Nine minutes into Saturday afternoon's matchup against No. 10 Virginia, the packed house at Cameron Indoor Stadium began shouting, "The monster's out of the gate!" while holding up pictures of junior forward Matt Christensen painted Incredible-Hulk green.
Although the fans were referring to Christensen's first on-court appearance since his dominant outing against N.C. State in Raleigh on Wednesday, their cries sparked the 23-0 run that transformed Duke into a Cavalier nightmare.
"You don't expect to win by that margin against Virginia," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "They're too good of a team not to bounce right back. We're not that much better than Virginia. It was just one of those crazy games where everything went well for us and nothing went well for them."
Second-ranked Duke downed Virginia (11-3, 1-3 ACC) more than handily, 103-61, marking the largest margin of victory over a top-10 team in school history. Duke's 42-point cushion bested a 111-71 win over then-No. 6 West Virginia in 1963.
Duke (15-1, 4-0 ACC) worked to overcome the Cavaliers' defense early, scoring only 16 points in the first seven minutes, with its greatest lead steady at nine. But as soon as Christensen entered the game, Duke turned up the heat.
With the score 16-9, Christensen powered
"To have a chance against a great team [like Duke], you have to get a good start," Virginia head coach Pete Gillen said. "We got intimidated and it happens to certain teams here. [Cameron] is the toughest place to play in America."
Virginia's first-half woes stemmed both from Duke's solid defense, and also from a common malady known as not being able to put the ball in the hoop. The Cavaliers went only 7-for-37 from the field in the first half, with point guard Donald Hand personifying Virginia's inability to score.
Hand hit only one basket in 10 attempts Saturday afternoon, scoring his bucket late in the second half. The senior guard repeatedly drove the lane, but he could not find the bottom of the net.
With 7:50 remaining in the first half, Hand tried again to break up Duke's run as he drove to the basket. Instead of finding an open lane, the Cavalier ran into sophomore Carlos Boozer. Hand's 5-foot-11, 192-pound frame could not budge the 6-foot-9, 270-pound center, and the Cavaliers had discovered the first tangible evidence of the Blue Devils' brick-wall defense.
"Virginia is an explosive team," Krzyzewski said. "They missed some open shots, but we didn't give them the lane and protected the basket really well. As a result we made them a half-court offensive team."
The second half offered more of the same as Duke built on the 53-20 lead it held going into the locker room. Its fleet-footed backcourt used its speed to run circles around UVa's defense. With five steals between them, Jason Williams and Chris Duhon ran their own personal foot race to help Duke to 30 points off of 21 turnovers.
"[Williams] has played well this season because we have Chris Duhon," Krzyzewski said. "Jason can change roles during a ballgame now, whom he defends and he can rest at times and not bring the ball up."
Nate James led all scorers with 19 points, followed by Shane Battier with 18. Williams finished with a double-double 17 points and 10 assists, and Boozer turned in 16 points. J.D. Simpson helped Duke hit the century-mark with 1:57 remaining; on the next possession, he drained a three-pointer from the baseline to seal the victory.
"I think [the Cavaliers] are a great basketball team, but then again I think we're a great basketball team," Williams said. "And when we play [the way we did Saturday afternoon], we're hard to beat."
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