Loss to Duke drops UVa into three-way tie for last

By Andy Bitter

Published: March 6, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Visitors to TheSabre, Virginia’s Internet fan site, logged on Wednesday afternoon as ESPN Classic aired the Cavaliers’ 2001 victory against Duke. Some of the members went as far as to post a running play-by-play on the message board as if the game were live, all the way to Adam Hall’s game-winning put-back in the final second that sent University Hall into a frenzy.
It was as close as Virginia’s fans would get to watching their team upset the Blue Devils all day.

No. 6 Duke rolled to an 86-70 win against Virginia at John Paul Jones Arena, setting up a winner-take-all battle with No. 1 North Carolina on Saturday with the ACC title on the line.

Gerald Henderson scored 19 points, one of five Blue Devils in double figures, and Duke (26-3, 13-2 ACC) made 12 3-pointers to win for the 11th time in its last 12 meetings with UVa.

Virginia (14-14, 4-11) dropped into a three-way tie with Boston College and N.C. State for last place in the ACC and has only a home game against Maryland left before the ACC Tournament next week in Charlotte.

“It’s tough losing, continuing to lose and having a losing season,” said UVa guard Sean Singletary, who led the Cavaliers with 18 points and seven assists. “We’ve got a game left in the regular season and a game left in the ACC Tournament. And we’ve got to make the most of it.”

UVa wore orange jerseys at home for the first time since that 2001 upset of the third-ranked Blue Devils, but it couldn’t replicate any of that team’s magic.

Playing their third game in five days, the Cavaliers hoped to stay in the game TV timeout to TV timeout. They succeeded early on. Singletary scored nine points in the first six minutes, and Virginia took a 29-28 lead with 6:42 left in the half on a 3-pointer by Mamadi Diane, who finished with 12 points.

But Duke, tired of seeing Singletary repeatedly blow by his defender, switched to a zone before halftime and held UVa scoreless for over six minutes.

“They made a conscious decision,” Cavaliers coach Dave Leitao said. “(Sean) was ? doing a little bit of everything. ‘OK, we’re going to make a concerted effort. We’re going to keep him at 25 to 28 feet with two guys guarding him. You’ve got to be able to rely on everyone else.’”

The Blue Devils reeled off 15 straight points, starting with a backdoor alley-oop dunk by Henderson over Ryan Pettinella and ending with a 3-pointer by DeMarcus Nelson, who finished with 16 points.

A pair of Diane free throws ended the drought, but UVa still went to the locker room down 43-31.

“Aggressiveness. Aggressiveness. Aggressiveness. Aggressiveness. Aggressiveness,” said Singletary, who along with Calvin Baker had nine of Virginia’s 11 first-half turnovers. “We weren’t able to get into the teeth (of the defense).”

Duke built a 19-point lead in the second half before the Cavaliers made a final push. UVa reeled off 10 straight points to get within 66-57 with 10 minutes left. Lars Mikalauskas, who reached double figures for the fourth time in six games with 10 points, capped the run with a layup that brought the near-capacity crowd to life.

But the Blue Devils were unfazed. With a small lineup, they spread the floor, relying on penetration and kick-outs for open 3s. Nelson drained the first one to push the lead back to 13.

“It’s difficult because they’ve got good penetrators and good shooters on the wings,” Baker said. “It’s basically like pick your poison.”

When the shots didn’t fall, the undersized Blue Devils still beat Virginia to the boards. Duke had six offensive rebounds for 11 second-chance points in the second half.

“It gives you energy and knocks some energy out of the other team,” said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who notched career win No. 801.

The Blue Devils shot 50.8 percent for the game, the seventh time a team has topped 50 percent against the Cavaliers in ACC play.

“What they decided to do this year is try to be the best offensive team in the country,” Leitao said. Their mindset never changes. ? They play the same way mentally. If you make four stops in a row, that fifth stop is a lot harder because they keep playing through it.

“When you have a window of opportunity, you’ve got to be darn near perfect with it.”

DUKE (26-3)

Singler 8-21 0-0 18, Thomas 0-1 1-2 1, Paulus 5-10 0-0 14, Henderson 8-13 2-2 19, Nelson 6-10 2-5 16, Smith 2-2 0-0 6, McClure 0-0 0-0 0, King 0-1 0-0 0, Scheyer 3-6 3-3 10, Zoubek 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 33-65 8-14 86.

VIRGINIA (14-14)

Joseph 1-4 0-0 3, Scott 1-3 0-0 2, Pettinella 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 1-5 1-2 3, Singletary 6-16 5-6 18, Baker 7-15 0-0 15, Mikalauskas 4-7 2-3 10, Tucker 2-2 0-0 5, Diane 4-5 2-2 12, Tat 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 27-58 10-13 70.

Halftime-Duke 43-31. 3-Point Goals-Duke 12-27 (Paulus 4-7, Smith 2-2, Nelson 2-3, Singler 2-9, Henderson 1-2, Scheyer 1-3, King 0-1), Virginia 6-18 (Diane 2-3, Tucker 1-1, Baker 1-3, Joseph 1-3, Singletary 1-7, Jones 0-1). Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-Duke 35 (Singler 8), Virginia 32 (Tucker 8). Assists-Duke 17 (Henderson, Nelson, Scheyer 4), Virginia 13 (Singletary 7). Total Fouls-Duke 15, Virginia 13. A-14,273.