Duke's Darkest Basketball Memories of the Decade: No's 6 and 5

Two more season-ending losses are up on the countdown on darkest moments of the Duke Basketball decade. Both losses stung a bit more for the Blue Devils because of off-court drama that went along with the on-court disappointment.

Here’s a recap of the list of dark moments so far.

No. 10: Coach K rips team after one-point escape against Vermont.

No. 9: Grayson Allen trips again, against Elon.

No. 8: Duke loses to Louisville in the Kevin Ware game.

No. 7: Arizona ends the abbreviated Kyrie era.

6. Coach K talks to Dillon Brooks after the Oregon loss:

Duke’s attempt to repeat as NCAA champions ended in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2016 tournament with a 82-68 loss in Anaheim to Oregon. Dillon Brooks led the way for the Ducks with 22 points, six assists and five rebounds.

Brooks hit a three-pointer late, with Oregon up big, and celebrated as he moved past the Duke bench.

The only thing the Internet likes better than a Duke loss is a Duke controversy. So, when Coach K took a moment to speak to Brooks in the postgame handshake line, things went viral.

Krzyzewski tried to brush off the topic, saying that he was “congratulating” Brooks, but audio was found confirming Brooks’ claim that Coach K told him he was “too good a player” to taunt like that. It was a minor dust up, and Krzyzewski apologized to Oregon’s coach and to Brooks, but the Internet had a field day ripping Coach K for talking to players on other teams and lying about it.

5. Duke loses to South Carolina in bathroom bill relocated game:

North Carolina decided to take a stand against people using the wrong bathroom and passed a controversial law that was considered discriminatory against gay and trans people. The public quickly turned against it and pressured the state to repeal the bill. One of the consequences of the state’s decision to hold firm on bathroom security was that the NCAA pulled all championship events from North Carolina.

That means instead of spending the first weekend of March Madness in Greensboro or Charlotte, Duke had to travel to Greenville, South Carolina. After getting past Troy in the first round, Duke faced South Carolina, in a game that essentially amounted to a home game for the Gamecocks.

Duke led by 10 early in the second half, but, led by Sindarius Thornwell, South Carolina stormed back, winning 88-81 on its way to the Final Four.