The much dreaded and fifth-ranked Duke University Blue Devils travel to Charlottesville Sunday for a regionally-televised (RSN) game that will begin at 7:45 p.m. The Wahoos did not play Duke in Charlottesville last season, and have not beaten them in the JPJ since 2/1/07 when they got 27 from J.R. Reynolds. It’s been so long since the Hoos won in Cameron that its not worth thinking about.
Duke (24-4,11-2) is coming off its seventh straight win. Last time out, Duke beat Tulsa 70-52 in a game where the Blue Devils grabbed 18 offensive rebounds. Incredibly, Duke has had 17 or more offensive rebounds in five straight games.
Virginia (14-12,5-8) is in the midst of a six-game losing streak and has seen it’s NCAA Tournament chance end up flushed into the Rivanna. The Hoos have been getting blown out in the last several games, and have looked really out of sorts. In the last outing against Miami, Virginia’s Mike Scott finished 0-7 from the field, and Sammy Zeglinski has only averaged 4.7 points over the losing streak.
Duke is not only playing for a #1 seed in the ACC Tournament, they are playing for an outright #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. This game could get ugly early as Duke is better at every single position, but not as dominant as in the past. If the Hoos have a snowball’s chance in Hell, they must get double-digit scoring from at least three Wahoos Sunday. And can someone explain why Calvin Baker still plays at all on this team? Captain or no Captain, let’s play for the future and try Evans and Spurlock out! Where was Farrakhan against Miami?
The University of New Jersey at Durham (as I like to call them) averages almost 80 points per contest, and Virginia only scores 67. Duke could hammer the Hoos with threes, but can also pound it inside to 7-1 Brian Zoubek. Duke’s guard Nolan Smith has been playing very well, and could come up huge against the Hoos Sunday.
This game is the only sold-out contest this year at the JPJ. I think Duke prolongs Virginia’s heinous losing streak and wins 83-63.