Duke basketball: JJ Redick chokes at the charity stripe

Duke basketball alum JJ Redick somehow came up empty for charity.

At halftime of the Duke basketball home game against the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday night, the most improbable happened: JJ Redick, whose jersey hangs in the rafters as the program’s all-time leading scorer, missed a free throw.

The Blue Devil sharpshooting legend, who made 91.2 percent of his foul shots in his four-year college career and 89.2 percent across his 15 seasons in the NBA, was in the Cameron Indoor Stadium stands. And he had the opportunity at the break, with Duke and Miami tied at 32-32, to drain one free throw to earn $1,000 in charity for the Duke Children’s Hospital.

ALSO READ: Top 100 Blue Devils under Mike Krzyzewski

Somehow, as David Thompson of USA Today showed via tweet, the 37-year-old recent retiree choked, bricking the attempt off the back of the rim.

What went wrong with the famously precise Duke basketball sniper?

The required mask that JJ Redick was wearing might have served as a distraction. Perhaps the 6-foot-3 Virginia native just wasn’t used to the pressure of taking any shot in front of the Cameron Crazies; after all, it was his first documented attempt of any sort at a Duke game in more than 15 years. Furthermore, he had the extra weight from his wife and kids watching.

Or maybe it was the skinny jeans that restricted his form.

In fairness, had those in charge given Redick 10 attempts in all, the percentages say he probably would have swished the next nine.

The No. 2 Duke Blue Devils (12-2, 2-1 ACC) added to JJ Redick’s bummer night by suffering a last-second 76-74 loss to the unranked Miami Hurricanes (13-3, 5-0 ACC), now a real threat atop the ACC standings.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more Duke basketball news and views.