A win is a win and there is no shame in playing the No. 17 team in the country close on your home court, but Duke has got some work to do. The Blue Devils had just enough and Virginia just didn't have enough time to catch up as Duke improves to 14-2 (2-0 ACC) with the 61-58 win.
The first half of this game belonged to the Cavaliers and especially Mike Scott who was simply unstoppable leading Virginia to a 32-28 lead at the break.
No matter who Duke matched up with Scott, they couldn't slow him down and his ability to knock down shots opened up opportunities for other Virginia players to score. Thankfully for Duke, the second half brought some different results.
The Blue Devils stepped up the defense on Scott and forced other Cavaliers to keep them in the game as Duke grabbed control over the game during a sequence that saw Tyler Thornton hit a slashing layup, and then hit Miles Plumlee for a monster dunk.
At that point Duke was playing as well as they've played in a while on both ends of the floor, but like recent games they couldn't keep that same level of play.
Mason Plumlee could have had 20 points had he hit all of his free throws. Instead he shot 2-10 from the line, that's 20 percent. He was shooting 42 percent coming into the game. He did score 12 points and grab seven rebounds as he was at times the best player on the court for the Blue Devils.
Duke was balanced offensively. They had four players in double figures and played much better defense in the second half on Scott.
As the game was winding down, Duke was up by as many as nine points but couldn't push the lead up any further. And some poor choices on the offensive end including shot selection, missed free throws and a couple moving screens on Miles Plumlee allowed Virginia to be able to make it a one possession game.
It is that poor performance in the end of game situation that has me the most worried going forward. Duke still hasn't shown a killer instinct this season against a quality opponent. And with Mike Krzyzewski's propensity for playing "stall ball" almost always takes them out of any rhythm.
Still, who am I to question a coach who has won 914 games?
But one thing is for sure if Duke can't start knocking down late free throws, avoid silly fouls and untimely turnovers they are going to lose games like this down the road.
For now their streak in Cameron continues as they haven't lost to Virginia at home since 1995 and they've won 44 straight home games.
It is a short break before Duke heads to Clemson on Saturday. That is always a dangerous trip for Duke but we will have more on that later.
On a side note, if I had a vote I would vote Mike Scott as the ACC Player of the Year, hands down. He is a beast.
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