Duke Basketball: What second loss of 2019-20 season means going forward

What the Loss Means

In all honesty, as much as I would love to say this loss doesn’t mean anything, it does. This is Duke’s second loss of the season and it was also their second loss to a team they should’ve beaten handedly.

On November 26th Duke lost its first home game to a non-conference opponent since 2000. The Blue Devils lost on an overtime buzzer-beater at the hands of the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks.

This loss shocked absolutely everyone and rightfully so, immediately after that loss, Duke went on a nine-game winning streak and looked to be one of the best, if not the best team in the nation. Now, we are right back at square one after Duke lost yet another game against an unranked opponent.

This loss shows that Duke, while a good team, has some flaws just like every other team in the nation. Stephen F. Austin just looked like it was one of those days, but then Duke struggled against Georgia Tech earlier this month and now they have lost another game, this time to Clemson.

The typical powerhouses for Duke showed up in Vernon Carey jr., Tre Jones and Cassius Stanley, but they were the only ones who did. Carey, Jones and Stanley combined for 51 of Duke’s 72 points and were the only three players in double-figures on Tuesday.

More often than not, Duke has four, five or more players in double-figures, but on Tuesday it was only three and because of it they struggled. If you play eight players and three of them make up for 70.83% of your points, you’re not giving yourself the best opportunity to win.

Now to be fair, Duke was missing two large pieces of their offense, but more on that later.

Nonetheless, this loss means a lot but above all, it means that Duke is not unbeatable, while the Blue Devils are still one of the best teams in the nation, they clearly have some holes.

One of those holes? Free-throw shooting. Duke was a horrible 10-20 from the free-throw line on Tuesday in their loss to Clemson and in their other loss to Stephen F. Austin, the Blue Devils were 24-40.

Duke lost these two games by a combined nine points and between the two games they left a combined 26 points on the board from the free-throw line.

So who knows, had Duke made their free-throws they would still be undefeated and San Diego State wouldn’t be the only undefeated team left standing.

Another hole in their two losses has been their bench. Typically Duke has a great bench and someone always shows up, but in their two losses, that has not been the case.

Against Stephen F. Austin and Clemson, Duke’s bench combined for only 20 points in two games. To put that into reference for you, against Wake Forest and Georgia Tech (the two games before Clemson) Duke’s bench combined for 46 points between the two games.

This just goes to show you that if Duke wants to be successful, the bench needs to play well too and in their two losses, that hasn’t happened.

This loss means a good deal whether Duke fans like it or not, but above all, it means Duke is not unbeatable.