a four-game winning streak. A win in that game would have solidified the team’s late surge toward a possible NCAA tournament bid.
Instead, Duke fell behind by double-digits, rallied to force overtime but lost 80-73.
On Tuesday night against Georgia Tech, the Blue Devils were again pushed into overtime this time dropping an 81-77 road game.
When Saturday began and the final game of the regular season beckoned, Georgia Tech and Louisville had strong enough records to be considered comfortably in the 68-team field.
The Blue Devils needed a win at UNC just to ensure they’d have a winning record entering the ACC tournament.
The first 11 minutes of fumbling and bumbling sealed the Blue Devils’ fate. They are instead a break-even team with the worst ACC tournament seed the program has ever seen at No. 10.
Those overtime losses over the previous week, it turned out, zapped the team of the edge it needed to match the passion UNC displayed from the opening tip.
“We didn’t start the game strong, we didn’t start the game aggressive,” Duke freshman center Mark Williams said. “We were hesitant with a lot of our decisions. That led to a lot of turnovers and they got out and scored.”
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski accepted the blame for his team’s disastrous start
“Coming off those two losses, the things we did in practice were really good,” Krzyzewski said. “But they didn’t come to fruition. They didn’t work out. So, you know, that’s on me because they really knocked us back. They played at a high level of intensity.”
Blue Devils in the ACC tournament
Duke’s lack of intensity early was striking, not just because the team was playing its rival Tar Heels but because any hope of making a postseason tournament was on the line.
Now the only postseason the Blue Devils are assured of having is the ACC tournament in Greensboro.
Duke will play a Tuesday game for the first time in the event’s history. A No. 10 seed means the Blue Devils must win five games in five days to become ACC tournament champions and play in the NCAA tournament.
The first team up for Duke is No. 15 seed Boston College (4-15), the league’s worst team with a 2-11 ACC record. The Eagles fired their head coach last month and have yet to win back-to-back games this season.
Boston College has suffered through three separate four-game losing streaks this season.
Duke is now on its third different three-game losing streak.
Coach K takes the blame for poor play against UNC
Beating UNC on Saturday would have landed Duke the No. 9 seed and pushed its ACC tournament debut to Wednesday. Winning four games in four days is doable. Heck, the Blue Devils did it in Brooklyn in 2017 to claim the league title.
But five in five? That’s a whole other level of hard, especially for a Duke team that has far too often been unable to sustain solid play for 40 minutes this season.
Krzyzewski knows not to get ahead of himself with this group. He pointed out the four-game winning streak the Blue Devils put together in February after falling to 7-8.
But of course, the current three-game skid followed, including Saturday night’s early rollover at UNC.
“I need to help them more confidence-wise, and just coaching wise,” Krzyzewski said, “so that they can turn this around. They have good attitudes. The practices are good. These are good kids. Did we play well? No. Did I prepare them well? No. I didn’t get it. I didn’t. I didn’t help them enough. And that’s my responsibility. I’m gonna try to do what I can to help them play well on Tuesday. And not look at anything else.”
Duke vs. Boston College
What: ACC tournament
When: 4:30 p.m., Tuesday
Watch: ACC Network
