After seeing their five-game winning streak snapped in a road loss at Maryland Wednesday, the Cavaliers hope to get back into the win column Saturday at Duke.
The task won't be an easy one. The Blue Devils (16-2, 7-0 ACC) went into last night's game against hated rival North Carolina with 29 consecutive wins in the ACC, including a 109-100 overtime victory over the Cavs at U-Hall Jan. 5.
The Cavaliers (15-6, 5-3) will spend the next few days licking their wounds following Wednesday's 91-79 loss to the No. 25 Terrapins, a game in which leading scorer Donald Hand was held to five points on 1-9 shooting.
"You've got to adjust," Cavalier Coach Pete Gillen said. "When they beat you up, you've got to deal with it. It's hard, but you've got to deal with it."
The Maryland game did have a couple of bright spots, most notably the play of second-year forwards Chris Williams and Adam Hall. Williams led the Cavaliers with 22 points, and Hall scored 14 points and added three steals. First-year guard Roger Mason also played well in his return to his home state, scoring 10 points.
The Cavs will try to put the Maryland game behind them as they prepare to face the No. 3 Blue Devils.
"We've just got to bounce back and be more mentally prepared for the game," guard Majestic Mapp said. "I think we'll do very well. If we come out very ready to play mentally, we'll do fine. We got to put this game behind us because every game's a big game, and if we dwell on every game we won't be able to play the next game."
If the Cavaliers are to win, they must contain Duke's talented forwards. Senior Chris Carrawell led the Blue Devils with 25 points in their first meeting with the Cavs. Freshman Mike Dunleavy Jr. and junior Shane Battier also played big roles in the Blue Devils' victory. Carrawell was especially deadly from the line, sinking all eight of his free throws.
Williams led the Cavaliers with 27 points in the first meeting. Mason scored 22 points and was perfect from behind the three-point line, a performance the Cavaliers will need if they hope to pull off the upset tomorrow. Fellow first-year Travis Watson pulled down 16 rebounds in the first meeting and will be called on to repeat that performance, as well as his defensive job on Duke freshman Carlos Boozer.
"We've only got a couple of days to regroup," Gillen said. "We'll do the best we can, that's all."
"We've got to just get back and get another win" tomorrow, Hall said. The team has to "get our minds right. That's about it."
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