No one said winning had to be pretty
The Blue Devils top Virginia in a lackluster offensive performance
Wednesday's game marks the 162nd meeting of the two teams over the past century. Virginia's K.T. Harrell (24) gets a hand in Duke guard Andre Dawkins' (20) face as he tries to put up a shot. Photo from AP/Steve Helber
Feb. 21, 2011
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—Offense sells tickets; defense wins games. Wednesday's Duke-Virginia match-up won't be helping either side's ticket sales.
Despite a lackluster offensive performance, the Blue Devils (24-2, 11-1 ACC) bested the Cavaliers (12-13, 3-8 ACC) 56-41.
Virginia didn’t have trouble finding the rim. They had trouble finding the net. The Cavaliers shot a season-low 28.6 percent from the field, making only 16 of 56 attempts.
Virginia’s three-point percentage was equally dismal. One of the better three-point shooting teams in the ACC, the Cavaliers average 38.7 percent from outside the arc, but only made a quarter of their three-point attempts on Wednesday.
Duke hardly fared better. The fifth-ranked Blue Devils average 84.3 points a game. The Cavaliers didn’t allow them anywhere near that. But it wasn’t quite enough.
Duke relied on strong defense that held Virginia to 15 second-half points.
Nolan Smith led the Blue Devils with 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Smith is Duke’s leading scorer, averaging 23.3 points per game in conference play.
Senior guard Mustapha Farrakhan was the top-scorer for the Cavaliers with 11 points. Freshman Joe Harris added another eight points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Virginia coach Tony Bennett’s biggest problem was one he couldn’t address—the absence of senior forward Mike Scott who underwent arthroscopic ankle surgery in December.
Before his injury, Scott averaged 15.9 points per game and 10.2 rebounds. Without his presence on the boards, Virginia struggled in the paint.
Duke’s second-leading scorer, Kyle Singler, was on the court, but barely showed up on the stat sheet.
Going into Wednesday’s game, Singler had scored ten or more points in a conference-best 23 consecutive games. Virginia held him to a single basket.
In 60 ACC career games, Singler has only scored in single figures five times. His last two-point performance came in his freshman season against Clemson.
Foul trouble kept Singler on the bench for 17 minutes of the game. He picked up his fourth foul early in the second half and saw little court-time after.
Duke jumped out to an early lead of 7-2, but a 10-0 scoring run in the opening minutes by the Cavaliers had fans on their feet.
The sell-out crowd’s energy faded as Duke took control near the 10-minute mark. The Blue Devils responded with a 10-0 run of their own. Smith hit two threes. Sophomore forwards Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly combined for a dazzling dunk.
The Blue Devils entered the locker room with an eight-point lead at the half and never looked back.
Kelly put up big numbers for the Blue Devils, adding 11 points and five rebounds. He tied his career-high of four blocks to add to Duke’s defensive efforts.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was quick to point out Kelly’s development over the last year. Last season, Kelly didn’t start a game. This year, he’s started 21.
Kelly put on 25 pounds in the offseason, and is making his presence known on the boards and outside the arc.
Duke has now won 29 of the last 32 games against the Cavaliers, including the last three games at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville.
In January, the Blue Devils bested Virginia 76-60 after the Cavaliers led at the half.
After Wednesday’s game, Krzyzewski is 11 victories away from holding the NCAA coaching record for career wins. He has 892 wins while his former coach, Bobby Knight, holds the record with 902.
The Cavaliers face the Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday in Charlottesville. Duke will take on Georgia Tech in Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.
Maybe some offense will show up.
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