I wish I could be like the rest of the students at U-Hall Saturday night and blame the officiating for the loss. There were missed calls.There always are, and Duke will get more than its fair share of calls, even on the road.
But Virginia's play cost them the game. Not the referees. In a close game, you might be able to point to officiating, but not in Saturday's game -- the Cavaliers' worst home loss in four years.
In Virginia's first eight possessions, the Cavaliers missed five shots and had two turnovers, falling behind 8-2. They scored a season-low 22 points in the first half.
It was like the Cavaliers took a win for granted against the eighth-ranked team in the country. Virginia had won two straight at home against much stronger Duke teams and had given the Blue Devils a run down in Cameron this season.
"I think we might have assumed" that we would win, Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "I tried to tell them that we have to make it happen and we got to rebound. Just because we're playing at home doesn't mean we're going to win."
They got outrebounded by a much smaller Duke team, even smaller with 6-foot-10 freshman forward Shavlik Randolph sidelined with the stomach flu. Despite Virginia senior Travis Watson's seventh straight double-digit rebounding performance, Duke grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and seven more total rebounds than Virginia.
Virginia couldn't stop Duke. They turned the ball over at inopportune times. For the second straight game, the offense badly struggled without quality minutes from a true point guard. Suspended point guard Keith Jenifer was sorely missed, as Majestic Mapp had problems once again finding his rhythm.
Virginia managed only 59 points, failing to reach 60 points at home for only the second time in the Pete Gillen era.
The Cavaliers are fine with junior guard Todd Billet playing the point if they get production out of the off-guard and small forward, but such has not been the case. Sophomore Devin Smith and freshman Derrick Byars combined to shoot just 3-of-16.
"If our two and three spot are scoring, we can afford to have Todd playing the point," Gillen said. "If they're not, we've got to move him off the ball."
Virginia has nine guys splitting time right now, and Gillen can't seem to find a cohesive unit. Entry passes to the post still scatter awry, and no one knows where his teammate is going to be. Lay-up after lay-up is missed.
"We got shots blocked and didn't finish," Gillen said. "We just couldn't score. They blocked shots. We missed free throws. We didn't do anything well. Other than Elton, no one played the game they were capable of. We just couldn't make a shot."
The talent is obviously there. You can't beat Maryland on the road and not be talented enough to compete with Duke at home. And losing at Virginia Tech is unfathomable.
"When you beat a team on your home court the last two years, you almost have a comfort level," Billet said. "We didn't make it happen tonight."
Virginia expected to waltz out at home and roll over Duke. Instead, they find themselves in need of five wins to guarantee a NCAA tournament berth -
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