Duke's rough times hard to believe

We'll bet you thought a Republican would be voted mayor of Philadelphia before you saw Duke give up 87 and 90 points on defense in losing back-to-back games this week.

Sure, playing a rivalry game at North Carolina State is always tough, but a 16-point defeat at home vs. Miami? Yikes!

"I just have felt since Christmas that there's something missing with our group, and I've said it," Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the Miami game. "When you're still winning, you don't necessarily believe it completely. I haven't been able to . . . figure out how to change it. We're all on the same page now after getting our butt beat."

How rare was this? Duke saw the end of its 41-game home-court win streak, dating to March 2012. The Blue Devils had not lost back-to-back regular-season games since February 2009. And according to Stats, it marked the first time they lost consecutive games by double digits since March 1996.

According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, the University of Kentucky spent $792,845 for an eight-night exhibition trip to the Bahamas last August. Through an open-records request, the newspaper acquired expense reports showing that the Wildcats threw a reception dinner worth $23,855 and that coach John Calipari stayed in a $1,550-a-night suite at the Atlantis hotel.

Kentucky also paid for travel, lodging, and meals of three opponents it faced. The program did raise money from boosters who donated $6,000 apiece, reducing the total expense by more than $347,000. The Wildcats played against the national teams of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic and a pro team from France. Calipari said he wanted professional-level competition to prepare for this season.

On the heels of the greatest upset - 67-62 over No. 4 Wisconsin - in Rutgers basketball history, the Scarlet Knights traveled to No. 14 Maryland looking for another signature win. But the Terrapins took control with their free-throw shooting and dealt Rutgers a 73-65 defeat.

"You've got to make shots," Scarlet Knights coach Eddie Jordan said. "We didn't make free throws. We didn't make layups when we had to."

Rutgers led, 57-51, with seven minutes remaining before fading. While it was still an impressive performance, "we don't have any moral victories," Knights guard Myles Mack said.

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim passed a few times on taking a jab at the officiating after an 82-77 overtime loss last month to Villanova at the Wells Fargo Center.

But his memory was jogged enough after Wednesday's overtime win by his team over Wake Forest to register some objections - 24 days later. He talked about Trevor Cooney's getting knocked down on an inbounds pass that the Wildcats stole to tie the game in regulation, and a pass that Rakeem Christmas couldn't handle where Boeheim told Syracuse.com: "He got fouled. We can't overcome someone grabbing your arm. It wasn't a mistake; it was clear."

The Orange were outscored, 26-13, in free throws against 'Nova.

It's been a down winter for college basketball in Los Angeles, where both UCLA (11-7) and Southern California (9-8) are a long way from competing for an NCAA tournament berth.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the crosstown rivals have missed the NCAAs in the same season just seven times in the last 55 years. The Bruins picked up their fourth straight win over USC on Wednesday night, 83-66. The Trojans played the game with a heavy heart after learning of the death earlier in the day of former head basketball coach Bob Boyd, 84, who led USC to 216 victories in 13 seasons and four postseason appearances, including the 1979 NCAA tournament.

This was a big week for Rakeem Christmas, who starred at the Academy of the New Church. The 6-foot-9 Syracuse senior scored 35 points in an overtime win over Wake Forest, the most points scored by a center in Jim Boeheim's 39 years as head coach - more than Danny Schayes, Rony Seikaly, and Roosevelt Bouie.

Christmas, whose high game before this season was 15 points, went 13 of 21 from the field and 9 of 12 from the foul line.

La Salle will honor coaches and players from the 1989-90 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference team that starred Lionel Simmons and competed in the NCAA tournament 25 years ago. The Explorers, coached by Speedy Morris, went 30-2, ending their season with a second-round NCAA loss to Clemson.

Simmons, a Philadelphia native, averaged 26.5 points and 11.1 rebounds that season, won a collection of player of the year awards, and finished his career with 3,217 points, still third on the NCAA all-time list.

Notre Dame guard Steve Vasturia, a 6-foot-5 sophomore and a former St. Joseph's Prep star, has started all 18 games for the 12th-ranked Fighting Irish. Vasturia, who scored 11 points in Notre Dame's 62-59 victory Wednesday night over Georgia Tech, is averaging 8.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists while shooting 49.1 percent from the field, 39.7 percent from beyond the arc, and 80 percent from the free-throw line. His season high is 19 points, which came last month against Mount St. Mary's.

Top Pick

Duke at Louisville, Saturday at noon, ESPN:

The Blue Devils are reeling from back-to-back losses in which they allowed 87 and 90 points. Now they must play on the road against the sixth-ranked Cardinals, who still have yet to defeat a team inside the RPI Top 50.

Starting Five

Michigan State at Maryland, Saturday at 4 p.m., CBS3: The Spartans have won three straight since losing a double-OT thriller at home to the Terrapins, who enter the weekend at the top of the Big Ten.

Utah at Arizona, Saturday at 7 p.m., Pac-12 Network: The Utes' Delon Wright is on the midseason Top 25 list for the Wooden Award and leads his team into the second leg of its dangerous trip to the Grand Canyon State.

Kansas at Iowa State, Saturday at 9 p.m., ESPN:

The Jayhawks are 6-0 since their Dec. 22 loss to Temple but will have their hands full on an ESPN GameDay stage against the Cyclones, who are coming off a crushing loss at Baylor.

Oklahoma at Kansas, Monday at 9 p.m., ESPN:

This will be the Jayhawks' third of a four-game run of games against nationally ranked teams; the Sooners enter the weekend coming off back-to-back losses.

Iowa at Wisconsin, Tuesday at 9 p.m., ESPN:

It's a Delaware Valley coaches' reunion with the Hawkeyes' Fran McCaffery (La Salle College High, Penn) going up against the Badgers' Bo Ryan (Chester).

- Joe Juliano

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