Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Duke had a dominant 19-point lead over UConn in the Elite Eight. But it's the Huskies who are moving on to the Final Four.
- A critical late-game mistake allowed the Huskies to steal victory and cast a harsh spotlight on Duke head coach Jon Scheyer.
- This marks the second consecutive double-digit tournament collapse under Scheyer, whose reputation as a choker is only fortifying.
March Madness is a cruel mistress. The NCAA Tournament can make the best of us look foolish if you give it enough time. Duke, which looked unkillable for most of the tournament, learned that lesson the hard way in an unfathomable collapse against UConn in the Elite Eight.
Things looked pretty safe early as the Blue Devils built a 19-point lead thanks to a dominating first-half performance that saw them overwhelm the Huskies down low. Cameron Boozer had a tremendous game, racking up 27 points and 8 rebounds, but Duke let UConn hang around for too long before getting burned at the end of the game.
The killing blow came off a mistake from Cayden Boozer, who received the ball in the middle of the floor with the clock ticking under 10 seconds. Instead of holding the ball to force UConn to foul him, Boozer tried to thread a pass up the floor, only for it to get deflected and stolen. Brayden Mullins ended up with the basketball and nailed a deep three to put the Huskies up with 0.4 seconds to go.
OH MY GOODNESS 😱
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2026
UCONN LEADSSSS UNBELIEVABLE #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/IPX2JWiw0b
A last second heave down the floor by Duke was deflected, resulting in an unfathomable 73-72 loss for the team given the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. The 19-point margin ironically matches the blown lead North Carolina had in the first round. That loss cost Hubert Davis his job, but the sting will last longer for Duke given the situation they were in with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
Jon Scheyer is developing a reputation for March Madness chokes
No one is expecting Jon Scheyer to lose his job after this game, but it is another black mark on the resume of the man Mike Krzyzewski hand-picked to succeed him as head coach. The Blue Devils recruit elite talent and Scheyer has gotten the most out of them during the regular season. However, this game marks the second year in a row Duke wilted with all the pressure on them deep in the dance.
Last year's shortcoming came in the Final Four against Houston, when the Blue Devils blew a 14-point deficit in the final eight minutes to lose to Houston 70-67. Both of those teams had elite talent headlined by top lottery picks (Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel last year with Boozer filling the role this season) but simply couldn't finish when it mattered the most.
Landing the choke label this early in your coaching career is hard to shake, but it is one that Scheyer has earned by virtue of being the constant figure in both collapses. The expectations remain very high at Duke but Scheyer will need to prove he is the right coach to get his team to the promised land very soon before Blue Devils' fans start getting restless.
The parade of talent will keep coming to Duke, which churns out NBA players on the regular, so Scheyer's .832 winning percentage over four seasons figures to stay gaudy in a down ACC. The Blue Devils have shown they can get deep into March Madness, reaching at least the Elite Eight in three consecutive years, but until Scheyer can finish the job there will be mounting pressure in Durham, fair or not.