The Blue Devils may have been the favorite to win yesterday’s matchup with the Cavaliers, but it was not easy. Although they won, 61-58, it was not until the final seconds of the game that they could celebrate.
For much of last night’s game, No. 8 Duke (14-2, 2-0 in the ACC) consistently found itself playing a nasty game of catch-up with a particularly formidable No. 16 Virginia (14-2, 1-1) squad. Fortunately for the Blue Devils, they pulled themselves together just in time to come away with an important conference victory.
At tipoff, the Cavaliers won possession and wasted no time in passing the ball to star forward Mike Scott, who drained a baseline jumper to give his team its initial points. This possession would repeat itself throughout the first half, as the Virginia game plan seemed one-dimensional—pass the ball to Scott, who used his abilities as a long-range forward to sink 16-18 foot jumpers.
“[Scott is] playing as good as anybody in the country,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Basically, he was responsible for 60 percent of their offense in the first half. When a kid… does that in this type of game, he is a hell of a player.”
In the first period, Scott hit 7-of-10 field goals for 16 points. As Krzyzewski pointed out, Scott’s dominance during the first half extended beyond his prolific scoring, as his mere presence was instrumental to a handful of other successful Cavalier possessions, even if he were not the one scoring.
In the early part of the game, the Blue Devils were able to equalize Virginia’s seemingly one-man offense with a more balanced approach. Although Duke consistently found itself trailing, the deficit was never significant. At its worst, the Blue Devils experienced fleeting five-point holes, each of which merely lasted a single possession.
During this first half, Duke relied mainly on the play of its guards to remain competitive, as its post players could not find openings against Scott and 7-foot center Assane Sene. Although these guards started the night cold—going 0-of-8 from 3-point range to begin the game—they produced field goals before the game got out of hand. More specifically, a pair of unanswered, back-to-back 3-pointers by Ryan Kelly and Andre Dawkins with three minutes remaining in the first half tied the game at 21.
A late run by the Cavaliers, however, capped off with a 3-pointer by Scott with eight seconds remaining in the half, kept Duke in a four-point hole going into the locker room. The Blue Devils knew that they would need to rethink their strategy if they wanted to come away with the win. Their first priority—neutralize Scott.
“We wanted to get Scott tired,” freshman guard Austin Rivers said. “In the first half, he was just getting wide open looks, and on defense, he did not have to guard anybody. So, at halftime, we really wanted to get Scott to have to play on both ends. On defense, we wanted Mason and Miles to be physical with him.”
Although Scott began the second half with that same baseline jumper, it would prove to be one of his few field goals during the remainder of the game. After such an impressive first half performance, he went 3-of-9 during the second period.
On the other end of the court, Mason Plumlee began to assert himself offensively. Taking advantage of his matchup against Sene, Mason sparked Duke’s comeback by registering nine points and five rebounds in the second half.
Slowly, the Blue Devils outplayed Virginia and watched their lead grow to nine with 9:34 remaining in the game. Although they never seemed to capture any significant late-game rhythm, the pesky Cavaliers always managed to keep themselves within reach.
Finally, with only 4:04 left and Duke leading by eight, Virginia made its last run in an attempt to salvage a victory. It capitalized on a handful of scrappy offensive possessions to cut the lead down to three points with less than one minute to go. After Seth Curry missed a long-range jumper, the Cavaliers had 13 seconds to tie the game.
They went to their original game plan—feed the ball to Scott. But his shot was far wide, hitting the side of the backboard before falling into the hands of Cavalier guard Jontel Evans for another open look.
Evans’ shot, however, only missed by inches, giving the Blue Devils their second conference win and extending their win streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium to 44 games.
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