The Duke basketball program suffered its first loss of the 2025-26 season on Saturday night, falling to 11-1 on the campaign after an 82-81 loss to No. 19 Texas Tech. It was a game the Blue Devils controlled for the first 25 minutes, and early through the second half, it felt like Duke was going to win in blowout fashion. However, the Red Raiders had other ideas, fighting back from down 17 behind 27 points from Christian Anderson and 19 from JT Toppin. It felt like the magic number for the Blue Devils was to keep Anderson and Toppin combined for less than 40 points, and the elite duo combined for 46.
Jon Scheyer's club didn't play a bad game on either side of the ball. The defense wasn't as lethal as it usually is, but the Blue Devils contained the Red Raiders offensively well for the first 30 minutes of the game. It wasn't until the final 10 minutes of the contest that everything unraveled for Duke, but there was one glaring issue that became the clear defining factor in the loss: free throw shooting.
Duke basketball's most glaring issue finally cost it a win against No. 19 Texas Tech
Throughout the young season, Duke has been dominating its opponents at the charity stripe in terms of attempts. The Blue Devils are +104 on the year in terms of foul shot attempts, but the lack of consistency in terms of converting those points has been lackluster at best. Against Texas Tech, Duke went a measly 17-of-29 (59%) from the charity stripe, compared to an 11-of-17 (65%) clip for the Red Raiders. The Blue Devils were +12 in attempts on Saturday night, but just +6 in makes. This has been an issue against high-major opponents for Duke all season, but it didn't cost them a win until now.
In Duke's six high-major contests, it has shot a combined 95-of-145 (65.5%) from the free throw line, compared to its opponents' shooting a combined 66-of-91 (72.5%) clip from the charity stripe. The Blue Devils are a whopping +54 in attempts against high-major opponents this season, but are just +29 in makes.
With the amount of volume that Duke gets at the line relative to its opponents, free throw shooting could become a major advantage in tight games, similar to the game against Texas Tech. However, with the inability of the Blue Devils to knock free throws down, it's turning into a disadvantage, leaving teams with the option to send Duke to the line, given the lack of consistency Duke has had.
Duke currently ranks 227th in team free throw shooting percentage at 70.3% according to KenPom. For the Blue Devils to be a true national title contender, this aspect of the game simply has to improve significantly.