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Duke flames out of NCAA Tournament with big upset loss to South Carolina

Despite high expectations coming into the tournament, Duke fell flat against South Carolina, playing poor defense turning the ball over 18 times.

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Another big-name school fell out of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday as second-seeded Duke lost to seventh-seeded South Carolina, 88-81.

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As a result, South Carolina will advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history and will play third-seeded Baylor.

The loss obviously comes as a shock for a Duke team that had been starting to play well in recent weeks despite a somewhat lackluster player early in the season, when the team had high expectations. Duke was the third-most popular pick to win in ESPN's bracket challenge.

Certain numbers tell a story, and for Duke, their defense was an obvious problem against South Carolina. In the second half, the Blue Devils gave up a whopping 65 points to the Gamecocks. South Carolina shot just 43% from the field and 31% from three, but more importantly made 27 of 32 free throws.

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Duke, a three-point reliant team, still hit 37% of their attempts and made 27 free-throws (many of which kept them in the game in the second half), but they also turned the ball over 18 times.

South Carolina was led by a strong effort from senior guard Sindarius Thornwell, who scored 24 points on 6-of-14 shooting to go with six rebounds and five assists. Grayson Allen led the way for Duke with 20 points off the bench.

Just one day after first-ranked Villanova, the reigning NCAA Tournament champions, got knocked out, another strong contender in Duke is also done. Such is March Madness.

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