Cavaliers blown out at Cameron against No. 10 Duke, 73-48

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Posted on Saturday, Mar. 2, 2024, 9:34 pm

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By Scott Ratcliffe

Photo: UVA Athletics

Cameron Indoor Stadium has never been an easy place to play — much less win — for visiting opponents, and Virginia found out the hard way in a 73-48 loss to 10th-ranked Duke on Saturday.

The Blue Devils (23-6, 14-4 ACC) built a large lead in the early going and didn’t take their feet off the accelerator until the closing moments of the lopsided affair, the seventh loss for UVA by 15-plus points this season, by far the most in the Tony Bennett era.

The Cavaliers (21-9, 12-7) owned a nation-low average of just 8.2 turnovers per game coming into the contest, but coughed up the ball 12 times on Saturday, which translated into 16 Duke points on a day when mistakes were magnified.

Virginia only has one more game left in the regular season before heading up to the nation’s capital for the ACC Tournament, and the Wahoos will still have an opportunity to finish among the top four teams and clinch a double-bye.

On Saturday, it was all Blue Devils from the jump in the rematch of last season’s conference championship game. A Tyrese Proctor 3-pointer out of the first media timeout made it a double-digit advantage, 14-4, not even five minutes into the contest.

“It can get separated quick,” Bennett said of the early struggles, “and we’ve had a few games where we’ve gotten beat handily. And that’s a humbling place to be, and so you know that going in and you work at it and you try to prepare as well as you can, but… they got the ball in the lane, down the floor, on the glass, every which way.”

UVA went nearly 10 minutes without a field goal, as the Duke lead ballooned to 25 points before Ryan Dunn dunked one home with 2:48 until halftime, trimming the Hoos’ deficit to 38-15. After misfiring on their first five 3-point attempts, the Cavaliers finally got one to drop as Isaac McKneely connected with 18 seconds left in the half, but that only cut it to 40-18 heading into the break.

Virginia was able to get back within 19 points, 46-27, on a Beekman bucket in the opening minutes of the second half, but that’s as close as it would get the rest of the night.

The senior floor general led the Hoos with 18 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds (he shared the team lead with Dunn and Dante Harris), and he also became the school’s all-time steals leader with his third takeaway and basket with 12:06 to play, but Duke still held a 25-point lead at that point.

“He’s doing everything he can…,” Bennett said of Beekman’s effort. “He’s got character and he wants to win, and I know when we show up for practice, he’ll be ready to go and we’ll keep trying to get better.”

UVA shot 31 percent (17 for 55) from the field, 29 percent from downtown (5 of 17) and 69 percent from the free-throw line (9 for 13). The Cavaliers were outrebounded, 42-29, and outscored 44-18 in the paint.

McKneely finished with 12 points on 3-of-11 shooting (2 for 5 from long range), while Dunn added 9 points and a game-high 5 blocks.

Duke was led by Kyle Filipowski, who posted a game-high 21 points to go along with 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Proctor had 15 points and Mark Mitchell added 10, as the Blue Devils shot 49 percent on the night (30 for 61) and 32 percent (6 of 19) from beyond the arc.

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

  • UVA (21-9, 12-7 ACC) dropped its seventh contest away from home by 16 or more points
  • UVA is 5-6 in true road games and 7-7 away from home overall
  • UVA is 1-3 vs. ranked opponents, posting a win against then-No. 14 Texas A&M and losses to then-No. 23 Memphis, then-No. 10 North Carolina and No. 10 Duke
  • UVA shot 6 of 26 (23.1%) from the field in the first half and finished 17 of 55 (30.9%)`
  • Duke led 40-18 at the half
  • The 22-point halftime margin was a season high vs. UVA this season
  • The Blue Devils led 29-11 at the U8 timeout
  • Duke started the game on a 14-4 run and led 19-6 at the 13-minute mark
  • Duke out-rebounded Virginia 42-29
  • UVA forced one shot-clock violation (25 in 2023-24)

Series Notes

  • UVA is 54-125 all-time vs. Duke, including a 10-55 mark at Cameron Indoor Stadium
  • Tony Bennett is 6-15 all-time vs. Duke, including a pair of wins at Cameron Indoor Stadium (2017-18 & 2021-22)
  • The 25-point margin of victory by Duke was its largest in the series since a 25-point loss on Jan. 13, 2001, at Cameron Indoor Stadium

Player Notes

  • Double Figure Scorers: Reece Beekman (18), Isaac McKneely (12)
  • Beekman (18 points) moved into a tie for 44th with Devin Smith (2003-05) on UVA’s all-time scoring list with 1,131 points
  • Beekman had three steals to become UVA’s all-time steals leader at 223
  • Beeman moved into third on UVA’s single-season steals list with 63
  • Beekman reached double figures for the 55th time (25 in 2023-24)
  • Beekman (7 assists) moved into ninth on UVA’s single-season assist list with 177
  • Beekman ranks third all-time at UVA with 601 career assists
  • McKneely reached double figures for the 24th time
  • Ryan Dunn had a game-high five blocked shots
  • Dante Harris had a season-high six rebounds
  • UVA started Beekman, McKneely, Dunn, Jake Groves and Jordan Minor for the second straight game

UP NEXT

Virginia will have a week off to prepare for Senior Night and the regular-season finale against Georgia Tech next Saturday (ACC Network). Tipoff against the Yellow Jackets is set for 8 p.m.