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The ball is just out of reach Virginia's Mamadi Diane (left) delivers a hard foul on Duke's Nolan Smith during the first half last night in Durham, N.C. |
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.
Baker played well in his first start of the season, but left the game with leg cramps with 2:36 remaining.
Junior swingman Mamadi Diane added 11 points, but senior forward Adrian Joseph--the team's second leading scorer--was held to just three points, with his first basket coming when the game was already out of hand.
Leitao said Joseph needs to find other ways to help the team when he's not making shots.
"There's a number of different ways that the game gives you that you can contribute," Leitao said. "He and the other guys have to give us a lot more so we don't have to rely on their ability to make shots every night."
Joseph had also been the primary reason the Cavaliers lead the nation in rebounding margin, but they were outrebounded 35-34 last night.
"In the first half, I thought they got some offensive boards," Krzyzewski said. "But overall we started holding our own. I think it was a wash. That was pretty good for us."
Virginia hosts Virginia Tech on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
VIRGINIA (10-4)
Diane 3-12 4-5 11, Joseph 1-4 1-1 3, Scott 1-4 0-0 2, Baker 6-14 1-1 13, Singletary 6-12 4-4 18, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Farrakhan 0-0 0-1 0, Tucker 4-7 0-0 9, Pettinella 4-5 1-4 9, Harris 0-0 0-0 0, Tat 0-1 0-0 0, Meyinsse 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 11-16 65.
DUKE (13-1)
Singler 6-11 0-0 13, McClure 0-1 0-0 0, Henderson 7-12 3-4 18, Paulus 3-6 0-0 9, Nelson 8-12 1-2 20, Smith 3-6 2-2 8, King 2-8 0-0 6, Scheyer 5-9 1-2 12, Davidson 0-0 0-0 0, Thomas 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 34-67 8-12 87.
Halftime--Duke 43-31. 3-Point Goals--Virginia 4-14 (Singletary 2-4, Tucker 1-3, Diane 1-5, Baker 0-1, Joseph 0-1), Duke 11-31 (Nelson 3-4, Paulus 3-6, King 2-7, Henderson 1-3, Scheyer 1-4, Singler 1-4, Smith 0-3). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Virginia 34 (Joseph 9), Duke 35 (McClure, Singler 6). Assists--Virginia 9 (Singletary 4), Duke 21 (Paulus, Smith 4). Total Fouls--Virginia 17, Duke 17.
Taft Coghill Jr.: 540/374-5526
Email: tcoghill@freelancestar.com
| VIRGINIA 65DUKE 87 |
