Miami’s 90-74 win on Tuesday night snapped the No. 4 Blue Devils’ nation-leading 41-game win streak in Cameron Indoor Stadium, and was also the team’s second loss in a row following an 87-75 setback to NC State on the road this past Sunday. Both Miami and NC State are currently unranked, and the Blue Devils were undefeated before Sunday’s loss.
The loss to the Hurricanes brought to the forefront something that head coach Mike Krzyzewski said he has known for about the last few weeks.
“I just have felt since Christmas that there’s something missing with our group and I’ve said it,” Krzyzewski said. “I’ve said it to the press, I’ve said it to my team. When you’re still winning you don’t necessarily believe it completely.”
Duke begain the season by taking care of business against non-conference foes, dispatching of Michigan State, No. 7 Wisconsin and defending champion Connecticut in the process. Krzyzewski’s team did it with three freshman in the starting lineup, the first time since 1983 that he’s started three freshmen for 15 straight games.
But then NC State happened. Prior to Sunday’s game the Blue Devils’ perimeter defense had been very solid all season, and they hadn’t allowed an opponent to shoot more than 43.8 percent from three-point range. The Wolf Pack had their way from outside in the game however, finishing with 10 threes out of 16 attempts, good for 62.5 percent. Duke forward and Player of the Year candidate Jahlil Okafor was double-teamed constantly throughout the game, but still managed to finish with 23 points and 13 rebounds to go along with three blocks and three steals. Despite his impressive numbers, he allowed opposing big man and offensively-challenged BeeJay Anya to score a career-high 14 points inside. This comes after Okafor allowed 22 points from Wake Forests’ Devin Thomas on Jan. 7th. Duke escaped with a 73-65 win in that contest, but Okafor realizes now that are now some legitimate concerns with the team’s toughness, especially defensively.
“We should have lost at Wake Forest,” Okafor said. “NC State, they’re a better team than Wake Forest is, and they just capitalized on us not playing as tough. It was an unfortunate situation for us.”
Duke headed into Tuesday’s game with Miami perhaps a bit stunned from the weekend, but no doubt confident that they could get back on track at home. But instead, they endured another double-digit loss, their first back-to-back losing streak by 10 points or more since the 1995-96 season.
Defense was again an issue. The Hurricanes shot 66 percent from the floor after halftime and 51 percent overall, including 10-of-20 from three-point range. Miami guard Angel Rodriguez torched Duke’s defense, whether it was hitting ridiculous shots off of screens from the outside or crossing over helpless defenders on his way to the basket. The Blue Devils’ interior defenders had trouble guarding the pick-and-roll, and guards like Tyrus Jones and Quinn Cook had difficulty with their defensive assignments on the perimeter, which often led to plenty of wide-open Hurricane players.
In addition to another poor defensive performance, the Blue Devils also had trouble shooting, as displayed by a dismal 10-of-20 from the free-throw line. Miami’s dribble penetration allowed them to earn 30 free-throw attempts, hitting 22 of them. Duke was 6-of-21 from three-point range, and shot 43.9 percent overall from the field. The Blue Devils did have a plus-10 advantage in rebounding, but the lack of cohesive defense along wide-open shooting opportunities for the Hurricanes voided any positives from it.
Mike Krzyewski claims that his team gets it now, and offered up some riveting and generic coach-speak after the loss.
“We’re all on the same page now after two losses and after getting our butt beat,” Krzyzewski said. “The taste of losing has to be distasteful and you try to figure out how not to have that taste. If you become really good then you’ve got it, and that’s what I’m going to try to do with this group. We’ll see how successful we’ll be.”
So is it time to Blue Devils fans to panic suddenly? Maybe, maybe not. NC State and Miami aren’t exactly pushovers, and could very well end up in the field of 64 by season’s end. But still, these weren’t exactly close losses for Duke either. They trailed by as much as 19 against NC State and 20 against Miami.
If things had gone according to plan, The Blue Devils’ game against No. 4 Louisville this coming Saturday would’ve been Krzyewski’s chance for this 1000th win. Instead, the prospect of him even reaching 998 seems significantly more difficult, especially if his team’s defensive struggles continue.
