The Duke basketball program suffered its first loss of the 2025-26 campaign on Saturday night, falling 82-81 to No. 19 Texas Tech at Madison Square Garden. It was a game that the Blue Devils controlled for the first 25 minutes, and early in the second half, it looked like they were going to win by 15 or more points. However, a second half scoring surge by Texas Tech, mixed with a lack of execution on both sides of the ball from Duke, led to an extremely disappointing defeat.
Now, losses are going to happen in college basketball. But it was the way Duke lost on Saturday that will drive Duke fans crazy. The Blue Devils were in full control, up 17 nearing the midway point of the second half, then let the Red Raiders charge all the way back. Missed free throws were the biggest factor in the loss, and it's becoming a glaring issue for this Duke team. The Blue Devils went just 17-29 (59%) from the charity stripe and now rank 227th at KenPom in team free throw shooting percentage at 70.3.
Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer knows Blue Devils gave game against Texas Tech away
When Scheyer spoke to the media following the loss, he knew the win was in Duke's grasp, and the Blue Devils beat themselves more so than Texas Tech beat them.
"For us it's disappointing, in control of the game and up in the second half," Scheyer said. "They were playing free and I thought we were playing not to lose... I point to the rebounding, our defense, and we have to make free throws. We gotta be ready to come back for ACC play. We'll be back with a vengeance working like crazy to make this a really special season the rest of the way."
"For us it's disappointing, in control of the game and up in the second half. They were playing free and I thought we were playing not to lose... I point to the rebounding, our defense, and we have to make free throws. We gotta be ready to come back for ACC play. We'll be back… pic.twitter.com/qMNpWwnMc2
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) December 21, 2025
Duke entered the halftime locker room with a 46-36 lead behind a 7-of-14 (50%) shooting clip from three. The Blue Devils struggled to find any consistency in the paint, but the outside shooting left them with a comfortable lead. However, it was a lack of defensive intensity in the second half, along with missed free throws, that brought TTU back.
The Blue Devils allowed the Red Raiders to shoot a whopping 62.1% from the field and 6-of-13 (46.2%) from three in the second half. Additionally, after knocking down 11-of-16 (68.8%) of its free throw attempts in the first half, Duke went just 6-of-13 (46.2%) from the line in the second half. Texas Tech shot 55% as a team from the field, by far the highest clip the Blue Devils have allowed an opponent to shoot this year.
Losses like these are going to happen, and Duke fans still have every reason to believe this team is a true national title contender. Still, there are plenty of aspects of the game that Scheyer will need to get his guys to drastically improve on as conference play rolls around.