Everything is on the line for Virginia against No. 7 Duke tonight

By Jerry Ratcliffe

This is the one you’ve all been waiting for, Virginia vs. Duke, the rematch, the “orange out,” the game that will likely make or break the Cavaliers’ season.

When the No. 7 Blue Devils come to Charlottesville tonight (7 o’clock, ESPN), it will be the biggest game at John Paul Jones Arena since LeBron James came to watch Duke and Zion Williams against UVA in 2019. If you can get a ticket, grab it, because this could be another classic in one of the best rivalries in the ACC in recent years.

Six of the last meetings between Duke and Virginia have been decided by two points or less, and tonight projects as another thriller diller.

It will be Mike Krzyzewski’s last visit to JPJ. College basketball’s winningest coach in the sport’s history is retiring after the season with his team battling for an eventual No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Virginia is fighting for its postseason life and desperately needs the win to add to its resume (see related podcast on this site for more preview on tonight’s game).

While Krzyzewski has built Duke into a basketball powerhouse over the decades, Virginia has emerged under Tony Bennett.

“They’ve done more than emerged,” Krzyzewski said this week of Virginia. “They are securely planted as one of the top programs in the country, and Tony is one of the best coaches in the country. They play basketball at a really high level on both ends of the floor.”

Coach K is well aware of what Virginia is capable of, with the Cavaliers having won two of the last five meetings, including a 69-68 win at Duke just a couple of weeks ago.

“They’ve been good games because we’ve both had good teams,” Krzyzewski said. “The games have been played at an extremely high level and we expect the same Wednesday.”

After thinking about the rivalry for a second, Bennett acknowledged how close the games have been.

“We’ve had some really hard-fought games between two talented teams,” the UVA coach said. “Almost all the last few have been down to possession games. It comes down to can you execute and take care of the ball down the stretch?”

That’s exactly what Virginia did at Cameron Indoor in the last meeting. In an extremely physical game when tempers flared, the game was still up for grabs with 1:26 to go, Duke clinging to a 68-66 lead.

UVA’s Kihei Clark missed a layup with 1:17 to go, but the Cavaliers got the offensive rebound, only to have Clark miss a 3-pointer at the 1:03 mark. Duke called time out with 50 seconds to play, but turned the ball over 14 seconds later.

Armaan Franklin missed a jumper, but Virginia forced a jump ball and the alternating possession went to the Cavaliers with 7.2 seconds showing.

Virginia called a time out and Bennett watched as associate head coach Jason Williford did his work on the grease board, drawing up an inbounds play under the basket. The teams lined up, with the 5-9 Clark inbounding against Duke’s 6-10 Mark Williams.

UVA saw what Duke was doing, called another time out and Williford drew up another play, this time having 6-5 Reece Beekman inbounding. He got the ball inbounded cleanly, the ball getting kicked outside to Clark past the 3-point line.

Clark immediately noticed Beekman wide open on the wing because Williams failed to follow his man to the perimeter, taking full blame afterward for Beekman knocking down the winning 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds to play.

Krzyzewski was gracious in defeat, noting that “[Virginia] carved us up.”

Beekman became only the third visiting player in the last 20 years to make a game-winning field goal with two seconds or less on the clock at Duke.

You can bet the Blue Devils want to even the score and will come to JPJ with revenge in their hearts.

One of the key matchups in that game and in tonight’s game will be 6-6 Jayden Gardner on Duke’s 6-10 Paolo Banchero, a projected lottery draft pick, and a one-and-doner.

In the first meeting, Gardner, with some help in double-teaming the post in traditional “Pack Line” fashion, held Banchero to a mere nine points in 38 minutes and shut him out the second half. In fact, Banchero took but one shot after the break, the final shot of the game, which ended up on top of the backboard.

“[Gardner] did a great job on Paolo, but so did their defense,” Krzyzewski said this week, looking back on the game. “Gardner has pretty much had an All-ACC caliber year.”

Gardner has come on strong for the Cavaliers, averaging 18.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, while shooting better than 51 percent over UVA’s last eight games. He has also made 24 out of his last 25 throws, having made 31 in a row before missing at Miami.

Kadin Shedrick stood out in the game, too, taking some physical punishment that led to double technicals on the team benches. He was 8 for 8 from the field and was fierce on the boards and defensively, as was Francisco Caffero, who added eight points in 16 minutes against Duke’s frontcourt.

One of the most stunning numbers from that game was Virginia dominating the lane, outscoring the Blue Devils 52-28 in the paint, a mind-blowing statistic. You can bet Duke’s players have been reminded of that by Krzyzewski in their preparation.

UVA’s backcourt of Beekman, Clark and Franklin also more than held their own against Duke and will have to equal that performance tonight, particularly on the defensive end of the floor.

The Cavaliers scored 20 points off 15 Duke turnovers in the first meeting, while UVA committed only five turnovers, something Bennett believes is crucial to his team. With little margin for error in most ACC games, Bennett said that the little things probably mean more to this UVA team than other teams out there.

“[Ball security] was a key to that game,”  Bennett pointed out. “Specifically in that game, we were very good with the basketball.”

Again, UVA’s guards are going to have to come through if the Cavaliers are to sweep Duke in the regular season for the first time since the 1994-95 season.

Franklin, who sat out most of the second half of the win at Miami, suffered from what Bennett described as a “kind of sprained or turf toe,” which he is hoping has improved. Bennett said Franklin could have played the second half but decided to rest it if possible.

“Hopefully it keeps getting better and better,” Bennett said. “It’s irritating but you can play through it.”

It may be important for Clark to get off to a good start. When he is aggressive early in games, Virginia benefits.

“Kihei had a real sound game (at Duke),” Bennett said. “We need everyone, but Kihei’s experience to manage the game along with Reese. Kihei’s experience and competitiveness, making shots and being who he is, will be really important for us.”