Season’s abrupt ending tough for Duke to stomach
After everything — all that preseason hype, those early-season injuries and, of course, the cascading waves of boos that rained down on Grayson Allen all year long after his infamous tripping incidents — well, no one knew how it all would end for this particular Duke team.
Some truly thought it could end with net-cutting in the Phoenix area, a fairy tale finish after more than a few bumps. But maybe, just maybe, it was destined to be this: a crippling, crushing second-round upset to a No. 7 seed no one thought deserved to be a No. 7 seed in a virtual road game, one that college basketball fans will point to as one of the greatest stunners in NCAA tournament history.
Or, alternatively: South Carolina 88, No. 2 Duke 81.
Duke’s season ended with a resounding thud on the court, and tears and sniffling in a silent locker room, players staring at a coach trying to remind his team that they did, really, have a season worth remembering fondly. That it’s not a failure just because it’s ending without even so much as a trip to the Sweet 16. That it’s not a magnificent disappointment because this team was ranked No. 1 in the nation to start the season. That it’s not, well, what everyone on the outside will say about them.
“I told them I love these guys, and I’m proud of them,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “I’m disappointed that we didn’t win tonight. But at the end of the season I want my guys to either be crying because we’ve lost or crying because we’ve just won.
“If you’re not doing one of those, that means you never really became a team, that it was never really that important. And for these guys — hey we’re a really good team. This is one of the teams (I’m most proud of ) because all the stuff.
“You all keep talking about expectations. Look, a lot of these kids were just hurt at the start of the year and whatever, and they never used it as an excuse. And they became close. So I just told them I love them and I’m proud of them.
“I wish I could keep coaching them this year, but that’s not going to happen.”
Luke Kennard, Duke’s best and most consistent player, kept his gaze low and his voice soft as he tried to explain feelings he didn’t plan on feeling Sunday night.
“Your mood is definitely down,” Kennard said. “You’re ashamed of the loss and the season being over. It was definitely a quiet atmosphere. We were down, but Coach was proud of us for what we’ve accomplished this year.”
He paused, thinking about the Atlantic Coast Conference championship run he and his teammates finished off just last week, though it feels like a lifetime ago.
“I think, overall, we had a good year,” Kennard said, staring at his feet.
Across the room, with puffy pink eyes, freshman Harry Giles tried to come to terms with the fact he’d just played his last game with these teammates and, most likely, his last game at Duke. His season hadn’t gone how he’d hoped it would, personally, with knee surgery serving as an early-season setback and a role off the bench not quite befitting the one-time No. 1 recruit in his class. He’d been happy enough to be a team player, contributing when he could and hitting his stride — finally — during that ACC tournament run.
“It’s tough,” Giles said. “Our whole goal was to win a national championship. You woke up in the morning — the early morning — that’s what we worked out for every day. That’s what we showed up for, that’s what we came to Duke for.”
And not only did the Blue Devils come up short, they also came up way short. The last time they failed to advance out of the NCAA tournament’s first weekend was 2014 — when they were upset by No. 14 seed Mercer in the Round of 64.
And much like that infamous blemish on an otherwise enormously successful basketball tradition, the sting of this loss won’t go away anytime soon, either.