Duke Basketball: 3 takeaways from disappointing loss at Louisville

For the first time since 2016, Duke Basketball is on a three-game losing streak, dropping a 70-65 heartbreaker in a back-and-forth affair on the road to the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday afternoon.

Both teams entered this game on two-game losing streaks – making this win all the more significant and great for the Cardinals, but all the more disastrous for the Blue Devils.  Again, this game was a back-and-forth affair, with 18 different lead changes and eight ties, and no team holding a lead greater than six points.

Louisville was led by the stellar play of Carlik Jones, who poured in 24 points (6-15 FG, 11-12 FT) to go with three rebounds, five assists, and two steals.  Just six Cardinals scored in the game – and four of them reached double-digits, with Jae’Lyn Withers (13 points, seven rebounds), David Johnson (12 points, eight rebounds, five assists), and Dre Davis (11 points) all joining Jones.

For Duke, obviously, this win is beyond frustrating and disappointing.  The Blue Devils have now dropped to 5-5 overall, the first time they have started a season 5-5 since Mike Krzyzewski‘s third season at the helm in 1982-83.  The Blue Devils got solid double-digit performances out of Matthew Hurt (24 points, eight rebounds) and DJ Steward (13 points) – but that was the extent of their double-figure tallies.

It does not get much easier for the Blue Devils still, and Krzyzewski’s crew are still in need of a resume win.  If they hope to have a shot in a topsy-turvy ACC, then they will need to address the issues facing them – and fast.