It happened again.
Duke collapsed down the stretch of the second half of a game they controlled, once leading the Huskies by 19 with a trip to back to back Final Fours on the line.
In a stunning turn of events, UConn was able to chip away and chip away until they found themselves down by just two, 72-20, and Duke inbounding the ball with ten seconds to go.
Dame Sarr inbounded the ball to Cameron Boozer, the ball went back back to Sarr, then up the floor to Cayden Boozer, but still not beyond mid court. Still needing to get the ball past mid court, Cayden tried to heave a pass down to the other end, but it was blocked and taken away by a pair of UConn defenders.
That's when another iconic March moment was made. With 1.9 seconds to go, Braylon Mullins heaved a logo three and it was nothing but net. I'll never forget the sound it made on the broadcast when it went in. So pure.
Just like that, Duke's season and title hopes were ended.
It's the beauty and tragedy of March. Leading by 19 and absolutely cruising, number one overall seed, and looking like you're about to be in a great position to win your first title under Jon Scheyer is ended in the blink of an eye and there's nothing you can do about it.
I reiterate, it happened again.
This loss tonight looked eerily similar to the only other two losses Duke had on their season. They were in control in the second half and absolutely collapsed down the stretch and allowed the opposition to get within striking distance in the final minute.
Texas Tech from 17 down, UNC from 11 down, and UConn from 19 down. Two of those losses came on a final second shot to put the dagger in you with no time to do anything about it.
It goes further than that, though.
It even goes back to the Final Four collapse against Houston, last year. Duke led by as many as 14 and Houston closed on a big 9-0 spurt in the last 33 seconds. Duke went from up 6 with just over a minute to go, to losing after missed free throws and a controversial foul, 70-67.
Unfortunately, these are the things that are going to stick with Jon Scheyer until he wins the big one. It's brutal because of just how good he's been when you look at the totality of his tenure at Duke, but unfortunately, the losses are bad and they are when the lights were brightest.
It happened again.