Duke, without Grayson Allen, stifled by Miami in second-straight loss

One of the most popular narratives of what has been both a turbulent and thrilling season of Duke basketball was the one surrounding the point guard position: Duke didn’t have one, Grayson Allen was forced to become one, and the offense was suffering as a result.

On Saturday at Miami, another branch on that narrative tree grew: Duke, without Allen, played its worst offensive game of the season, and was upset by Miami, 55-50 in Coral Gables.

The Blue Devils scored just 0.79 points per possession, by far their worst per-possession output of the year. Jayson Tatum scored just eight points on 16 shots, Luke Kennard scored 16 on 20 shots, and Duke staggered to its second-straight loss.

Some portion, and maybe even a large portion, of the credit for the 50-point performance goes to Miami, who has been on a roll, both defensively and in general. The Hurricanes smothered Virginia earlier this week, and held the Cavs to 48 points in 45 minutes in an overtime victory on the road. They’ve now held four of their past six ACC opponents under a point per possession, and have won six of their past seven games.

Miami has held its last two opponents, both Top 25 teams, to a combined 98 points in 85 minutes. (AP)

Duke, on the other hand, has lost two in a row after a seven-game winning run that returned college basketball’s preseason No. 1 to national title contender status. It fell victim to some hot Syracuse shooting and some poor luck on Wednesday at the Carrier Dome. On Saturday, it was simply stifled by a really good defensive team.

Without Allen, sidelined by an ankle injury originally suffered against Virginia on Feb. 15, the Blue Devils reverted to their primarily isolation-driven offense. The ball didn’t move as crisply, and the efficiency of Tatum and Kennard declined. Tatum didn’t score in the first half. Frank Jackson (16 points) had a nice individual game, but Duke had just nine assists as opposed to 13 turnovers.

Tatum and Kennard each played all 40 minutes — not ideal in a non-must-win game in late February — and Mike Krzyzewski, with a lack of other guard options, gave increased minutes to big men. Marques Bolden play 14, and did not score. Harry Giles and Amile Jefferson combined for just six points in 40 minutes.

It’s far from panic time for Duke, who should get Allen back in time for next weekend’s showdown with North Carolina, if not for Wednesday’s rematch with Florida State. But it perhaps did show that for an offense that has finally built some chemistry over the past month, any disruption of that chemistry could be damaging.