Duke fell under .500 for the primary time since November 1999 on Tuesday, when it misplaced 93-89 to Notre Dame for its third straight defeat and sixth loss within the final eight video games. The Blue Devils (7-8, 5-6 ACC) allowed a season-high 93 factors within the sport simply three days after permitting North Carolina to attain 91.

The Blue Devils began the 1999-2000 season 0-2 with losses to No. 13 Stanford and No. 1 UConn earlier than rallying to complete the season 29-5 with a loss to Florida within the Candy 16. That was the final time this system has been under .500, and there’ll nearly actually will probably be no such rally this season.

Duke entered Tuesday’s motion ranked No. 70 on the NET and squarely on the unsuitable aspect of the NCAA Event bubble, and the loss to Notre Dame serves as one other crushing blow in a season that has gone wayward. The Blue Devils haven’t missed the NCAA Event since 1995 however will want a surprising rally to keep away from lacking the Huge Dance this season. No. 9 Virginia is the one ranked workforce left on Duke’s schedule as its at the moment constructed.

Particularly merciless for the Blue Devils is that the straight defeats have come by a mixed 10 factors. Duke led Notre Dame 23-8 early and 50-45 at halftime however went chilly offensively late within the sport whereas once more affected by poor execution in a clutch state of affairs. Wendell Moore Jr. led Duke with 24 factors and 10 rebounds. The Blue Devils shot a powerful 52.2% from the ground and made 10-of-22 3-pointers.

However protection was their drawback. Notre Dame made 11-of-25 3-pointers and turned the ball over simply seven instances whereas capturing 55.2% total from the ground. Cormac Ryan led the Preventing Irish with a game-high 28 factors. Notre Dame (8-10, 5-7) has now received three of its final 4 video games.