Duke has been on the right end of some of the most famous sequences in college basketball history.
The Christian Laettner shot. The Gordon Hayward missed half-court heave in the 2010 National Title Game.
And now Duke has been on the other side of an all time March Madness moment.
Leading by two points, Cayden Boozer tried an ill-fated pass ahead that was deflected by UConn, and then Braylon Mullins hit an improbable 35-footer to give UConn an improbable win.
It's the second straight year that Duke has ripped defeat from the jaws of victory in the NCAA Tournament. It's the type of losses that will turn up the heat on Jon Scheyer in Durham, no matter how good a job he has done in the regular season. Because success at Duke is measured by success in the tournament.
Fans are justifiably angry. And his explanation of the end-of-game sequence isn't going to make them feel any better.
"We just have to secure it," Scheyer said of the turnover. "We got it, they had to foul. I was ready for a timeout, and we just gotta hold on. It's easy to look at that play; I look at every play that happened, especially in that second half. This is not about one play. This is about every play that put us in that position. And that's what you don't wanna do, where one play something can happen. ...It's gonna be tough, but it's not gonna be on one play."
Jon Scheyer's postgame words ring hollow after another Duke collapse
It might not be about one play, but it's certainly about one coach who consistently doesn't have his team prepared for situations like that.
This collapse is worse than the collapse against Houston in last year's Final Four, and I didn't think that was possible until I watched this game with my own eyes.
Something has gotta give. Duke cannot consistently lose games that they've taken such big leads in. It has become a real problem under Scheyer, and one he has to figure out how to fix. Quickly.
Some Duke fans may criticize the fact that he didn't call a timeout in that situation. That's silly. He got what he wanted on the inbound. Cameron Boozer had it in his hands; he made a quick pass to Dame Sarr, who kicked it ahead to Cayden Boozer near midcourt. There were only 10 seconds left when Duke triggered the inbound, and everyone expected a quick foul. In hindsight, Boozer should have held it instead of attempting the pass ahead, but it was just an unfortunate play.
The criticism of Scheyer lies in how often his team collapses in pressure-packed moments. It's been a real issue, and one that has ended Duke's season prematurely two seasons in a row.