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Something's wrong with Duke.

The Blue Devils have lost two of three heading into the ACC tournament. That hasn't happened often in recent years. And when it has, Duke has lost its first tournament game.

That won't happen this week. The Devils will play the Maryland-N.C. State winner on Friday, and Duke was 4-0 against them this season.

But they haven't played either since things began to get wobbly for the Blue Devils. Suddenly, Duke looks vulnerable.

In the losses to Virginia Tech and North Carolina, the Devils needed their 3-point shooters to carry them. In both games, they came up short. And wide. And long. And tired.

Kyle Singler has missed 26 of his last 31 attempts, a ratio that brings up bad memories for Duke fans. Singler cannot go 1-for-8 on 3-pointers, as he did in the last two games. And if the truth be known, the more troubling number might be the 8.

Singler is no longer taking his shots. That's left the offense to Nolan Smith and Seth Curry. In fact, in the last few games Curry has been running the plays Duke drew up for Singler last year when Mike Krzyzewski changed the offense midway through. That change ultimately won a national title for the Blue Devils.

Krzyzewski was asked about team confidence after the Carolina loss.

"We're a confident team," he said. "Just because you miss shots it's not about confidence. If you're not confident, you don't take the shots."

Exactly.

Krzyzewski has been here before. He's seen late-season slumps do in past teams, inexplicably cold finishes by Trajan Langdon and J.J. Redick and Mike Dunleavy and Jason Williams. Some came around just in time. Some didn't.

Duke needs Singler to come around, and if the Devils are to win here and make a run at another national title, they'll need him to stick around.

Contact Ed Hardin at 373-7069 or ed.hardin@news-record.com