CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Duke finally woke up, but it was too late.
A furious rally at the end of the game was not enough to overcome 30 minutes of déjà vu from Sunday's loss at Wake Forest, as the No. 5 Blue Devils (22-3, 10-2 in the ACC) fell 96-95 at Miami (18-7, 5-6) Wednesday night.
"There's something missing this week," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We're not the same team the last two ballgames. It's almost as if someone came in and invaded their bodies or something."
The one-point final margin of victory hardly reflected the nature of the game, in which Duke fell behind by 20 in the second half before catching fire from 3-point range to close the gap in the final minutes. After speaking about the need to play with increased intensity following the loss to the Demon Deacons, the same problems plagued the Blue Devils once again against the Hurricanes. Turnovers, poor defense, uneven effort and streaky shooting all contributed to the deep hole Duke dug itself for the first three quarters of the contest.
"That last 12 minutes means nothing if you don't win the game," said senior captain DeMarcus Nelson, who swished a meaningless 30-foot attempt as time expired allowing Duke to lose by just one.
Over the final 12 minutes, Duke closed the deficit, adding intrigue to the outcome of a game that had looked to be over midway through the second half. Led by Jon Scheyer, the Blue Devils got hot from deep, hitting 10 of their 20 three-point tries in the second half after making just 5-of-17 in the first.
Duke pressured Miami in the backcourt but struggled to create enough stops in the halfcourt-Miami shot 60 percent in the second half-to catch up.
Greg Paulus scored on a drive with 18.8 seconds left to pull the Blue Devils to within three at 93-90, but Brian Asbury and Jack McClinton hit 3-of-4 free throws to ice the win.
"Duke was not going to quit," Miami head coach Frank Haith said. "We told our guys they were going to make a run.... We were able to hold them off."
The Blue Devils found themselves down by double digits by committing many of the same errors they did against Wake Forest. Duke turned the ball over five times before the game's first media timeout and 14 times total in the first half, allowing the Hurricanes, who came into the game hot off two straight ACC road wins, to take a five-point lead into halftime.
It got much worse, though, before it got better for Duke. Miami opened the second half on an 18-3 run, which included holding the Blue Devils without a point for nearly seven minutes. Indicative of Duke's struggles, Nelson airballed a free throw with 12:53 to go before the Blue Devils finally began playing like a top-5 team.
Throughout that scoreless stretch, Duke continued to turn the ball over, and its big men got into foul trouble, with Lance Thomas picking up four over a four-minute stretch and Kyle Singler recording his fourth-three of which had been offensive-at the 10:18 mark.
Miami sophomore forward Dwayne Collins took advantage of the Blue Devils' weaknesses in the paint, dazzling the sparse crowd with an array of finishing moves on his way to 26 points on 12-of-14 shooting from the field. Collins, McClinton and Asbury were so problematic for Duke that even 59 second-half points did not lead to a win.
"We've given up 91 points a game," Krzyzewski said of the past two contests. "It's not what we do at Duke, and it's not what these kids have done. I don't know whether it's the time of year, or we just took a deep breath, but we were not very good."
Scheyer led all scorers with 27, including five treys, and Nelson also chipped in with 19 points and 10 rebounds, though he did account for six of Duke's 22 turnovers.
"Something's missing-it's been a long year, and they've been a terrific team," Krzyzewski said. "You don't win 22 ballgames and 10 in the conference without being an outstanding team.
"Our strength is playing with a verve and playing together. Those two things have not happened in the last two ballgames."
NOTES: Miami's win over the Blue Devils was its first over Duke in 45 years.... Attendance and Miami's on-campus BankUnited Center was listed at 6,670, with large portions of the bowl empty.... Miami's PA announcer warned the Hurricanes' student section about sportsmanship in the first half after a distasteful chant against Paulus.... With the loss, the Blue Devils fall into a tie for first place in the ACC with North Carolina.
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