MADISON, Wis. — Duke and the ACC are perfect no more.
Playing in its first true road game of the season at a raucous Kohl Center, the No. 6 Blue Devils trailed the entire game, never able to overcome an early Wisconsin advantage. Despite a late rally, Duke (6-1) squandered its late-game opportunities and the Badgers (5-1) held on for the 73-69 win.
The loss was the Blue Devils’ first of the season and first ever in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, and it led to the Big Ten’s only Challenge win in the 11-year history of the event.
“They just wanted it more,” senior guard Jon Scheyer said. “That’s probably the worst thing I can say after a game.”
But it was true, and it took a heroic effort from Kyle Singler to keep Duke in the contest in the opening half, and a 3-point barrage from Andre Dawkins to give the Blue Devils a shot in the final minutes. The freshman guard made three long balls in a span of 1:42 to cut the deficit from nine to two, willing his team back after Wisconsin seemed to have pulled away.
At that point, however, Duke couldn’t put together a run that would give it the lead, simply trading baskets with the Badgers in the final minute. When forward Jon Leuer finally missed a free throw with 16 seconds remaining to make it a one-possession game once again, Nolan Smith drove for a layup and the Blue Devils settled for two points on a Singler tip-in.
Still down by one, Duke was forced to foul Wisconsin again, and Trevon Hughes—as was the case all night—didn’t disappoint. After the senior sank both free throws to push the lead back to three with 4.9 seconds remaining, Singler’s inbounds pass was too hard and too wide for Scheyer, who had already crossed halfcourt, to handle. The ball deflected out of bounds, and any thoughts of a Blue Devil comeback ended.
“We had chances,” Scheyer said. “We had two opportunities to tie the game. It’s just frustrating when you don’t get a shot off.”
Duke was forced into that late-game position because of its struggles early, when the second-worst offensive team in the Big Ten torched the Blue Devils for 16-of-30 first-half shooting, including 5-of-11 from beyond the arc.
Wisconsin seized the momentum just 10 seconds into the game, when a Nolan Smith pass sailed out of bounds for a quick turnover. The Kohl Center crowd harassed the Blue Devils from then on, and more importantly, the Badgers never relented.
“They hit a couple of open shots and then they got momentum,” said Singler, who finished with a career-high 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting. “We just weren’t tough enough to get down and stop them once.”
Duke couldn’t find a way to stop Hughes and Leuer, who led the Badgers with 26 and 17 points, respectively. The dagger seemed to come from Hughes with just over five minutes remaining, as a multiple-shot, 68-second possession ended in an improbable, bouncing 3-pointer that gave Wisconsin its biggest lead of the night.
Dawkins’ late-game scoring burst erased most of that 11-point advantage, but in the end, the Blue Devils couldn’t overcome the early hole that they dug for themselves.
“[Wisconsin was] patient,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “That’s how they win. That’s what the swing offense is. The swing offense isn’t about one dribble and a shot. It’s about a lot of people touching the ball. You have to communicate really well against it and play passing lanes well.”
“Their offense was better than our defense. That’s the story of sport.”
The loss raises questions for Duke, which scored a convincing win over Connecticut in the NIT Season Tip-Off but now faces the reality of having been outrebounded and outplayed by Wisconsin. The Blue Devils had 21 offensive rebounds and 15 second-chance points against the Huskies. Against the Badgers, they corralled only eight offensive rebounds and had eight second chance points, none in the first half.
While they held Connecticut to 36.1 percent shooting from the field, Wisconsin was eight percentage points better.
And in their only true road game before Jan. 9, the Blue Devils came out flat.
“Road games are tough,” Scheyer said. “You need to have that togetherness—that fight—and we didn’t come out fighting. Give them credit too, because they played a hell of a game and they really took it to us.”
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