By: Ben McCormick
February 14, 2023
In this morning's ESPN bracketology by Joe Lunardi, Duke came in as a No. 9 seed, a drop from a No. 7 on Thursday Feb. 10. It seems like a stark drop after the ending Duke experienced on Saturday night at Virginia. The Cavaliers are the No. 7 team in the country, so dropping to them on the road should likely not constitute dropping two seed lines to begin with. But when you consider the fact that the ACC admitted that Kyle Filipowski should have been awarded two free throws at the end of regulation vs. Virginia that could have won the game for Duke, it seems even more unfair to punish Duke's seeding.
Duke didn't play its best game on Saturday. The Blue Devils turned the ball over 22 times, somehow once more than they did the game before against Miami in a 22-point loss. Not only that, Duke's leading scorer Filipowski was scoreless on the night with a handful of turnovers himself. All that considered, Duke was in a position to win the game at the line after Filipowski was fouled before the buzzer sounded on a shot attempt at the rim. The foul was called, but then reversed. It was a mind-boggling decision by the officials and it cost Duke the game. In overtime the Blue Devils lost in a demoralizing extra five minutes.
Filipowski sprained his ankle on the last play as well, but the team announced he will play Tuesday vs. Notre Dame.
How do you respond to such a frustrating loss though? After beating UNC, Duke hasn't looked great, but they are still clearly able to compete with anyone in the conference. The Fighting Irish only have two wins in conference, both of which came over arguably the two worst teams in the ACC: Louisville and Georgia Tech. It should be a game that Duke wins, but what's more, it has to be a game in which Duke sets the tone for the final six games of the season.
If you're Jon Scheyer, you'd like to see a large margin of victory tonight. It will prevent Duke from losing a lot of traction before the tournament, and prove to the committee that this is a team that cannot be taken lightly.
@Duke_Wisdom
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