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ACC basketball: Virginia at Duke Date published: 1/14/2008
BY TAFT COGHILL JR. DURHAM, N.C.--The Virginia men's basketball team desperately wanted to prove it was better than it showed in a 38-point loss to Xavier. Too bad the Cavaliers next opponent was No. 9 Duke. The Blue Devils jumped on Virginia from the start last night in front of 9,314 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. They rolled to an 87-65 victory in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams, sending the Cavaliers (10-3, 0-1 ACC) to their second straight loss by a combined 60 points. Cavaliers head coach Dave Leitao said his team didn't handle the Blue Devils' aggressive offensive attack very well. "When you allow a good team to play to their strengths and don't match it with your strengths, the result is quite obvious," Leitao said. The Cavaliers fell behind 43-31 at halftime and the deficit grew to as many as 26 points in the second half. They never led, making it even more difficult to fend off the raucous Duke crowd. "The crowd was great," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "The students were unbelievable. It was like an old fashion Cameron game tonight." It was the Cavaliers' 12th straight road loss to the Blue Devils. They've also lost 12 of their past 13 ACC openers. Last night, Virginia committed 19 turnovers and allowed the Blue Devils (13-1, 1-0) to turn the second half into a lay-up drill. Duke shot 55 percent from the floor in the second half and 51 percent for the game. Several Blue Devils didn't hesitate to take the ball to the rim for lay-ups and dunks. They were led by senior guard DeMarcus Nelson's 20 points, but three other players reached double-figures in scoring, including Gerald Henderson (18 points). "They've got four, five, six guys that can [take the ball to the rim]," Leitao said. "And tonight, we had two. It's not supposed to be unbalanced like that." The duo Leitao spoke of is senior point guard Sean Singletary and sophomore guard Calvin Baker. Singletary led the Cavaliers with 18 points. Baker finished with 13. Krzyzewski was pleased with the way his team defended Singletary, who was harassed into seven turnovers. "We did an OK job with him," Krzyzewski said. "Nobody is going to do an unbelievable job on him because he's good." The Blue Devils may not have completely stopped Singletary, but they negated his teammates.
Date published: 1/14/2008
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