Take Harold Deane away from the Virginia Cavaliers, and they don't have a chance against the men's basketball team.
The last time the two teams met in Durham, Deane fouled out of a tight game with over eight minutes left, and Duke stormed to a 79-69 victory. Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the No. 13 Blue Devils (14-4, 3-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) trounced the Deane-less Cavaliers, 78-59, jumping out to a 20-point first-half lead and repeatedly slamming the door on Virginia's comeback attempts.
"Even if Harold were here tonight... I still don't think we would have won the game," Virginia junior guard Curtis Staples said. "They came out and they shot the ball too well in the first half and we didn't guard the dribble well enough for us to win the game. I don't think one man could have stopped that."
Deane, a senior point guard who leads Virginia (11-6, 2-4 in the ACC) in assists and steals, missed Saturday's contest because of an NCAA-imposed one-game suspension. As of the beginning of classes last week, Deane had not enrolled in the NCAA's mandatory minimum of 12 semester hours.
In a matchup between two of the nation's best backcourts, Duke won resoundingly. Even without Deane, the Cavaliers featured an explosive guard duo, with Staples, a three-point shooting specialist, and sophomore Courtney Alexander, UVa's leading scorer.
Yet Duke's Trajan Langdon and Steve Wojciechowski greatly outplayed Staples and Alexander. Wojciechowski scored a career-high 16 points and registered seven assists, while Langdon led the Blue Devils with 17 points, including several important baskets. The Duke guards combined to shoot 7-of-9 from three-point range, a stark contrast to Staples and Alexander, who missed 22
"I look at the stats, and to me, [Duke's] 52 percent shooting says it all," Virginia head coach Jeff Jones said. "There is a lot of stuff on our side-13 turnovers, the poor shooting on our part-but I think Duke's 52 percent shooting sums up the game."
After UVa scored the game's first basket, the Blue Devils reeled off a 27-5 run during which the Cavaliers scored on only two of their 13 possessions. Alexander especially struggled-the Durham native outscored Duke's Ricky Price 30-28 in last year's game at Cameron, but turned in a 4-of-16, 11 point performance Saturday against the Blue Devils' stifling defense.
"The difference between us this year and last year is, we have more weapons," Price said. "Last year, it was like an individual matchup with me and him.
"Today, it was more of a team effort, especially on my part. He might have taken it as an individual battle, but I wanted to play team ball, and I think that the best team won."
Duke led by as many as 20 during the first half, and although an 8-1 run brought the Cavaliers within 13, the Blue Devils scored the half's last four points to lead 38-21 at the break.
Virginia started the second half with a vengeance, outscoring Duke 10-2 to cut its deficit to nine. The Blue Devils' backcourt then took over, ending UVa's comeback hopes by sparking a 10-0 run.
With the Duke lead in single digits, Langdon drove the lane, hit a four-foot bank shot and drew a foul from Virginia's Monte Marcaccini. Langdon made his free throw to complete the three-point play, and after Wojciechowski stole the ball on the other end, the point guard found his backcourt mate open behind the three-point arc. Langdon knocked down a 20-footer, and Duke's lead stood at 46-31.
One minute later, Wojciechowski set up Carmen Wallace for a driving layup. After Duke's defense forced a UVa airball, Langdon drove again, faked a shot and dished a gorgeous pass to Wallace, who pushed in a layup while being fouled by Cavalier forward Norman Nolan.
In stopping Virginia's rally, the Blue Devils halted a two-year trend of stunning Duke-UVa comebacks at Cameron. Two years ago, the Cavaliers dug themselves out of a 23-point second-half hole to beat the Blue Devils 91-88 in double overtime. Last season Duke returned the favor by erasing a 17-point deficit in its 79-69 victory.
Virginia's players used their 1995 comeback as inspiration Saturday, but their efforts failed.
"That was definitely in the back of our minds when we came in here at halftime because we had been in this locker room before, in the same boat," Staples said. "The big difference tonight was, they countered. When we came out and made a run, they came back, whereas a few years ago, they didn't."
Langdon and Wojciechowski led five Blue Devils who scored in double figures. Junior forward Roshown McLeod tallied 13, and Price and senior guard Jeff Capel, who have shown signs recently of recovering from early-season slumps, scored 11 and 12, respectively. Unlike the Cavaliers, who depended on Staples, Alexander and Nolan for nearly all of their offensive firepower, the Blue Devils spread their offense among many players, with no one attempting more than nine shots.
"I think we've done a good job of being unselfish this year," Langdon said. "When we get into one-on-one battles on the offensive end, that's when we start going downhill because we have so many people with skills on the team who can contribute offensively."
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