Duke Punishes Virginia 80-62; Evans, Flagg & Knueppel with 17 Points Each

The Blue Devils came into JPJ arena with a business mindset. Obviously, the Blue Devils would be favored against the Cavaliers of Virginia, but UVA came in on a 3 game winning streak and playing much better basketball. For the first 8 minutes of the game, it looked like Virginia came to play. Ron Sanchez had his team hitting tough shots and even with Duke playing efficient basketball, the Hoos were within 4 of the Blue Devils (18-14. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, as good as they were offensively in the first half, the defense was lacking (which feels weird to say about a UVA team). Duke from their 18-14 lead, Duke would go on a 12 to 2 run to push the lead to 30-16. It had to be somewhat disconcerting for Virginia to shoot 50% from 3 point range and still find yourself down 14 at the half because the Blue Devils shot 55%. As impressive as Duke hitting 6-11 from 3, where Duke really owned the first half was on the boards. Duke out rebounded UVA 24-8 in the first half, including 8 offensive rebounds that Duke turned into 14 points.

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