Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final trip to Chapel Hill on Saturday proved to be extremely anticlimactic. The Blue Devils raced out to a 31-8 lead in the game’s first 10 minutes and cruised past North Carolina, 87-67. The game was not that close. Duke led by as many as 30 on numerous occasions.
Duke shined in the Dean Dome, and now the ninth-ranked Blue Devils will be back in Cameron Indoor Stadium Monday night to face Virginia, looking to maintain the top spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Blue Devils are truly road warriors as of late; this will be Duke’s only home game in a six-game swing. The Blue Devils (19-3, 9-2 ACC) have a makeup game Thursday night at Clemson, and travel north to face Boston College this Saturday.
Virginia (14-9, 8-5 ACC) had an impressive showing as well this past Saturday, manhandling Miami, 71-58, with the final margin misleading as well. The Cavaliers led the Hurricanes by 21 late. Miami was just a half-game from the top of the conference standings before the contest.
Virginia is now afforded the opportunity of knocking off two of the league leaders in just three days. The Cavaliers are desperate for not only wins, but marquee wins, to get into the NCAA tourney. A win in Cameron would be monumental for Virginia’s tournament hopes.
Saturday, in an electric John Paul Jones Arena, you could sense the Cavaliers’ confidence growing minute-by-minute. The defensive stops were there when needed, and the inevitable scoring drought on offense never happened. The team that couldn’t shoot straight all season suddenly could. Virginia rattled Miami’s cage early and often.
Miami coach Jim Larranaga told me after the contest, “Looks like we’re going to be that team that woke the beast.”
“When we’re all together and one team, we’re hard to beat,” Virginia guard Reece Beekman said in the postgame. Beekman came within one point of achieving a double-double, finishing with nine points and 10 assists.
Duke mirrors Reece’s opinion as well.
The Blue Devils, winners of five straight, seem to strive under the bright lights.
“The main thing I’ll say about this team, the bigger the environment, the more we come together to play,” Duke forward Wendell Moore Jr. said after the UNC game.
Duke and Virginia have traveled similar paths to victory as of late. Duke turned up the defensive intensity to win Monday night at Notre Dame; Virginia did likewise in a win over Louisville. Saturday against the Tar Heels, the Blue Devils went to a higher gear on offense, at times scoring in bunches. In JPJ, Virginia flipped the script against Miami, shooting lights out from inside and outside the arc.
Krzyzewski said the Blue Devils are progressing as the season goes on. Virginia coach Tony Bennett said that “slowly, there has been improvement. The experience of more games and guys playing together has helped. I think the guys are a little bit more settled in.”
Could Virginia be catching Duke at a good time after a high-intensity contest with UNC? No such chance. Duke will certainly be facing the energy issue in a game being played less than 48 hours after traveling to Chapel Hill. But make no mistake, Virginia will have Duke’s full attention.
Experienced or not, this is not the same Virginia basketball program that for years usually just took their lumps and moved past playing in front of the Cameron Crazies. Virginia, under Bennett, has gone toe-to-toe with Duke, with each school winning a national championship in the last decade.
Five of the last seven Duke-Virginia games have been decided by one or two points. Duke won last year’s lone meeting, 66-65, in Durham.
For the Cavaliers, who stumbled earlier this season against the likes of James Madison and Navy, the game Monday gives Virginia the opportunity to atone from those missteps. You couldn’t ask for much more.
Story by Scott German
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