Twistity Sports Exclusive: DAFFY DUKE

 
You love Duke or you hate Duke. You root for Duke or you root against Duke.

As Duke so rarely loses in men’s college basketball, those defeats are even sweeter for the haters.

Enjoy your day. Show us that blinding smile. Your ship has come in again.

The University of Miami took Duke apart at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday night, carving up the nation’s No. 4 team 90-74. This marked the Blue Devils’ second double-digit loss in a row, following Sunday’s 87-75 road debacle against North Carolina State.

They Dukies hadn’t lost at home in 41 games dating to March of 2012 and they hadn’t lost consecutive games by double digits since the spring of 1996. And this is the first time since 2008 that the Dukesters dropped back-to-back games to unranked teams.

Haters, put on your party hats! Woo-hoo!

Miami played some excellent pressure defense in the second half while making a high percentage of its shots. The Hurricanes converted six of their nine 3-point tries in the second half and scored 56 of their points in the final 20 minutes. Angel Rodriguez and Manu Lecomte combined for 47 of the Hurricanes’ points.

If you’re in that Duke Hater Club, make a date with yourself for some compelling television on Saturday. The Blue Devils (14-2) will attempt to pull themselves from this funk on the road at No. 6 Louisville (15-2) in the KFC Yum! Center. How delicious would a Southern-fried defeat be?
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .