Most Devastating Loss You’ve Suffered as a Fan

[dukedevilz]

1992 vs Duke....TBH, I thought we were better. Couldn't buy a bucket in the 2nd half missed first 7 second half---and was 1-11 midway through. Ended up 12-29....after shooting 59% in the 1st. Even then, still had a chance at the end. Meeks got a good look, just didn't go in...

Few others of note was loss in 1993 to KU, and 2013 Syracuse. But damn.....1992.

If it makes you feel any better, the 2002 loss to IU was the most painful for me. Thought we were going to repeat as national champions. Dunleavy made a three with under 3 minutes left, and that increased the lead to 6. Felt like we were wrapping things up. But, then... everything went south.

Kind of thought IU was the beneficiary of some late calls. Duhon, without question, picked Moye's pocket. Called a foul and they got two free throws to put IU up by 4 with 11 seconds left. On the other end, Jason Williams made a three and got fouled, with the chance to tie it up. He missed the free throw. Boozer got the rebound and missed a point blank layup... looks to me like Moye slapped Boozer pretty good to disrupt the shot.

 

[brooky03]

Hah people underestimate the 2010 Duke team ALL the time. And honestly, I don't think it's really warranted. We had the #1 rated offense. We had the #5 rated defense. We were the highest rated team on KenPom by a significant margin.

Once Zoubek was inserted into the starting lineup, we went 15-1. Dude was a monster on the offensive glass... Our only loss during that 16-game stretch came on the road to Maryland, a 4 seed in the tournament that year. Game was tied with less than two minutes left (we also won the 3 games prior to Zoubek starting, meaning we won 18 of our last 19). We dominated the last 1.5 months of the season.

Zoubek would have been Arinze’s son

 

[JimboBBN]

Every time Kentucky wins

poor little baby girl

 

[dukedevilz]

Zoubek would have been Arinze’s son

Hah. Good one. Zoubek would crush him on the boards. Crush.

Zoubek's offensive rebounding percentage: 21.5%... Onuaku's defensive rebounding percentage: 13.3%
Onuaku's offensive rebounding percentage: 11.5%... Zoubek's defensive rebounding percentage: 24.6%

So,+8.2% on the offensive glass. And +13.1% on the defensive glass.

Stick to politics.

 

[lurkeraspect84]

Hah. Good one. Zoubek would crush him on the boards. Crush.

Zoubek's offensive rebounding percentage: 21.5%... Onuaku's defensive rebounding percentage: 13.3%
Onuaku's offensive rebounding percentage: 11.5%... Zoubek's defensive rebounding percentage: 24.6%

So,+8.2% on the offensive glass. And +13.1% on the defensive glass.

Stick to politics.

 

[brooky03]

Hah. Good one. Zoubek would crush him on the boards. Crush.

Zoubek's offensive rebounding percentage: 21.5%... Onuaku's defensive rebounding percentage: 13.3%
Onuaku's offensive rebounding percentage: 11.5%... Zoubek's defensive rebounding percentage: 24.6%

So,+8.2% on the offensive glass. And +13.1% on the defensive glass.

Stick to politics.

Well this is embarrassing for you. Centers in the zone don’t rebound well. That always comes from the Forwards. It’s a product of the defensive scheme.

Zoubek wouldn’t have a chance in hell once Arinze caught the ball in the paint. Automatic points.

 

[brooky03]

I will admit “well, he rebounds good” is a creative argument in reply to “he would have gotten his shit pushed in all night.”

 

[Afamu]

Duke 1999 Championship game.

 

[RR30]

Losing to Duke on the Austin Rivers shot was tough because it is the only UNC game I've ever seen where I felt we were legit cheated.

Villanova was tough because I wanted Paige and Brice to win one so bad.

The worse for me was the loss to Georgetown in 2007. thought that team had a great chance to win it.

Next worse would be Kansas after Kendall went down because I thought UNC wins that game for sure with him. I also thought they were the only team with a chance to beat Kentucky that year. Not saying UNC wins but think they were the only team with a legit shot.

Third would be 1998 loss to Utah. UNC was definitely better than them but just had a dud of a game.

UK and UNC with Cal/Roy were always great games. Still triggered about the 2017 game, but even if Higgins didn't shit the first half up there's a decent chance Y'all win because you were the best team in the country.

 

[dukedevilz]

Centers in the zone don’t rebound well. That always comes from the Forwards. It’s a product of the defensive scheme.

Zoubek wouldn’t have a chance in hell once Arinze caught the ball in the paint. Automatic

Rebounding in a zone is more challenging, yes. Everybody knows that. All the more reason why you guys would have been CRUSHED on the boards. We had one of the best rebounding teams in the country that season. Had an average rebounding margin of 8 over the last 5 games of the NCAA Tournament. Easily would have been double digits against Cuse.

We also shot 38.5% from three as a team. We were a jump-shooting team, who shot the ball pretty darn well. #1 rated offense by KenPom. And Onuaku was a horrible free throw shooter. Analytics say foul the crap out of him. Two free throws from Onuaku is 0.86 points per possession. We'll take that. And with Zoubek, Lance Thomas, Kyle Singler, Miles & Mason Plumlee, and Ryan Kelly, we had plenty of fouls to give. And yes, Duke was very much into analytics in 2010. It helped seal the win against Butler. Gordon Hayward is right-handed - and he had the ball with roughly 10 seconds to potentially pull Butler ahead. Naturally, you'd think Hayward would drive right. Yet, analytics noted that he drove left 70% of the time. So, Singler did everything to force him to the right - and that helped pressure him into taking a much more challenging shot.

Honestly, I think Duke would have been a very bad matchup for Cuse. Outside shooting. Rebounding. And we didn't turn the ball over either (15th in the country).

 

[RR30]

Duke was a good team in 2010 but they were extremely fortunate that Calipari was a potato against West Virginia and Kansas did what Kansas does in the second round. Both teams would have been favorites over that Duke team.

 

[coryfly]

UK and UNC with Cal/Roy were always great games. Still triggered about the 2017 game, but even if Higgins didn't shit the first half up there's a decent chance Y'all win because you were the best team in the country.

I hate it any year where UNC and UK don't play each other. Cal and Roy were great battles for sure but in general I just love playing against Kentucky. It is 1 vs 2 in terms of the best programs historically.

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

Still the 2005 National Championship game for me. Yes, UNC was a truly stacked team that year, but we still missed like 5 or 6 three pointers in the last two minutes that would have taken the lead or tied it, some of them wide open, and had our starting center fouled out for the last 8 minutes of the game. That team had been so clutch and so deadly from three all year, so it was an especially heart breaking way to lose. Didn’t make it better that it was effectively a home game in St. Louis.

 

[Jaycg15]

1989 Finals Michigan beats my Seton Hall Pirates because of the Worst call EVER in the history of the tournament .

They then beat a down Illinois team after Illinois beat them fairly easily 2x prior that season.

 

[Jaycg15]

Still the 2005 National Championship game for me. Yes, UNC was a truly stacked team that year, but we still missed like 5 or 6 three pointers in the last two minutes that would have taken the lead or tied it, some of them wide open, and had our starting center fouled out for the last 8 minutes of the game. That team had been so clutch and so deadly from three all year, so it was an especially heart breaking way to lose. Didn’t make it better that it was effectively a home game in St. Louis.

Yep, hands down this game.

 

[Noahtogo24]

Duke was a good team in 2010 but they were extremely fortunate that Calipari was a potato against West Virginia and Kansas did what Kansas does in the second round. Both teams would have been favorites over that Duke team.

True, but to be fair, rarely does the best team win the ncca tourney , with some exceptions (12 UK, 09 UNC and 07 Florida)

 

[IUfanBorden]

If it makes you feel any better, the 2002 loss to IU was the most painful for me. Thought we were going to repeat as national champions. Dunleavy made a three with under 3 minutes left, and that increased the lead to 6. Felt like we were wrapping things up. But, then... everything went south.

Kind of thought IU was the beneficiary of some late calls. Duhon, without question, picked Moye's pocket. Called a foul and they got two free throws to put IU up by 4 with 11 seconds left. On the other end, Jason Williams made a three and got fouled, with the chance to tie it up. He missed the free throw. Boozer got the rebound and missed a point blank layup... looks to me like Moye slapped Boozer pretty good to disrupt the shot.

Bruh.....I don't wanna hear it. For one,you dudes were up 17.....And two----in 1992, Duke shot 42 free throws to Indiana's 16.

I agree on the Dunleavy 3....Thought that sealed the deal. Duhon made some bad decisions late.

Agree with Duhon, and the pick. He did reach across him, but thought it was clean.

On the Boozer shot, not sure if Moye got the ball, or his arm. It happened so fast. I do know I wanted to choke Dane Fife. Now for the Moye block on Boozer----Still one of my all-time favorite plays. We don't win that game with Moye.

 

[Villian07]

True, but to be fair, rarely does the best team win the ncca tourney , with some exceptions (12 UK, 09 UNC and 07 Florida)

13 Louisville*

 

[IUfanBorden]

I thought you were a Duke fan...

Maybe I am missing something....But Duke lost to UConn in '99 title game----A very, very good Duke team at that. Pretty sure Uconn was the biggest underdog(point spread wise) to win a championship game.

 

[Kevin Bryan]

Maybe I am missing something....But Duke lost to UConn in '99 title game----A very, very good Duke team at that. Pretty sure Uconn was the biggest underdog(point spread wise) to win a championship game.

You aren't missing anything, I'm just an idiot. Was thinking Duke won that game because my brain is mush. 😆

 

[IUfanBorden]

True, but to be fair, rarely does the best team win the ncca tourney , with some exceptions (12 UK, 09 UNC and 07 Florida)

'94 Arkansas, '96 Kentucky.....Kinda of hard to argue with UCLA in 1995 as well. MSU in 2000.. I mean Maryland in 2002 went 15-1 in the ACC. Even though I thought IU was better than Duke(92), its really hard to argue that team as well..'93 was a toss up....

Not to mention every single UCLA title winning team.

Most recently....

2013---Toss up....Louisville was very good. I thought Indiana had the best team. But, hell Michigan was really good as well.
2014---No
2015- No
2016---Meh----I guess you can argue KU. But Nova beat the shit out of dudes in the tourney.
2017--No....Probably Villanova
2018-- Toss up. UVA was really good. But so was Villanova.
2019-- I mean UVA won the ACC(co-champs). I get they lost to Duke twice. I still think UVA was the best team in 2019. If not, very, very close to it. Toss up.
2020---Yes. COVID was the best team.
2021--I thought GU was the best team. But Baylor put that to rest.

More often than not, the best team does win...Or at worse,one of the best(Top 4). IMO, on very few occasions has the best, or one of the best, not won.

The 1980's was kinda of weird....

Lousiville in 1980 very good.
Indiana in 1981 started playing really well, late. Absolutely killed everyone in the tourney, inclduing UNC in the title game.
1982---UNC. Best team probably. DePaul was really good. So was Georgetown.
1983---No. Not even close. Me, you and a coconut could have coached that Houston team to the title..
1984--Yes. Georgetown. CLose with Kentucky, ...North Carolina...DePaul----again. Hoyas had a first round squeaker---but after that, pretty much cruised.
1985- No. Nova needed the perfect game---and got just that. One could maybe argue St.John's. But IMO, it was Gtown.
1986---Meh....Probably not. Duke was 37-1.
1987---Yes. I think Indiana was the best team.
1988--No.
1989-- Meh----Probably was Illinois.


Its a very fine line, IMO.....1983 Houston...1985 Gtown, 1991 UNLV......1999 Duke and 2015 UK stick out to me as teams that I was shocked, didn't win the title.

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

^ Love the Flyin’ Illini shoutout, and I sadly must agree with them being the best in ‘89. Illinois basketball has been quite an “almost” program, unfortunately.

 

[Villian07]

86 Louisville at least beat that duke team in the tourney. Didnt dodge the best team.

2013 we will always agree to disagree. We were overall number 1 seed going in. Yall had a talented team(preseason number 1 iirc) and a 1 seed, but you also had tom crean. Coaching matters as well.

 

[Villian07]

Not to say pitino has never been outcoached or it was a guarentee that we would have beaten yall, i just think we were the best team coming in and won it all. Obv biased opinion. Yall had more nba talent but pitino had that 2013 team locked in esp on defense. Plus the kevin ware incident, i think they were on a mission regardless of who they had to play.

 

[Afamu]

Losing to Duke on the Austin Rivers shot was tough because it is the only UNC game I've ever seen where I felt we were legit cheated.

Villanova was tough because I wanted Paige and Brice to win one so bad.

The worse for me was the loss to Georgetown in 2007. thought that team had a great chance to win it.

Next worse would be Kansas after Kendall went down because I thought UNC wins that game for sure with him. I also thought they were the only team with a chance to beat Kentucky that year. Not saying UNC wins but think they were the only team with a legit shot.

Third would be 1998 loss to Utah. UNC was definitely better than them but just had a dud of a game.

How were you cheated at home against Duke?

 

[WeAreDePaul]

1981: #1 seed lost to St. Joes in first round. Entered tourney 27-1.

1982: #1 seed lost to Boston College in first round. Entered tourney 26-1

1984: #1 seed lost to Wake Forest in Sweet 16. Entered tourney 25-2.

Take that @jhmossy! Only reason people talk about Virginia and not DePaul is because the tourney was only 48 teams back then, but losing 2 years in a row as a 1 loss #1 seed is easily more devastating that Virginia losing to a #16 (especially since UVA responded with a Natty the very next year whereas DePaul responded by doing it again).



No one here can top that murder's row of misery. No one here has even come close to experiencing going from a perennial #1 seed to a team that can't win 2 conference games per season.

I easily win this thread so everyone else can go chew on a bag of dicks.

 

[brooky03]

1981: #1 seed lost to St. Joes in first round. Entered tourney 27-1.

1982: #1 seed lost to Boston College in first round. Entered tourney 26-1

1984: #1 seed lost to Wake Forest in Sweet 16. Entered tourney 25-2.

Take that @jhmossy! Only reason people talk about Virginia and not DePaul is because the tourney was only 48 teams back then, but losing 2 years in a row as a 1 loss #1 seed is easily more devastating that Virginia losing to a #16 (especially since UVA responded with a Natty the very next year whereas DePaul responded by doing it again).



No one here can top that murder's row of misery. No one here has even come close to experiencing going from a perennial #1 seed to a team that can't win 2 conference games per season.

I easily win this thread so everyone else can go chew on a bag of dicks.

Respect.

if it’s any consolation, I’ll never forget when DePaul beat Syracuse by 200 points in like 2005

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

The 2006 1st Rd NCAA tourney loss still haunts me to this day. It was a classic Steve Alford meltdown that we probably should've seen coming, but we were blinded by our run in the BTT.

 

[kyjeff1]

I’m going to nominate losing to UConn in the final four as a runner up. Not because it was devastating emotionally, but because those turds didnt have the talent to match us so they flopped their way to victory and Higgins escorted them.

Punk asses.

I have this same clip saved on my phone. Higgins definitely has it out for UK.

 

[kyjeff1]

Losing to Duke on the Austin Rivers shot was tough because it is the only UNC game I've ever seen where I felt we were legit cheated.

Villanova was tough because I wanted Paige and Brice to win one so bad.

The worse for me was the loss to Georgetown in 2007. thought that team had a great chance to win it.

Next worse would be Kansas after Kendall went down because I thought UNC wins that game for sure with him. I also thought they were the only team with a chance to beat Kentucky that year. Not saying UNC wins but think they were the only team with a legit shot.

Third would be 1998 loss to Utah. UNC was definitely better than them but just had a dud of a game.

Yeah, I still don't understand how the heels lost to Utah in '98. Boggles my mind.

 

[kyjeff1]

2010 loss to Wva in the E8. Cal just kept standing there as we just kept bricking threes. Wall, Bledsoe, Cousins, Patterson and Orton and we just shot threes. Then duke beat the snot out of Wva in the FF. Salt in the wound.

 

[coryfly]

2010 loss to Wva in the E8. Cal just kept standing there as we just kept bricking threes. Wall, Bledsoe, Cousins, Patterson and Orton and we just shot threes. Then duke beat the snot out of Wva in the FF. Salt in the wound.

I was so mad, lol. Thought you guys were the team to beat that Duke team.

 

[Kevin Bryan]

2010 loss to Wva in the E8. Cal just kept standing there as we just kept bricking threes. Wall, Bledsoe, Cousins, Patterson and Orton and we just shot threes. Then duke beat the snot out of Wva in the FF. Salt in the wound.

WVU just packed every single defender in the paint and said go ahead and shoot jumpers. Cal obliged and every single player on the roster was glad to toss up brick after brick. 4-32 from 3..... lol.

 

[Villian07]

WVU just packed every single defender in the paint and said go ahead and shoot jumpers. Cal obliged and every single player on the roster was glad to toss up brick after brick. 4-32 from 3..... lol.

Yea they ran a 1-3-1 alot with 6-5 muzula running rhe baseline and UK refused to post cousins or PP ans kept pssing it around the top chucking threes

 

[Kevin Bryan]

Yea they ran a 1-3-1 alot with 6-5 muzula running rhe baseline and UK refused to post cousins or PP ans kept pssing it around the top chucking threes

It was bad.

 

[kyjeff1]

WVU just packed every single defender in the paint and said go ahead and shoot jumpers. Cal obliged and every single player on the roster was glad to toss up brick after brick. 4-32 from 3..... lol.

The same thing started to happen in the 2011 NCAAT against Wva, but Cal made a halftime adjustment. Went from around 8 points down to an easy win.

 

[BasketBallJunkie-UK]

I was born about 8 months after that shot lol

That game hurts worse than seeing a perfect season go down the drain?

Remember Kentucky Shame. Pitino was bringing us back from what the NCAA dealt us. That was THE game that defined we were back. So much emotion involved for some of us old timers. I think most us of felt bad for the team. And with mostly Kentucky guys playing. Most programs would have folded. ie SMU football. We came back so quickly from pretty much the death penalty. You gotta give Pitino credit. What he did was amazing.

2015 was different, It was evident Cal wasn't going to take out the twins. His mistake and he did own it. It was more about being pissed off than hurt. Watching the twins debacle and Cal letting it continue was painful. I have no doubt Ulis and Booker would have provided a better outcome. I was yelling at the TV, Cal take those 2 out! lol

 

[TheDude1]

Duke/UConn, 1999. **** that shit.

And people are really nuts when it comes to that 2010 Duke team. Like... REALLY. *Three* future NBA bigs AND a 7'1 center who was having a magical second half of a season... and the trio of Nolan Smith/Jon Scheyer/Kyle Singler, all of whom were All Americans and all of whom are Duke All-Timers. Oh, and practicing against a Curry. And that team played HARD... maybe the hardest working teams I've ever seen, and definitely one of the best defensive team I've seen at Duke. Maybe the most underrated team I've ever seen at Duke.

 

[Montana81]

2015 wisconsin