DURHAM, N.C.-Duke was coming off a tiring, emotional overtime victory at North Carolina Thursday, but the Virginia men's basketball team could not snap the Blue Devils' 31-game ACC win streak, losing a 106-86 decision Saturday in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Devils (18-2, 9-0 ACC), led by captains Shane Battier and Nate James, came out firing and went up by 10 points after just four minutes. Less than 10 minutes later, the lead stretched to 20 and Duke hit the locker room with a 65-32 lead.
"We were incredibly hot," said Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, whose team shot 68.4 percent in the opening half. "We were hitting everything."
The Cavaliers, led by the inspired defense of second-year swingman Adam Hall, made a run in the second half to pull within 18, but Duke never let them get closer.
"I was just doing what I had to do to keep the team in the game," said Hall, who had four steals.
Duke outplayed Virginia in every facet of the game, but the Blue Devils were most dominant in their play around the basket. The Devils out-rebounded the Cavs 41-30 and clogged the lane, changing shots and causing Virginia to miss layups.
This frontcourt supremacy can be attributed partly to an eye injury first-year big man Travis Watson suffered early in the game, courtesy of a stray elbow. Watson returned but did not play up to the high standard he has set throughout the season.
"Half the game I was looking out of a blurred left eye," said Watson, who had eight points and six rebounds. "After that I couldn't get back into the game because I could barely see."
Small forward Chris Carrawell and center Carlos Boozer both poured in 25 points for Duke and Battier added a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman point guard Jason Williams had 13 points and 13 assists and committed only two turnovers, despite playing the game with a heavily taped left wrist after almost breaking his hand against North Carolina.
"I'm thinking of almost breaking his hand every week," Krzyzewski joked.
This 20-point shellacking stands in bitter contrast for Virginia to the last meeting between these two teams at University Hall on Jan. 5 - a game in which the Cavs were ahead most of the second half before losing in overtime.
Gillen attributed his team's vastly different performance to the intimidation factor of Cameron, one of the most threatening places in the country to play a basketball game. At one point during a timeout, Krzyzewski had to walk to midcourt to calm down his fans, who were becoming increasingly hostile towards the Cav players.
"We're a young team; we just got shook coming in here," Gillen said. "We were just nervous, scared. In tough environments we get a little flustered."
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