It’s hard to know what to make of Duke’s 1990 men’s basketball season. They made the national title game but lost nine times. They were ranked anywhere between third and fifteenth in the AP poll. Duke was poised to win the ACC regular-season title until losses to NC State, Clemson and North Carolina in their last three conference games dropped them to second. Duke’s 83-72 loss to Georgia Tech in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament was so dispiriting that media members could hear Phil Henderson excoriating his teammates as “crybabies” through the Charlotte Coliseum walls.
So, Duke turns around and wins five straight games in the NCAA Tournament.