But a question still remains: Will Josh McRoberts be a part of the Duke team next season?

The 6-foot-10 sophomore had a career-high 22 points Thursday night, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked five shots. Duke's big man came up with a big game against Virginia Commonwealth, but it wasn't enough to keep the Blue Devils from losing 79-77 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

McRoberts, clearly disgusted by the loss, was not in the mood to discuss his future plans.

Had he reached a decision on whether to stay for his junior year or apply for the NBA Draft? "No," he said, head down, staring at the floor.

When would he make that decision? "I don't want to talk about it right now," he said. "I'm not concerned about my future right now. I'm concerned about these others guys in the locker room I care about."

It was a glum bunch. Not since 1996 had a Duke team lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Several players were blinking back tears.

Greg Paulus was teary-eyed as he walked off the court. The Syracuse, N.Y., native also had a career high, scoring 25 points, but the sophomore point guard probably will remember Duke's turnovers -- Paulus had six of the Devils' 17 that VCU converted into 22 points -- and the inability to make crucial defensive stops in the final two minutes.

Duke led 61-50 midway the second half, Paulus said, because the Devils were "doing what we wanted to do: getting stops and converting on the offensive end. But we had a couple of turnovers and they made some good plays and they kept fighting back."

VCU, the Colonial Athletic Association champion, got three big baskets from sophomore guard Eric Maynor in the last 1:25. On the first, he whacked Duke's Jon Scheyer under the left eye, leaving a nasty gash.

Scheyer said Maynor, a feisty type who had 22 points, hit him with a glancing blow with his elbow and hand after the shot. Scheyer left the game for treatment but was back to defend Maynor after Duke tied the score 77-77 on DeMarcus Nelson's driving layup with 16 seconds to play.

But Maynor drove in against Scheyer and drained a 16-foot jumper that was the winner with 1.8 seconds left.

"I picked him up at halfcourt and was just trying to keep him in front of me," Scheyer said. "I gave him a little too much space. I was trying to make him hit a jump shot -- he hadn't hit one all game. He pulled up and hit it."

Paulus' desperation shot didn't come close and just like that, Duke's season was over. Even two career highs couldn't prevent it.

"Their performances were great," Nelson said. "Both played with pride and played their hearts out. It's really unfortunate we didn't get this win so they could be the heroes."

Had McRoberts and Paulus made all their free throws, it might have been enough for the win, and Duke missed 12 in the game. And McRoberts did talk like someone who intended to be back next season with Paulus to do all he could to see that Duke did not repeat its hasty NCAA exit.

"We've got to get better from this experience," McRoberts said. "There's no sense in going backwards.

"We'll be older and more experienced and we just have to get better."