2 powerhouse schools collide for the top spot in the conference and to stay among the top in the nation in the rankings. Without Tre Jones, Duke had their hands full and Virginia is no slouch. Coming off of a 21 point dominating win over #9 Virginia Tech earlier that week. It was an atmosphere and game that was must watch TV and had you on the edge of your seat with exciting plays and dunks all over the place.
First Half:
Both teams started out the game trading blows with Virginia being the more effective team out of the gates. After the first media timeout, it would be 16-13 Duke, but UVA was much better from the field with 6-9, while the Blue Devils were a mere 6-16. RJ Barrett started out a cold 1-6 and Duke as a whole was 1-6 from 3. Jay Huff was a spark plug coming off the bench as he had back to back buckets, as well as a big block on Zion Williamson down low in the paint. But Zion got his revenge just a mere minute later.
That would get Zion going, as after that bucket, he would get back to back scores for Duke, including and an one. De’Andre Hunter was leading the charge for Virginia a he started out and lead the scoring with 11 points on 5-7 shooting, including this poster on Forward Jack White.
Virginia would attempt to put it within one with a run from Kyle Guy until Williamson had a put back to put Duke up 3. A steal and RJ Barrett on the other end increased it to 5.
Duke would head into the break up 5 behind Zion’s consistent scoring and the Blue Devils crashing the boards. Neither team shot well at all from 3 as most of the scoring came from in the paint with layups, put backs, and dunks. Ball handling hasn’t been too much of an issue for Duke and Virginia isn’t shooting nearly as well from 3 as they did against VT (1-8). Both teams have done some things well and other things not so well. Duke 37, Virginia 32.
Second Half:
Both teams would start out a little slow with one bucket for each side through the first 3 minutes. 37 points is the most Virginia has given up in the first half all year long. Virginia does come into this game with the best points against in the entire nation with just 51. Duke is on pace to break that wide open. Both teams would trade blows back and forth as there were 5 lead changes just in the span of a minute. RJ and Zion would only be the only scorers for quite some time as they had 37 of the teams 48 points at one point.
What was strange is that Virginia was shooting very well from the field at 61%, while Duke was at just 46%. But Duke was able to get to the free throw line more often and was still out-rebounding the Cavaliers. Zion’s defense that led to offense kept this crowd in the game as he would get a block, and Reddish would find him for the layup. Duke’s bench was nowhere to be found as 2 players came off the bench and one of them fouled out. One had zero stats and the other just took one shot throughout most of the game.
De’Andre Hunter and Ty Jerome were putting on an impressive performance with Hunter’s athletic ability and ways to score. Jerome showed a lot of hustle on defense and had half of the team’s assists at one point. RJ would start getting hot as he drove and connected on two layups, including in and one that gave Duke a 6 point lead with a little over 2 minutes left. Virginia started missing 3 pointers on their end as they were quite the opposite from beyond the arc as on Tuesday (2-15). Both teams only made 2 3 pointers the entire contest.
Ty Jerome was able to draw a foul and made 1 of 2, but was forced to foul. Down 6, Kyle Guy would drain a 3 pointer to put UVA down just 3 points. UVA forced RJ to go to the line as he drained both to put Duke back up 5. That would be enough as Duke would pull off the win at home and no more college basketball teams are undefeated. Duke 72, Virginia 70.
Key stat for Duke:
Even they weren’t super effective when they were there, Duke was able to get to the free throw line 31 times. It was tough to gauge one specific area after a slow start shooting from the field to begin the game.
3 point shooting wasn’t a strength for either team, but one stat that will define this game is 10-16. Zion was 10-16 from the field as he showed dominance on defense and highflying ability on offense. After a slow 1-6 start from the field, RJ light up after that by finishing 10-13 from the field and 7-9 from the free throw line.
Key stat for Virginia:
Virginia played really well in this game. In a normal environment or even at home, I give UVA a good chance to win against Duke. But in this environment against this team, it’s difficult to win. UVA’s poor 3 point shooting (3-17) and not able to get to the free throw line enough were the stats that gloomed large.
63% from the field through 30 minutes gives you a chance to win. 48% down the stretch isn’t bad, but it finishing out strong enough.
Up Next:
Duke:ย
Duke is back on the road on Tuesday as they face Pittsburgh at 6 PM on ESPN2.
Virginia:
Virginia returns back home as they will face up against Wake Forest on Tuesday as well.
Image Credit: https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2019/1/17/18185937/zion-williamson-nba-draft-sit-out-duke
