No. 2 Duke takes first league loss to Miami, now the lone ACC unbeaten team :: WRALSportsFan.com
Durham, N.C. — Duke does not lose very often in Cameron Indoor Stadium, and at times during this season it seemed Duke might not lose much anywhere it played.
But No. 2 Duke (12-2, 2-1 ACC) could not handle Miami (13-3, 5-0 ACC) on this night, home crowd or no.
Every time Duke had one of its patented rallies with a raucous Cameron Crazie crowd propelling them on a big run, Miami always had an answer.
On the surface, it seems like a monumental upset for Miami to beat the Blue Devils.
But Miami is a veteran team that was expected to make some noise this season. After a disappointing 4-3 start, Miami has now won nine games in a row.
And after Louisville fell to Florida State, Miami is now the last team to be unblemished in ACC play.
It was a tale of two halves for both teams when it came to shooting. Neither team shot well in the first half — Miami just 35.1% to 34.5% for Duke — but both teams headed up in the second half. Duke shot 56.7% in the second half and Miami shot 57.6 percent.
But the game was close throughout, and neither team led by more than eight points. The game went to half tied at 32, and Miami led most of the second half after Duke saw a 5-point lead with 12:39 to go erased in three minutes.
Duke kept threatening to re-take the lead and tied it up with 6:36 to go, but Miami managed to keep the lead until Duke took it back with 1:33 to go on a Mark Williams dunk.
Then star big man Paolo Banchero blocked an Isaiah Wong shot on the defensive end and scored a layup on the other to put Duke up by 1. Banchero had a dunk in transition the next play and gave Duke a 3-point lead with 45 seconds remaining.
For most teams, that’s a wrap.
Miami clearly isn’t most teams.
Miami’s Charlie Moore made a layup and drew a foul with 34 seconds left. He missed the free throw, but Miami was able to come down with the offensivre rebound and Kameron McGusty hit a jumper with 20 seconds left to put Miami back up by 1.
Trevor Keels missed a contested layup on a drive on the other end, and Wong made 1 of 2 free throws to put the Hurricanes up 76-74 with 8 seconds left. Wendell Moore Jr. missed a 3-pointer with two seconds left and Duke one more crack at it with 0.7 seconds left, but couldn’t connect.
Banchero led all scorers with 20 points on 6 of 10 shooting. Moore had 12 points for Duke to go with 12 rebounds and seven assists, but he was 0 of 4 from the 3-point line and had six turnovers. Duke as a team turned it over 17 times, and Miami turned those into 17 points.
Mark Williams also had 12 points on 6 of 8 shooting to go with seven rebounds and six blocks. A.J. Griffin had 10 points in 24 minutes.
Miami was led by Charlie Moore’s 18 points on 7 of 13 shooting to go with seven steals, the second-highest total by a Duke opponent in Cameron.
Jordan Miller had 17 for the Hurricanes and Isaiah Wong added 15 on 6 of 17 shooting. Kameron McGusty added 14.
Duke’s next game will be at Wake Forest on Wednesday night. The Deacs are 3-2 in the ACC but a surprising 13-3 on the year.
