Seth Curry never found his shot against the Hurricanes, and he finished with zero points. That's not a recipe for success. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

CORAL GABLES, Fla.—How did that happen?

Duke rarely loses regular season games by more than 20 points—it’s actually only happened eight times while Mike Krzyzewski has been at the helm. On Wednesday, >No. 1 Duke lost by 27 at No. 25 Miami, 90-63. There’s a link to the game story here, and I also shared a few other postgame thoughts here.

As I said in the story, the reason for the loss was simple: Miami hit a lot of shots. Duke didn’t. On a basic level, the Hurricanes shot 56.9 percent from the floor, a season-high for a Duke opponent. Their shooting performance reminded me of another head scratching Duke loss, Jan. 20, 2010, when an unranked N.C. State shot 58.2 percent in an 88-74 triumph.

A look at the advanced stats reveals even more of a disparity. Miami’s effective field goal percentage—a measure that gives 50 percent more credit for 3-pointers since they account for more points—was 64.7 percent, virtually double Duke’s 32.4 percent (the Blue Devils shot a season-low 29.7 percent from the field and 17.4 percent from deep). The Hurricanes also did a much better job getting to the free throw line, which, in theory, leads to more points. Even though Duke did hold a slight edge in the two other “four factors to winning,” (see the chart below) Miami’s shooting was so superior that it was irrelevant. And, naturally, a team as more chances at offensive rebounds when it misses more shots.

The Blue Devils can only count down the minutes until the game's end in a blowout loss to Miami. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

CORAL GABLES, Fla.—A few more thoughts and notes from Duke's historic loss at Miami:

***Duke’s loss was the third worst for a No. 1-ranked team and the worst in 45 years. ULCA beat No. 1 Houston by 32 points in 1968, and Kentucky beat No. 1 St. Johns by 41 in 1951. In those respective years, UCLA went on to win the championship, and Kentucky ended the season ranked No. 1.

***The Duke coaches never screamed or stomped their feet on the sideline. They spent most of the game seated. Mike Krzyzewski did get up to tell Mason Plumlee to dunk to ball early in the second half and later appealed to referee Karl Hess, “We’re losing by 30 points, give us some free throws,” after contact was ignored under the basket. But mostly, they just sat and watched. There wasn’t much to say as the shots—most of them coming off of good looks—continued to miss.

Duke was thoroughly beaten—in every sense of the word—at Miami. All Mike Krzyzewski could do was watch. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

CORAL GABLES, Fla.—Throughout the Mike Krzyzewski era, Duke has routinely routed teams, going on game-sealing runs so fast that the opponent was left wondering how it happened.

Wednesday night, Duke was on the receiving end of one of those head-scratching runs, as the No. 1 Blue Devils lost 90-63 at No. 25 Miami.

It was the Blue Devils’ worst regular season loss since Feb. 4, 2009, when they also lost by 27 points to then-No. 10 Clemson, 74-47. Before that, it was Jan. 18, 1984, when then-No. 12 Wake Forest won by 31 points, 97-66.

“Not much to say after that,” Krzyzewski said. “They were men, we were boys for 40 minutes, and the score and performance reflected that disparity. They were terrific, and we did not hold up our end of the bargain tonight.”

There will be plenty of big men for Duke to attempt to slow in Miami. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

Duke at Miami
When: 7:00 p.m.
Where: BankUnited Center, Coral Gables, Fla.
TV/Radio: ESPN/WKIX-102.9 FM
Compelling preview: Miami has plenty of what Mike Krzyzewski considers the most valuable asset in college basketball.

Projected starting lineups:

No. 1 Duke (16-1, 3-1 in the ACC)
G Quinn Cook, So., 11.5 ppg, 6.1 apg
G Seth Curry, Sr., 16.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg
G Rasheed Sulaimon, Fr., 11.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg
F Josh Hairston, Jr., 1.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg
F Mason Plumlee, Sr., 17.4 ppg, 11.5 rpg

No. 25 Miami (13-3, 4-0)
G Shane Larkin, So., 12.2 ppg, 3.9 apg
G Durand Scott, Sr., 13.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg
G Trey McKinney Jones, r-Sr., 9.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg
F/C Kenny Kadji, Jr, r-Sr., 12.6 ppg, 7.3 rpg
F/C Julian Gamble, r-Sr., 6.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg

Player to watch:

N.C. State has a short turn-around for Tuesday's trip to Wake Forest. The Wolfpack lost the back end of both of its two-games-in-three-days sets last season.

The Wolfpack beat Clemson 66-62 on Sunday at home and will play Wake Forest on Tuesday.

Last season, the Wolfpack beat Miami on Jan. 26 and then lost at UNC on Jan. 28. It then lost an emotional game at Duke on Feb. 16 and got flattened at home by Florida State on Feb. 18.

The Blue Devils are on top of the polls once again. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

It took Duke just one week to get back to the top of the polls, as the Blue Devils were ranked No. 1 in both the AP and USA Today Coaches polls released Monday. It is the fifth week this season that Duke has held the top spot.

The Blue Devils (16-1, 3-1) received 39 of 65 possible first-place votes. Michigan, ranked No. 2, received 11 first-place votes, and the remainder were split between Kansas (seven) and No. 4 Syracuse (8), which tied for the No. 3 spot.

Because there aren't any clear elite teams this year—strong cases could (and have) been made to rank Duke, Michigan, Kansas, Syracuse, Louisville, Arizona and Florida at No. 1—voting is a bit tricky. Seth Davis expounded on this idea in his weekly Fast Break column, which you should read every week, if you don't already:

Blair Holliday, seen here with his mother, Leslie, will return to Duke as an employee this semester. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

Before the start of the spring semester, Blair Holliday's application to return to Duke was denied, and his next move was unclear. Now, he has returned to Durham and is working with the school to take the next step in his recovery process.

Holliday was at the Duke football banquet Friday night, and he is back living in Durham, Leslie Holliday, his mother, said. The school is working to find him a job for the semester, possibly in the athletic department.

"He'll fill out an application, and they will place him where they feel it's appropriate," Leslie Holliday said.

Duke is now 1-1 without Ryan Kelly. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY.

Every Saturday, the News & Observer takes a look around the ACC. That also provides an opportunity to check in with the Blue Devils and look for any emerging trends.

Duke was eager to take the floor against Georgia Tech. As assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski said earlier in the week, the Blue Devils were 0-1 without injured starter Ryan Kelly, and they had something to prove.

“A lot of people outside the gym think that we can’t be successful without Ryan,” Tyler Thornton said before the game against the Yellow Jackets. “Ryan is a big piece of our team, but we have other guys that our coaching staff recruited here for a reason. We’re all excited just to be able to come in and show what we can do.”

DURHAM—Mason Plumlee was asked about the good looks he had at the basket in the first half of Duke's win over Georgia Tech, and he interrupted the question.

"They were great looks," he said. "Man, I might never get those looks again. I've got to to finish."

Plumlee went 2-for-12 in the first half for six total points. In the second half, though, he found his touch—"You've got to shoot through it," he said—and finished 7-for-20 for 16 points. The 20 attempts were a career high, topping the 16 he had against Marquette as a sophomore.

Updated 12:02 a.m.

DURHAM -- The Blue Devils knew that they would be a different team without Ryan Kelly. And against the team at the bottom of the ACC standings, it took them one half to find their flow. But once they did, they rolled to a 73-57 victory over Georgia Tech.

"We have to find a new identity," Mason Plumlee said. "We are a different team without Ryan, and whatever that is, we have to find it and play to our strengths."

Duke (16-1, 3-1 in the ACC) trailed at the half for only the third time this year. But as soon as the second half started, the Blue Devils took steps toward finding that new look and promptly went on a 19-4 run.

On the first play of the second half, Duke forced a Georgia Tech miss. Rasheed Sulaimon picked up the loose-ball rebound, and fed it ahead to Quinn Cook, who stopped and nailed a 3-pointer to give Duke the lead.

And the Blue Devils never trailed again.