Duke will enter unfamiliar territory tonight, as the Blue Devils play Virginia in the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, which opened prior to the start of the 2006-07 season.
The Cavaliers (13-6, 5-2 in the ACC) are 8-1 so far in their new arena, and Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said he thinks it is "great" for the conference and for Virginia's program to have a new facility.
Nonetheless, he does not see the move across the street from the old University Hall as a special obstacle for his team.
"We've had three road games, and for half of our team it was their first time in each building," Krzyzewski said. "We'll get time to shoot the day of the game and get accustomed."
The No. 8 Blue Devils (18-3, 5-2), however, are more concerned with Virginia's play as of late than with the team's new arena.
Led by the backcourt duo of junior Sean Singletary-who leads the ACC in scoring at 19 points per game-and senior J.R. Reynolds, the Cavaliers have reeled off four straight wins in the conference after starting 1-2. Sunday at Clemson, Virginia scored the game's final 15 points to shock the Tigers in front of their home crowd.
"Virginia can do that to teams," sophomore Greg Paulus said. "With their inside-outside game and with all the driving and kicking they do-they can make those kinds of comebacks."
Sunday, the Cavaliers trailed 63-49 with 5:05 remaining in the game, but they completely shut Clemson down in the final stretch. Jason Cain's tip-in with 15.5 seconds left gave the team a 64-63 lead, and Virginia held on for the win. Prior to Cain's tip-in, Singletary out-jumped the Tigers' front-line and grabbed a huge offensive rebound to keep the play alive for the Cavaliers.
"He's quick, he's a scorer, and he can shoot," Paulus said. "He can do a little bit of everything. He's one of the best point guards in the country."
The junior is not Virginia's only perimeter threat, as backcourt mate Reynolds- who averages 18.2 points per game-barely trails him atop the conference scoring leaderboard. In the Cavaliers' last home game Jan. 21, Reynolds exploded for 40 points on 12-for-18 shooting in the team's 88-76 win over Wake Forest.
Against Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium last season, the duo combined to score 32 points, but together they committed 10 turnovers in an 82-63 loss. Sean Dockery and DeMarcus Nelson split the duties of harassing Singletary and Reynolds. But with Dockery having graduated, Nelson will likely be assisted by freshman Jon Scheyer, and to a lesser extent Paulus, in defending the two players tonight.
While Virginia has been playing well recently, Duke has also put together a solid five-game winning streak. Even so, the Blue Devils have struggled this season against teams with quick and experienced backcourts. Marquette and Virginia Tech both gave Duke a lot of trouble with the play of their guards, and both teams handed the Blue Devils unexpected losses. Singletary, however, may be the best guard Duke will face all season.
"He is a little bit different because the experience he has and how strong and quick he is," Paulus said. "When he gets in the paint, he can score or he can pass it out. He's definitely somebody we're going to need to watch, and we're going to really need to concentrate on him."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.