Duke vs. Miami: Score and Reaction from 2017 Regular Season

The No. 10 Duke Blue Devils (22-7, 10-6) ripped off seven straight wins between Jan. 28 and Feb. 18 during a dominant run through the ACC, but Mike Krzyzewski's program has fallen back to earth over the past few days.

Following a buzzer-beating loss at the hands of the Syracuse Orange on Wednesday, Duke fell to the Miami Hurricanes in a 55-50 slugfest Saturday afternoon at the Watsco Center in South Florida.

The Hurricanes (20-8, 10-6), on the other hand, have won four in a row—including back-to-back victories over ranked conference opponents, as CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein noted:

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Miami has strengthened its NCAA tournament case by stringing together wins against some of the nation's top programs:

Miami guard Bruce Brown was the driving force behind the Hurricanes' effort, and he finished with 25 points, four rebounds and four assists against a stingy Duke defense.

Brown gashed the Blue Devils from all over the floor, blowing away ESPN's Seth Greenberg:

Similarly, 92.9 The Game's John Michaels noted Brown has shown a penchant for coming up with his best performances against Miami's most daunting foes:

No other Hurricanes scorer finished in double figures, and yet, it didn't matter.

The Blue Devils shot 31.8 percent from the field and 23.8 percent from three, and the offense didn't have enough rhythm on an afternoon when Grayson Allen was absent due to a sprained ankle.

Luke Kennard and Frank Jackson picked up the slack with 16 points apiece to account for 64 percent of Duke's total points, but no other Blue Devil tallied more than Jayson Tatum's eight points.

However, Tatum struggled.

Although he entered Saturday averaging 22 points over his last three games, Tatum shot just 4-of-16 from the field, including 0-of-7 from beyond the arc.

In order to finish the regular season on a high note, the Blue Devils will have to snap out of their miniature slump and find more consistency in the scoring column when they return to the floor for a pair of daunting ACC contests.

The Florida State Seminoles will be up first on Tuesday for a showdown at Cameron Indoor Stadium, but that clash will merely serve as an appetizer for a finale on March 4 at the Dean E. Smith Center against the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Miami, meanwhile, will have one day off before it battles the Virginia Tech Hokies on Monday. Head coach Jim Larranaga's squad will then close out its regular-season slate March 4 against the Seminoles in a highly anticipated intrastate meeting.

Postgame Reaction

Once the final buzzer sounded, Miami's official Twitter account posted video of students storming the court in celebration: 

At the postgame podium, Larranaga stressed the importance of a rabid student section. 

"If we're going to compete for a national championship, our students ... have to understand this is their team," he said, per the Associated Press' Tim Reynolds. 

Larranaga later told reporters he believes Miami could one day wield a fanbase that rivals the ACC's best, according to the Palm Beach Post's Matt Porter: 

As for the Blue Devils, Kennard was not in a talkative mood, according to the News & Observer's Jessika Morgan: 

Elsewhere, Krzyzewski credited Brown for a stellar outing. 

"I think Bruce Brown's had a great year and was terrific today," the Duke coach said, per the Sun Sentinel's Christy Chirinos. "He had a great game... He's an outstanding player."

"I just came out and played hard, did what I needed to do," Brown added, per Chirinos.