By Jerry Ratcliffe
No. 1 Duke’s gameplan was fairly simple when the host Blue Devils steamrolled No. 11 Virginia on Saturday, 77-51.
Coach Jon Scheyer decided to use his team’s length to harass UVA’s 3-point shooters, which would allow the Devils to limit the effectiveness of Thijs De Ridder in the paint, a plan that worked to near perfection. On the other end, anticipating that the Cavaliers would gang up on Duke’s lethal weapon in Cam Boozer, the Devils were bombs away from the perimeter.
While Virginia double-teamed Boozer in a highly-physical battle, Duke drilled a dozen 3-pointers, taking advantage of open shots while the Cavaliers focused on shutting down the inside threat.
Boozer didn’t have a bucket in the first half, missing all four shots, but he drew fouls and made 11 of 12 free throws by the break. He finished with 18 points, but made only three field goals.
“He’s such a force,” Scheyer said of Boozer, projected among the top five NBA Draft lottery picks. “Teams have to be very physical trying to hold him up and he plays through it, gets to the foul line. He just has a warrior spirit.”
Meanwhile, Duke’s guards smothered Virginia’s perimeter shooters and handcuffed a Cavaliers offense that had averaged more than 80 points a game. The UVA guards — Jacari White, Sam Lewis, Malik Thomas, Dallin Hall and Chance Mallory — were a combined 6 for 32 from the field and a stunning 4 for 24 from the 3-point arc.
Without the threat of making 3’s, De Ridder didn’t have much freedom to operate in the paint, even though he was Virginia’s leading scorer with 16 points in 20 minutes. De Ridder, who matched up with Boozer, was in foul trouble for most of the game.
The Blue Devils (27-2, 15-1), playing a complete game, flexed their No. 1 muscles, proving why they are 62-6 over the past two seasons.
Meanwhile, Virginia (25-4, 13-3) didn’t have the answers to stay with one of college basketball’s elite programs.
“You’re going to take punches,” UVA’s Ryan Odom said. “This is a competitive sport. We punch people and they punch us. They punched us a lot more than we punched them today.”
Once Virginia fell behind early — Duke led wire-to-wire — it was difficult to make a charge because the Blue Devils kept finding ways to score. The pressure mounted in the intimidating confines of Cameron, mostly because Duke didn’t let up and Virginia felt like every miss added to its demise.
“I think we were just not ready to play,” De Ridder said afterward. “I think some of our guys were maybe shocked with their fans, maybe shocked with physicality.”
UVA found out what most of Duke’s opponents have learned over the last two years, and longer. Bring your ‘A’ game or forget about it.
For more analysis on this game and where Virginia goes from here, check out our extended coverage on Monday behind our paywall.
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