Underdog Virginia trying to overcome Cameron curse on Big Monday

By Jerry Ratcliffe

When Ralph Sampson and No. 2 Virginia demolished Duke, 109-66, in the first round of the 1983 ACC Tournament, a young Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski vowed never to forget.

In fact, at the Duke team dinner, someone raised a glass to “forgetting the thrashing by Virginia,” only to have Krzyzewski interrupt and raise another glass to, “Here’s never forgetting.”

Tonight (7 p.m. Big Monday, ESPN), Virginia ventures into Cameron Indoor Stadium, where the Cavaliers will face Krzyzewski for the last time in Durham (Duke has a return engagement at UVA on the 23rd). While Virginia has won five of its last seven games and seems to have gathered both chemistry and confidence, tonight’s challenge may be too great.

The Cavaliers are around a 12-point underdog in a hostile arena where they’ve experienced mostly bitter defeats in the near four decades since. UVA has won nine times in 54 visits to Cameron, and only three times since that ACC Tournament blowout in 1983 (1993 and 1995 under Jeff Jones, and 2018 under Tony Bennett).

Bennett is well aware of what it takes against teams of Duke’s magnitude.

“We have to be as sound and tough defensively and you’re going to have to take care of the ball,” UVA’s coach said after a convincing win over Miami last Saturday night. “You have to play to win in those settings. When you go against teams like Miami, like Duke, like most of the rest of our schedule, you’ve got to beat those teams. They don’t lose. That will be our mindset.”

The Cavaliers have exhibited stronger defensive efforts the past two weeks and more balanced scoring. They need a strong effort down the home stretch in order to continue their string of NCAA tournament appearances.

Presently, the NET rankings (the new RPI) has UVA rated No. 88 in the land. A win over Duke tonight would greatly enhance the Cavaliers’ status.

Kryzewski, who is retiring after this season, has guided the Blue Devils to the top of the ACC (9-2, 19-3 overall, and 13-1 at Cameron). They are coming off an emotional 20-point rout of rival North Carolina two nights ago. Virginia (8-5, 14-9, 3-5 on the road) is alone in sixth place as five teams are bunched within two-games reach of Duke.

“[Duke’s] athleticism and the way they play defensively, they’re kind of a mix of their young superstars with some guys who’ve been in the program and how they’re getting after it and improving,” Bennett said. “You have to be right. You’re going to have to be sound. Not perfect, but you’re going to have to be right. They do some things defensively that are challenging and they have guys who can go get baskets. Right now, they’re the best in our league, so to beat the best, you have to play at a high level. We understand that.”

None of the present Cavaliers players were on that 2018 team that stunned the Devils at Cameron, a game where Ty Jerome delivered a deep, 3-point dagger that allowed Virginia to score a monumental upset.

Point guard Kihei Clark arrived the following year. Clark, fellow backcourt mate Reece Beekman and big man Francisco Caffaro are the only players on UVA’s roster that have played at Cameron.

Armaan Franklin, who transferred to Virginia this season from Indiana, where he played in a legendary venue (Assembly Hall), has heard a lot about Cameron. Playing in that environment, one of the most chaotic and loud home courts in the game, is something else.

“As a kid, you want to be in those types of venues and legendary gyms, playing against a legendary coach in his last year,” Franklin said. “I’m looking forward to it.”