Deja vu as Duke suffers another epic collapse. Why does it keep happening?

WASHINGTON – A freshman superstar leads Duke to an ACC championship.

The Blue Devils surge through the finish line of the regular season and earn the top seed in the East Region.

They steer themselves toward the sixth national championship in program history and are poised to advance against a battle-tested opponent, building a double-digit lead and humming along, everything going exactly as planned.

This all may feel familiar.

Last year, all this momentum and all of Duke’s postseason aspirations evaporated against Houston in the biggest meltdown in Final Four history. On Sunday, the Blue Devils were responsible for what may be the most epic collapses in the history of the Elite Eight, coughing up yet another double-digit lead in the second half and losing 73-72 to No. 2 Connecticut on guard Braylon Mullins’ 35-foot 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left.