Duke falters in Elite 8 loss to Kansas, and Grayson Allen's polarizing career is over

Scott Gleeson | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption NCAA tournament: Grayson Allen's polarizing career comes to an end SportsPulse: After a heartbreaking loss, an emotional Grayson Allen did his best to put into words what his time at Duke meant to him.

March Sadness has officially set in for Duke.

One of college basketball's most polarizing programs is done dancing, following a thrilling overtime clash with fellow blueblood Kansas in the Elite Eight. A season that started with national title expectations ended just short of the sport's biggest stage, as coach Mike Krzyzewski was denied a record 13th trip to the Final Four.

With that, it also marks the end of a fabulous four-year career for heavily scrutinized guard Grayson Allen, whose jumper that would have won the game in regulation rimmed out. He also missed two three-point attempts in the closing minute of overtime.

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Although Allen connected on four clutch free throws in the game's closing stretch, it was an overall ugly shooting night for the Duke senior, who finished 3-for-13 from the field for 12 points in his final collegiate game. But this season was a resurgent one for Allen as a whole, in spite of the sour ending. He took on the role of senior captain on a young team full of NBA talent. It was a flipped script from a year ago when Allen was seen as the villain of the sport for his unsportsmanlike behavior — he was suspended for tripping players and stripped of his captaincy as a junior.

Maybe his image was never properly restored, but 2017-18 was still an All-American season for the 6-5 guard, although it didn't compare to his national player of the year-caliber sophomore campaign.

Allen started the season off with a bang, scoring 37 points in a Champion's Classic win against Michigan State, and whenever future lottery pick Marvin Bagley III was out, he was the guy who took over and lifted the Blue Devils.

Allen ends his career with 1,984 points, which included this Elite Eight run, a Sweet 16 and a national title his freshman year.

“I don't worry or think much about my Duke legacy,” Allen told reporters before the game. “I just really want to win. And we've become — this group has become so close that I know what the Final Four feeling is like. I know what that national championship feeling is like. So I really want to do that with this group and have these guys experience that, too."

Unfortunately, it won't end that way. It was Allen who came up big as a freshman in Duke's national title in 2015 after being a reserve all season long. Sadly, it was Allen who couldn't come up big when the Blue Devils needed it on Sunday — a painfully rough ending for a well-decorated career. (Allen is projected anywhere from a late first-round pick to mid second-round pick in the June NBA draft.

Don't cry for Coach K, who has four five-star recruits committed to join the program next year. But this season will likely be remembered as a lost opportunity for a team that had enough talent to cut down the nets in April and a program that expects to make the Final Four more often than not.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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