Duke Basketball: Stephen F. Austin snaps unbelievable streak in shocking loss

For the first time in 7,213 days, 151 games and 19 years, Duke Basketball have lost to a non-conference opponent at home and it came while they were ranked number one in the nation.

Coming into Tuesday’s game against Stephen F. Austin, Duke Basketball had not lost a home game to a non-conference opponent since St. John’s took down the No. 2 Blue Devils on February 26th, 2000.

That streak would come to an end at the hands of the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks who are now ranked 222nd in KenPom after the big win. SFA went into Durham, North Carolina, forced Duke to commit 20 turnovers and won on a buzzer-beater that will go down in history.

The Lumberjacks who were down 15 at one point absolutely dismantled Duke in the second half, ultimately forcing overtime where they would win by outscoring the Blue Devils 4-2. SFA was a 28.5 point and +8000 underdog coming into this game and yet they still found a way to win… let that sink in for a moment.

Kevon Harris led the Lumberjacks with 26 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals, but it was Nathan Bain who will go down in history and will forever be remembered as the one who put the nail in Duke’s coffin.

The Blue Devils committed an unfathomable 20 turnovers while shooting 40 free throws to Stephen F. Austin’s 17 free throws and 14 turnovers. From the beginning of the second half to the final buzzer in overtime, Stephen F. Austin looked like the team playing with an unthinkable record, not Duke.

Here are some important dates for you:

• January 5th, 1983: The last time Duke lost at home to an unranked non-Power Conference team, vs. Wagner
• January 26th, 2000: The last time Duke lost at home to a non-conference opponent, vs. St. Johns
• November 26th, 2019: The first time Duke lost to an unranked non-Power Conference opponent at home while ranked number one, vs. Stephen F. Austin

If that doesn’t put what Stephen F. Austin just did into perspective, I’m not quite sure what will. What happened on Tuesday night is something that hasn’t ever happened and it is something that probably won’t happen again for several more decades.

Have we seen this happen with other schools? Sure we have, in fact, it happened just two weeks ago when Kentucky lost to Evansville in Lexington, but it has NEVER happened to Duke.

This is completely unfathomable and it really makes you question what is going on in Durham and it makes you question whether Duke is a contender or a pretender this season.

A majority of Duke’s starting lineup played well with Tre Jones, Vernon Carey jr., Cassius Stanley and Matthew Hurt all scoring in the double digits, but it simply was not enough.

Jones recorded his first career double-double with 17 points, 12 assists and four steals, but it’s his eight turnovers that will be remembered. Carey had 20 points, 11 rebounds and SEVEN blocks, but it’s his seven missed free throws that will be remembered.

This just goes to show you that it doesn’t matter how great you play if you can’t fix the simple things that it takes to win tight basketball games like this one, turnovers and free throws and at the end of the day, Duke lost the battle on both of these fronts.

Duke will be back in action on Friday when they take on another unranked non-Power Conference opponent at home in Winthrop while Stephen F. Austin will play at Arkansas State on Saturday.