DURHAM, N.C. - It's 9 a.m. on a Friday, and I wake up in a random Duke common room to the sound of someone making spaghetti. I've just spent the past six hours tossing and turning on an uncomfortable love seat and startled in and out of sleep by someone taking out the trash seven times before the crack of dawn. It's a dubious start to any morning, but add in the still fresh memories of Mason Plumlee pummeling Virginia and Coach K's smarmy smile after win No. 914, and the day is a downright disaster.
I've never liked Duke, and despite the fact that my best friend attends the school and graciously let me crash her dorm last Thursday night, the university didn't grow on me. Duke is a notoriously divisive program, inspiring intense adoration from its fans but equally fervent disgust from the rest of college basketball. Never was the divide more apparent than when I made my first trip to the hallowed Cameron Indoor Stadium and watched the Cavaliers battle the Blue Devils.
The nationally televised game featured two top-20 teams, setting the stage for frenzied fandom which the Cameron Crazies happily provided. I came prepared for the famously rowdy student section, but the Blue Devils' student body blew away all expectations, transforming an early January matchup into a tournament-like atmosphere and making each second seem absolutely critical.
Admittedly, if I were a top basketball recruit, I'd be dutifully impressed with the students lying down on the gym floor, sacrificing their bodies so the Blue Devil mascot could ride a wooden surfboard over them. But as someone sitting on press row, repeatedly getting whacked in the head by the shrieking girls behind me, I exchanged admiration for irritation at one of college's most intimidating environments.
The Virginia basketball program can relate to my pain - the team entered the game with 14 straight losses at Durham. However, the Cavaliers also rode a 12-game winning streak this season and hoped a scouring defense which allowed just 50.5 points per game and ranked second in the nation could foil a Duke team which averaged more than 80.
Granted, Virginia's early season schedule featured its share of cupcakes, but at least one Cavalier's game easily translated against the tougher competition. While many of Virginia's outside shooting threats withered, forward Mike Scott's touch remained strong as he both pounded the paint and sunk mid-range jumpers consistently. When Scott drained a three from the corner to close the first half with 16 of the team's 32 points, it looked like he might single-handedly steal a win at Cameron.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski said his entire halftime adjustments consisted of finding ways to immobilize Scott, and the Blue Devils silenced the forward for nearly 10 minutes of the second period.
Meanwhile, Duke predictably made its run, and even more predictably didn't surrender its lead, so the story finished with an all-too familiar ending: a Virginia loss. This chapter, however, at least followed a different plot-line.
With 9:37 remaining, the Blue Devils had turned a four-point halftime deficit into a nine-point lead, and even Mason Plumlee, a bona fide bricklayer from the line, had just managed to coax in a free throw. Duke had won 15 of its last 17 games against Virginia by a double-digit margin, and any Cavalier from last year's roster could remember capturing a halftime lead in Cameron only to lose by 16 points.
The wheels seemed to be coming off, but rather than spin out of control, the Cavaliers tightened up their game and made a run of their own. Guard Joe Harris found his stroke and scored 11 second-half points, and after Ryan Kelly missed yet another set of Duke free throws, forward Akil Mitchell threw down a dunk to cut the Blue Devil's lead to three with 47 seconds left. In the game's final seconds, Virginia had the ball in its best player's hand and a chance to force overtime. But Scott could not convert the same three-pointer he made to end the first half, and guard Jontel Evans completed his 0-for-6 night by missing a last-chance trey and cementing another loss at Cameron Indoor.
Virginia was No. 16 when it came to Durham and should not take too much consolation in any kind of loss, even a close one against an ACC powerhouse program. Scott knows that and hunched over after the game, obviously deflated by the near-miss. A bad loss would have undoubtedly shaken a streaking team's confidence, but the Cavaliers' resiliency provides something to build off as they enter the heart of conference play.
"Last year they just put it on us and kind of ran away with it, but this year we're a lot different team; we're more mentally tough, and we're not going to back down when any team has any momentum," Harris said after the game. "We're willing to face the adversity and play through it and I just think that shows how tough of a ball club we are."
Virginia won't get a shot against Duke at home this season, but after nearly losing on their own infamously unfriendly court, the Blue Devils should consider themselves lucky to avoid John Paul Jones Arena. Just ask Krzyzewski.
Virginia is "going to be right in the running for our league, the NCAA Tournament," he said. "I think this Virginia team is unbelievably solid with a great player [Mike Scott] ... and [Bennett]'s a really good coach, so he's going to get him the ball. It's a nice combination - good players and outstanding coach."
Coach K and I don't agree on much, but we can agree on that.
Read More
Thank you, Reece Beekman
By Ben Istvan | 13 hours agoBeekman will leave Charlottesville as the program's all-time leader in steals.
Men’s basketball fills last scholarship, adds Kansas State transfer Dai Dai Ames
By Ben Istvan | YesterdayAmes will provide an offensive surge that the Cavaliers’ collective guard group lacked in 2023-24.
Baseball’s bullpen — previous despair and future repair
By Xander Tilock | YesterdayThe Cavaliers' struggles can be fixed by improved roster management and reliance on consistent relief pitchers.
