For the Cavaliers, Saturday night's attempt to beat Duke in U-Hall for the third time in three years was anything but charmed.
No. 8 Duke (17-4, 7-4 ACC) came out hard, racing to a 27-10 lead only eight minutes into the game. Virginia (14-9, 5-6), plagued by lackluster defense and unable to hit their offensive stride, never closed the Blue Devils' lead to fewer than 13, eventually falling 78-59.
"They jumped out on us and we didn't respond," Virginia sophomore forward Elton Brown said. "We could never make that big play to slow it down and get it back to our pace."
Brown led the Cavaliers with 18 points in 31 minutes, but it was Duke freshman Shelden Williams who dominated the post with a career-high 20 points and eight rebounds. Williams had four blocks in the first half, setting the tone for Duke's defensive intensity.
"We were full of life right from the beginning," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I thought our defense was outstanding."
"They were aggressive," Gillen said. "They played tenacious 'D,' and we didn't finish."
The Blue Devils held Virginia senior forward Travis Watson, who once again faced foul trouble, to six points inside, while Duke senior guard Chris Duhon shut down the perimeter, leaving the Cavaliers 4-for-19 from outside the arc. Duke also capitalized on the Cavaliers' mistakes, with 16 points off Virginia turnovers.
Even before a home crowd of 8,392, the Cavaliers looked scattered and often sluggish -- almost overconfident in their home court advantage.
"Coach Gillen told us, 'I know we're at home, but we're not guaranteed a win,'" Brown said.
At the half, Virginia had made only nine of 26 shots and trailed 39-22 -- both the team's largest halftime deficit and lowest point total of any half this season. Last year, down by 15 with seven and a half minutes remaining, the Cavaliers pulled out a close win against Duke at home. Although there were signs of life after intermission, a comeback was not in the cards Saturday night.
The Cavaliers closed a 20-point deficit to 13 in the second half and brought defensive pressure, causing Duke to call a time out with five seconds on the shot clock. Even so, it was the Blue Devils who came back swinging. Duhon took the inbound pass and drove to the basket, dunking over Virginia center Nick Vander Laan. He drew the foul and sank the extra shot to put Duke up 73-57 with only three minutes remaining.
Virginia did hold Duke freshman guard J.J. Redick to 15 points after he torched them for 34 at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Jan. 15. He turned the ball over three times, including a late steal by Virginia sophomore guard Jermaine Harper, which Harper converted into an athletic dunk. Harper finished with eight points, third on the team behind Brown's 18 and junior guard Todd Billet's 13.
"We just were not sharp at all," Gillen said. "We wouldn't have beaten a lot of teams in the ACC tonight."
Both teams will head into ACC action this week, with Duke hosting Maryland on Wednesday night, in a battle of the ACC's top scoring teams. The Cavaliers will get the chance to avenge their first home loss of the season and bring their conference mark back to .500 when they host Clemson on Tuesday.
"We've got to be excited to play on Tuesday," Billet said. "The good thing about college basketball is that you don't have to wait a week to play. We've got to get the bad taste out of our mouth on Tuesday."
The bad taste Billet referred to might as well have been Virginia's last meeting with Clemson as well as Saturday's loss to Duke. On Jan. 18, the Cavaliers dropped an ugly game, 78-77, on the road despite Billet's 25 points and 7-of-11 three-point shooting in that game.
The Cavaliers and Tigers tip off tonight at 8 p.m. at U-Hall.
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