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Duke Is Somehow More Inevitable and Unkillable Than Ever

The feeling in the KFC Yum! Center approximated the chilling clarity the early victims in horror movies find when they empty their weapon into the gut of the villain, only to watch it continue its advance and realize they're in the presence of something from another realm.

And yes, morbid imagery is the only option on a night in which RJ Barrett's line that Duke likes to wear black on the road because "it's [the other team's] funeral" had set the tone for a reckoning. Just three days after Barrett let that bit of bulletin board material slip in his on-court interview following an impressive 81–71 win over Virginia in Charlottesville, the Blue Devils fell behind—way behind—an inspired Louisville team playing in front of a raucous crowd, trailing by 23 points with 9:58 to play.