That game also fell on the heels of a trip to Maui, where Duke played and beat Tennessee, Michigan and Kansas. So a loss in Columbus wasn't a surprise. The margin, though, was troubling.
Wednesday night's 78-73 loss at Temple is an entirely different matter. Duke was healthy, coming off two easy home wins and had only played five games over the previous 30 days.
Getting outrebounded by a smaller Temple team and struggling with sloppy turnovers should serve as a wake-up call for several Duke players.
During a break in between two Duke practices Thursday, Blue Devils associate head coach Chris Collins said it's up to the players to change their attitudes about such hustle plays.
"The feeling from us is anger," Collins said. "You want to win. Hopefully our guys share that same emotion. Not to be down in the dumps about it but to be angry and be more focused going into the next game. We want them to be angry about it and to want to be better in a lot of those areas.”
Duke opens ACC play at Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Saturday. Technically the Temple game wasn't on the Owls home court at the Liacouras Center. But the larger Wells Fargo Center did have the Owls logos and there were plenty of Temple supporters among the 20,420 in the stands.
So let's call it a road loss for Duke. That means, counting Ohio State and losses at Virginia Tech and North Carolina at the end of last season, the Blue Devils have lost four true road games in a row.
A struggling Georgia Tech (7-7) team appears to be the perfect antidote. But, don't forget, UNC was drilled 78-58 by an equally bad Yellow Jackets team last January in Atlanta.
Duke's getting a chance to improve its attitude and approach today with two practices and a weight-lifting session. It appears to need such work.
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