Jon Scheyer Won’t Let Elite Eight Collapse Define Duke’s Season
It has been about a week since the 1-seed Duke Blue Devils suffered a catastrophic collapse to 2-seed UConn in the Elite Eight. After the Blue Devils held a lead as large as 19 points in the first half, they folded to ultimately lose 73-72.
Throughout the second half, it felt like UConn was always going to make a push back, but no one could have predicted quite how the game would end. Duke inbounded the ball up 72-70 with 10 seconds to go, and Cayden Boozer attempted to float the ball over half-court to Patrick Ngongba.
The ball was tipped into UConn’s favor, eventually found Braylon Mullins, and the rest was history.
Duke Suffers Monumental Collapses in Back-to-Back Seasons
Against UConn, Duke held a 15-point lead at halftime, a 17-point lead with just under 17 to go, an 11-point lead with under eight to play, and a five-point lead with under two minutes left. It still found a way to lose the game.
Before the Blue Devils’ fold, 1-seeds in the NCAA Tournament that held a lead of 15 points or more at the halftime break were 134-0.
This defeat comes on the heels of another Duke collapse, where it blew a 66-59 lead in the final minute and a half in last season’s Final Four against Houston. The Blue Devils were outscored 11-1 across the final minute and change to fall to the Cougars.
Previously, NCAA Tournament teams that had a higher field goal percentage, more assists, more free throw attempts, more steals, and fewer turnovers than their opponent were 335-0.
Jon Scheyer Won’t Let Collapse Define Season
The tragic loss will take time for the Duke program and its fans to heal from, but the reality is that it still had a vastly successful season. The Blue Devils won 35 games, took home the ACC regular-season and Tournament titles, and made the Elite Eight.
Duke also went 11-2 against AP Top 25 opponets this year, more wins over ranked opponents than any team in the sport and tied for the most wins over ranked teams in a single season in the AP Poll era.
Ahead of the Final Four, Scheyer said he won’t let the collapse define the Blue Devils’ entire campaign.
“Well, I’m not shying away from the fact that there’s some incredible heartbreak and disappointment when you lose the way we did on Sunday,” Scheyer said.
“I mean, we’ve lost in two unimaginable ways the last two seasons. At the same time, we’ve been in back-to-back-to-back Elite Eights for the first time in 30-something years. We’ve had really good success in the tournament. It just hasn’t ended with a win the way that we want.”
