Much more at play in Duke's loss than just the Kyrie Irving effect

After watching Arziona's second half destruction of the Duke Blue Devils, one of the prevailing themes on my twitter feed was that Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski made a tactical error by bring back Kyrie Irving for the NCAA Tournament.

That Kyrie Irving's presence on the court was the reason that the Blue Devils were run out of the gym by Arizona tonight.

Now, for the sake of this post and due to the fact that you will be reading it over and over at the other websites you use for college basketball and NCAA Tournament material, I'm going to limit what I say in regards to what Arizona did tonight. The Arizona team that played in the second half of this game would have beaten Duke in early December, back when Kyrie Irving was healthy. I truly believe that. Good teams that play great beat great teams that play good. (And yes, I'm aware that is terrible english. Blame the saying, don't blame me.)

We're talking Duke here.


And frankly, Duke has been heading in the wrong direction for about the past month.

In his first 27 games, Nolan Smith averaged 21.7 ppg. He shot 48% from the floor and 38% from three. His assist-to-turnover ratio was 1.77. Over the past 10 games, Smith has averaged 17.9 ppg while shooting 38% from the floor, 27% from three, and notching 4.5 apg to 3.7 t/o's. Three of his four single digit scoring games this season came in the past two weeks.

Smith was sliding before Kyrie Irving came back.

The same with Kyle Singler. He was 2-3 from three today. It was the first time he had made multiple threes in a game since February 13th, and the first time he shot better than 50% from deep in a single game since December. Over the last seven games, Singler is averaging 14.7 ppg while shooting 17.9% from three and committing four fouls in five of those seven games.

Mike Krzyzewski didn't have a choice.

His team was trending the wrong direction. It was a risk bringing Irving back, and while it looks like a dumb play the way things turned out, it was a risk Coach K had to take.

And for what its worth, while Smith struggled tonight -- he was 3-14 from the floor with just eight points and six turnovers -- he also carried Duke in the second half against Michigan, when he scored 17 of his 24 points.

There was more to this loss than just Smith's performance, like the fact that Derrick Williams was single-handedly able to keep Arizona in the game in the first half. Or the Wildcat's 25-9 rebounding advantage in the second half. Or the 54% that Arizona shot from the floor and the 60% the shot from three. Or the fact that Momo Jones -- yes, Momo Jones -- was the best point guard on the floor tonight.

Duke lost because they couldn't handle the punch when Arizona landed a couple haymakers in the second half. They lost because they folded when the Wildcats built a lead.

And while Irving's inclusion may played a part in Smith's horrid night, it was just one of many factors that caused the upset.

Give Arizona the credit they are due.

Duke didn't lose tonight.

Arizona won.