Holliday: ACC race scrambled after Virginia stuns Duke
Posted February 9, 2022 8:30 a.m. EST
Duke played high-level basketball at Notre Dame and UNC, especially on defense. Both Irish coach Mike Brey and Tar Heel coach Hubert Davis said their teams couldn’t run offense against the Blue Devils’ elite defenders. But Duke couldn’t bring its superb road play home to Cameron.
Virginia surgically attacked Duke’s half court defense, getting good shots on almost every possession and almost never turning the ball over. Virginia’s veteran guards Kihei Clark and Reece Beekman proved so difficult to defend, the Blue Devils actually played zone defense at times in the first half and again in the second half. As Coach Mike Krzyzewski said: “The precision with Clark and Beekman is one of the things that makes them really good. They carved us up where 20 of their first 22 points were in the paint.”
The Cavaliers made only two threes, one of them Beekman’s game winner, but they shot 54% from inside the arc. And most surprisingly, when the Cavs missed they often got the rebound. Even though Virginia sends just two players to the offensive glass-the other three drop back to prevent a fast break-Jayden Gardner, Kadin Shedrick, and Francisco Caffaro all got first half put backs against a Duke team that had dominated the glass Saturday at Carolina, the top rebounding team in the ACC. Krzyzewski called timeout after the first set of second-chance points. He could tell his team wasn’t executing at all like it did in the two big road wins. As the Duke coach later described his team’s poor start: “In the first half we could not overcome them. We looked like a different team. We had to do a whole bunch of things to massage the game to where we’re close at halftime.”
Duke made it close because of two three pointers by little used Bates Jones, a superb three point play by Wendell Moore who used his footwork, strength and agility to power from under the basket through Virginia’s big shot blockers, and finally a three from freshman star Paolo Banchero. After trailing by 12, Duke got to within five at intermission.
But because of all the paint points and second-chance points allowed, Duke still faced an uphill climb in the second half. The Blue Devils played harder and shot the ball better after the break – 48% vs. 37% – but were hurt badly by turnovers. Turnovers were high in Chapel Hill too, but Carolina couldn’t capitalize. On Monday night Duke coughed up the basketball 15 times, mostly in the second half, and Virginia got 20 points off those turnovers. Also, Duke’s careless ball handling combined with poor shooting helped UVA to a 10-1 margin in fast break points. Virginia, of course is not an up tempo team. Duke is, but certainly wasn’t against the Cavaliers.
The one thing Duke had going for itself was the foul count. The physical Cavaliers put Duke in the bonus at the eight minute mark. They committed their 10th foul before the under four time out, giving the Blue Devils some valuable minutes shooting the double bonus. Duke made 18 free throws while Virginia shot only nine times from the foul line. Those extra points put Duke in position to win in spite of everything the Blue Devils didn’t do. But as Coach K put it, “we couldn’t close the deal.”
When Jeremy Roach made a slick drive around Virginia’s interior, Duke took a 64-63 lead, the Blue Devils’ first lead since early in the game. Duke built a three point lead on Trevor Keels’ tip in, but would not score another field goal.
First came a shot clock violation. Then a back court turnover by Roach, who had secured a defensive rebound but had his pocket picked by the feisty Beekman, who immediately scored. Duke nearly squandered a good defensive possession when Clark missed on a drive to the basket. Three Duke players went for the rebound and seemed to get in each other’s way. Virginia ball out of bounds. Clark then missed a three pointer, but the lack of communication on the errant rebound kind of summarized Duke’s evening. And following that near defensive disaster, Banchero turned the ball over.
Duke had a 68-66 lead and should have been playing for the win. Instead, Virginia’s Gardner was shooting to send the game into overtime. He missed and Theo John snatched the rebound in traffic. But Clark aggressively moved in to tie up John and got the call. The arrow was pointing Virginia’s way. That sequence led directly to Beekman’s game winning shot.
So after two big road games where Duke defended the perimeter, played smart, efficient offense while making lots of shots, and also rebounded the basketball, the Blue Devils took a step back, doing none of these things at remotely the same level. Moreover, they made some rookie mistakes, throwing passes into traffic, getting outplayed in the paint by Gardner and Shedrick (who was 8-8), and leaving their feet to block shots instead of getting defensive rebounding position.
A.J. Griffin, who poured in 27 points at UNC, was nearly blanked by Virginia. Banchero, one of the leading candidates for ACC Player of the Year was held in single digits. Banchero did not take a single shot in the second half until the desperation three in the final second. Notably, he led Duke in turnovers with four. Saturday, the freshman struggled at times against the defense of UNC’s Leaky Black. But going against Virginia’s pack line defense was a whole new experience. Banchero had never seen it really, until the Sunday/Monday walk throughs. Krzyzewski said Banchero got plenty of touches; however he was double teamed and chose to pass out of the extra pressure Virginia applies in the paint, instead of taking his shot.
Virginia’s Bennett said the goal was to make Banchero and his teammates take contested shots – certainly Duke’s jump shooters experienced an entirely different level of defensive pressure than they had seen in their two previous road wins.
What about the mental/emotional factors? Bennett said after winning “Maybe Duke was flat coming off the big game. I don’t know.”
Krzyzewski was asked about the quick turnaround. “I don’t think it was exhaustion,” he said. “We’re not in the desert. I call it you not having a rear view mirror, because you can’t look back.”
The Duke coach said Virginia was the hungrier team, adding “We’ve got to be hungry after we’ve eaten.”
Duke feasted at both Notre Dame and UNC and thanks to losses by Miami and Florida State – the other teams with wins over Duke – the Blue Devils had taken command of the ACC race. But Virginia, which Krzyzewski believes is making a strong push for the NCAA Tournament, something Duke’s players didn’t’ seem to understand, has changed all that.
Yes, if Beekman’s three had missed that would have preserved Duke’s top spot in the standings; and also kept the Blue Devils at number seven in the AP Poll (they had spent weeks ranked ninth and just moved up). But the shot was pure, and besides, Virginia was much the better team Monday night. Krzyzewski said so himself.
Back to the two-day turnaround. Krzyzewski said Virginia is the kind of opponent a team needs two days to prepare for. But again, he talked about the NCAA. “If you win a big game on a Thursday or Friday,” he said, “you have a quick turnaround and play two days later. Lots of people win one. Not as many win two. It’s a bridge you have to cross, and (Monday night) we weren’t able to do that.”
Duke’s upcoming schedule offers another chance. First comes Clemson, on the road Thursday. Duke barely beat the Tigers in Cameron. Then comes a long flight to Boston and a Saturday game against Boston College. BC, like Clemson, is 4-7 in ACC play. But no road game is routine. Winter weather in Boston can add an extra degree or two of difficulty. And then three days later comes a home game with Wake Forest, arguably the next best other team, and certainly one which has a chance to knock off the Blue Devils.
Duke did have a one- to two- game lead on all of its competitors with an opportunity to break the race open this week. But unless Duke can regain that “road focus,” Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Miami, maybe even North Carolina and Virginia could still have a chance to get to the top in the ACC.
