Perhaps the Duke Blue Devils were looking ahead to the North Carolina Tar Heels, perhaps they were thinking about their Super Bowl party, or perhaps they were just having a bad day. In any event, Mike Krzyzewski's team looked poor for most of their game on Sunday, falling to the Miami Hurricanes at home, 78-74 in overtime. Duke played much better in the second half than the first and did well to force overtime, but bad decisions and bad free throw shooting were their ultimate undoing.
Miami Vs. No. 7 Duke: Blue Devils Upset At Cameron Indoor Stadium
Miami grabbed a key signature win for themselves on Sunday, pulling off a massive upset of the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor.
Miami center Reggie Johnson, who averages just over 10 points per game, put up a career high 27 points in addition to 12 rebounds in a spectacular performance. He made Miami’s last two buckets in regulation, then made a field goal and two free throws in Miami’s first two overtime possessions.
The 'Canes held their biggest lead of the game just after halftime, when they were ahead 44-28. They held a double-digit lead until there were just over 12 minutes remaining in the game and Duke didn't take their first lead until there were just over three minutes remaining, when Seth Curry hit a jumper to make it 66-65 in favor of the Blue Devils. Reggie Johnson made two buckets in the paint on either end of a Ryan Kelly layup, giving Miami a 69-68 play going into the second to last possession of regulation.
Austin Rivers got himself to the free throw line on Duke's final possession, but missed one of two free throws and could only tie the game. Miami had a chance to win with one final possession, but couldn't manage to get a shot off before time expired, sending the teams to overtime tied 69-69.
Duke created enough scoring opportunities to win the game in OT, but incredibly went 0-6 from the free throw line during the extra period. Two of those were missed by Rivers, who had numerous opportunities to give his team a significant advantage from the charity stripe down the stretch, but failed.
At one point, Miami led 75-69 in overtime thanks to Duke's missed free throws, but a Kelly three-point bucket and a Mason Plumlee dunk brought the Blue Devils back within one point. Their defense suffocated Miami and didn't allow them to get off a quality shot for the final minute of overtime, but they couldn't convert on the other end. Quan Cook missed two free throws, then threw away the ball on an awful half-lob, half-shot on the next possession.
Duke fouled DeQuan Jones after Cook's miss, and the Miami guard knocked down both free throws. Rivers and Kelly both had looks at three-point shots to tie the game on Duke's final possession, but both came up short. Johnson made a free throw for the 'Canes in the final second to ice the game, giving Miami the 78-74 win.
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