The Auburn Tigers have suffered their first slip-up of the 2024-2025 basketball season on Wednesday night, losing a close matchup with the Duke Blue Devils, 84-78.
Despite getting off to a red-hot start early in Cameron Indoor Stadium, sharp shooting and superior rebounding helped the No. 9 ranked Duke Blue Devils upset the No. 2 ranked Tigers on Wednesday night in the SEC/ACC Challenge. The Blue Devils victory was just the second win by the ACC in the event.
Auburn entered Wednesday night with the best resume in college basketball, and the Tigers played like a battle-tested squad early. Miles Kelly (14 points), Chad Baker-Mazara (17 points) and Johni Broome (20 points) blitzed the Blue Devils with a 13-3 run to open the game. Unfortunately the lead did not last long, as Duke freshman Isiah Evans knocked down seemingly every 3-point attempt he took in the first half, finishing the night with an extremely impressive 6/8 line from beyond the arc.
Along with Evans, freshman sensation and likely No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft Cooper Flagg (22 points, 11 rebounds) helped Duke pull off the upset. Other than Flagg and Evans, guards Tyrese Proctor (12 points) and Caleb Foster (11 points) finished with double-digit scoring numbers.
Auburn’s 6-point loss dropped the Tigers to 0-5 all time against Duke. While the loss is disappointing, especially considering No. 1 ranked Kansas also lost on Wednesday, Bruce Pearl’s squad proved once again it belongs in the conversation as the best team in the country.
The Tigers stretch of high-leverage contests finally comes to an end on Sunday when Johni Broome and company return to Neville Arena to take on a middling Richmond team. Auburn will then return to the road to take on Ohio State before finishing the non-conference schedule with games against Georgia State, No. 7 ranked Purdue, and Monmouth.
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