After two hard-fought road losses against Miami and Florida State, the Virginia men's basketball team could use a break. The Cavaliers return to the comfortable confines of John Paul Jones Arena tonight, where their opponent will provide no such relief.
Fifth-ranked Duke (23-2, 10-1 ACC) rides into Charlottesville with considerable momentum. Ranked first in the ACC, the Blue Devils have won their last four games, including a 79-73 win against North Carolina last Wednesday and a 81-71 road victory against Miami Sunday night. Senior guard Nolan Smith put up a career-high 34 points against the Tar Heels and was named the ACC Player of the Week Monday. Smith has scored at least 18 points in all 11 ACC contests and leads the conference in scoring with 21.4 points per game and assists with 5.4 per game. Smith's stellar play this season has helped Duke achieve its best 25-game start since the 2005-06 season.
Virginia (12-12, 3-7 ACC), meanwhile, is limping toward a third straight losing season. The Cavaliers have dropped four of their past five games. Two of their three seniors, forwards Mike Scott and Will Sherrill, are nursing injuries. Scott, the team's leading scorer and rebounder during the season's opening 10-game stretch, is out for the season after undergoing ankle surgery. Sherrill, another team captain, re-injured his right leg against Miami and is a game-time decision for tonight's contest.
Yet Duke will be careful not to underestimate a Virginia team that has remained competitive in nearly every game it has played this season. In their Jan. 15 matchup at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Cavaliers led Duke by as much as 10 before succumbing to a furious second-half rally by the then-No. 1 Blue Devils.
"They've been in every ball game and they've been one possession away from a few more wins," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "They play hard, smart and they play together. They use resources collectively very well. It's not one person you're defending; you're defending them. It's not one person you're trying to score against; you're trying to score against them. We expect a really hard-fought game on Wednesday night."
During their latest outing, the undersized Cavaliers again relied heavily on outside shooting, as eight of their 10 second-half field goals were three-pointers. Without Scott and Sherrill, Virginia relied on junior center Assane Sene and freshman forward Akil Mitchell to carry the load in the post. The two combined for just six points and six rebounds, and the team was outrebounded 40-29. Tonight, Sene and company will contend with sophomore forward Mason Plumlee, who grabbed 16 boards during Duke's game against Virginia last month.
Redshirt junior guard Sammy Zeglinski has been a recent bright spot for Virginia, as his game-high 19 points against the Seminoles marked his fourth consecutive game in double figures. Freshman guard Joe Harris, whose 10.5 point-per-game average stands second highest on the team, chipped in 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Virginia's leading scorer at 13.2 points per game, senior guard Mustapha Farrakhan, struggled to seven points on 3-of-15 shooting.
Freshman guard KT Harrell continued his recent bout of cold shooting by finishing with just five points on 1-of-6 shooting against Florida State. Harrell has not reached double figures since the Jan. 22 win against Georgia Tech. Once a fixture in the starting lineup, he has been relegated to a sixth-man role by Virginia coach Tony Bennett. Even if his freshman guard's offensive woes continue, though, Bennett insisted Harrell can make positive contributions to the team in other ways.
"Some players just go through a little fatigue at this time," Bennett said. "KT has had a couple tough shooting or scoring games, but I've challenged him to impact the game in other areas. In the second half [against Florida State] he drew some attention and had a couple nice passes and was good on the glass and solid defensively. I think he's just hit a little cold stretch with his shot, and hopefully he'll get some good looks and get going."
Virginia's pack-line defense - the fourth-ranked scoring defense in the conference - will go up against the ACC's most potent offense. The Blue Devils rank first in the conference in scoring offense with 84.3 points per game, scoring margin at +19.1 and field goal percentage offense, shooting 47.5 percent from the floor. Virginia, on the other hand, ranks last in scoring offense with 62.7 points per game, 11th in scoring margin and 11th in field goal percentage offense, shooting 42.3 percent.
The Cavaliers have lost their past six matchups against Duke, with their last win dating back to Sean Singletary's buzzer-beater at JPJ Feb. 1, 2007. If they are to win this one, Virginia will need to avoid the kind of lapses that have plagued the team all season long.
"Just seeing most of the games are very close, and not being able to get over the hump, it's frustrating and it really shows the character of the game," Farrakhan said. "[We have] to just keep fighting back and getting back in that position to win games. We [see] a lot of adversity and you hear people say stuff but you know you have to put the blinders on and keep focusing on what you we have to do as a team."
Tonight's sold-out game tips off at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
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