Duke basketball at Arkansas (Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports)

Duke Basketball: Jon Scheyer's Blue Devils Let Down ACC at Arkansas

Duke basketball's lackluster performance cost its conference an ACC/SEC Challenge crown.

Author:
Matt Giles
Nov 30, 2023 6:30 AM EST

In this story:

Duke basketball exhibited some heart down the stretch at unranked Arkansas (5-3, 0-0 SEC) on Wednesday night. But it wasn't enough for the No. 7 Blue Devils (5-2, 0-0 ACC) to overcome the 67-53 deficit they had dug with six minutes and change remaining in the game.

Despite the Razorbacks being without the services of their best player and floor general, Tramon Mark, who suffered a back injury late in an 87-72 loss to now-No. 17 UNC in the Bahamas on Black Friday, Duke lost to the Razorbacks, 80-75, in Bud Walton Arena.

Arkansas fans stormed the court. Second-year Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer fell to 4-7 in true road games for his career.

And as the last contest to finish in the 14-game ACC/SEC Challenge spanning two nights, Duke's defeat prevented the ACC, which held a 7-6 advantage at the time, from prevailing in the inaugural event. Instead, it ended in a 7-7 tie.

Here are the results (in order of their completion):

Mississippi State 59, Georgia Tech 67 (ACC led, 1-0)
Notre Dame 53, South Carolina 65 (tied at 1-1)
LSU 57, Syracuse 80 (ACC led, 2-1)
Missouri 71, Pittsburgh 64 (tied at 2-2)
Miami 73, Kentucky 95 (SEC led, 3-2)
NC State 52, Ole Miss 72 (SEC led, 4-2)
Clemson 85, Alabama 77 (SEC led, 4-3)
Texas A&M 47, Virginia 59 (tied at 4-4)
Florida 71, Wake Forest 82 (ACC led, 5-4)
Tennessee 92, North Carolina 100 (ACC led, 6-4)
Boston College 80, Vanderbilt 62 (ACC led, 7-4)
Virginia Tech 57, Auburn 74 (ACC led, 7-5)
Georgia 68, Florida State 66 (ACC led, 7-6)
Duke 75, Arkansas 80 (tied at 7-7)

Sure, Virginia Tech and Florida State played their part in the conference's late collapse in the ACC/SEC Challenge.

That said, as the blueblood, the Blue Devils bear the bulk of the blame. Again, as noted above, they were facing an Arkansas bunch that was missing its top scorer, a squad that looked overmatched in the second half against the Tar Heels last week and lost at home to UNC Greensboro, 78-72, less than two weeks ago.