Virginia To Face Top Ranked Team In Nation
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Jan. 26, 2002
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –
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The Game
Virginia, ranked seventh in both the AP and USAToday/ESPN polls, stands at 14-2 overall and 4-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season. The Cavaliers are coming off a 93-59 victory over VMI (Jan. 24) at University Hall for their fifth consecutive victory. Duke, ranked first in the AP and USAToday/ESPN polls, stands at 17-1 overall and 5-1 in the ACC. The Blue Devils are coming off an 88-78 win over Boston College (Jan. 24) in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
The Series vs. Duke
Duke leads the all-time series with the Cavaliers 97-46. UVa split the series with the Blue Devils last season with both teams winning at home. Duke won the first meeting 103-61 (Jan. 13) in Durham, while the Cavaliers posted a 91-89 victory (Feb. 14) in Charlottesville, which snapped a 12-game slide to the Blue Devils. Duke has dominated the series in the last 18 years, winning 33 of the last 42 meetings since Ralph Sampson’s graduation from Virginia in 1983.
In addition to snapping the 12-game losing streak to the Blue Devils, Virginia broke a six-game streak in which Duke reached triple digits.
Prior to last season’s victory, the Cavaliers’ last win over Duke was a 77-66 triumph in Charlottesville on January 13, 1996. That was the last of four consecutive wins for the Cavaliers.
During Duke’s 12-game winning streak over UVa, the Blue Devils won in convincing fashion, winning by an average of 25.3 points per game. Duke has won by more than 40 points in four of the last 10 meetings (including UVa’s win last year). Only four of the last 13 games have been decided by fewer than 10 points, including UVa’s win last season and Duke’s nine-point overtime win (109-100) in the 1999-2000 season (Jan. 5). The Blue Devils also eked out a 62-61 win in Charlottesville on February 11, 1997 and a seven-point victory, 72-65, in Charlottesville on January 24, 1998.
Playing in front of the “Cameron Crazies” has been difficult for UVa as the Wahoos are 8-41 against Duke at Cameron. All-time Virginia is 10-46 on Duke’s various home courts through the years. UVa’s last win at Cameron Indoor Stadium was a 91-88 double overtime victory on January 14, 1995.
Only the Second Time
Virginia and Duke have been ranked in the top 10 of The Associated Press poll a combined 457 times (Duke 384 times, UVa 73 times) and tonight’s game is only the second time the two schools have met while ranked in the AP’s top 10 concurrently. The first time it happened was last season on January 13, when Duke was ranked second in the January 8 AP poll and UVa was 10th.
Virginia vs. Ranked Duke Teams
Tonight’s contest is the 12th consecutive game in which the Blue Devils have been ranked in the top 10 when playing the Cavaliers, dating back to the 1996-97 season. UVa had dropped 10 consecutive meetings before winning last season 91-89 (Feb. 14) at University Hall when Duke was ranked third. The Blue Devils are currently ranked first in both The Associated Press and USAToday/ESPN Coaches polls.
In the past four seasons, Virginia has played Duke when the Blue Devils were ranked as the nation’s top team five times. In 1997-98 Duke was ranked #1 at the time of all three meetings. (Virginia became the first team in NCAA history to play the nation’s #1 team five times in one season when, in addition to three games vs. Duke, UVa also played North Carolina twice when it was atop the polls). In 1998-99, the Blue Devils were ranked #1 when they defeated UVa 100-54 in Charlottesville (Feb. 11) and 104-67 in the ACC Tournament (Mar. 4).
Overall, Virginia hasn’t fared well against a nationally-ranked Duke squad. The Cavaliers are 13-50 against a ranked Duke team, but are 3-5 vs. third-ranked Blue Devil squads. In its last two meetings vs. a #3 Duke team, Virginia defeated the Blue Devils 91-89 at home last season (Feb. 14) and lost 106-86 (Feb. 5) in Durham during the 1999-2000 season.
The highest ranked team Virginia has defeated on the road is a third-ranked team, which UVa has accomplished three times. The Cavaliers have twice beaten #3 Duke teams on the road (90-84 – Jan. 23, 1980 and 77-69 – Jan. 17, 1993), as well as Georgetown (68-63 – Dec. 11, 1982). UVa was unranked at the time of the win in 1980, ranked 14th in 1993, and ranked first in 1982 vs. Georgetown.
Virginia Vs. #1
This is the 24th time the Cavaliers have played the #1 team in the nation. They have not fared well against top-ranked teams, posting a 1-22 all-time record. Virginia’s lone win over the #1 team was an 86-73 win over North Carolina in Charlottesville on January 30, 1986.
Virginia has faced Duke 10 times when the Blue Devils were ranked number one and has lost all 10 games.
A look at Virginia’s games against Duke when the Blue Devils were ranked #1 is below.
Date Site ResultDec. 18, 1965 UVa Duke, 75-72Mar. 8, 1986 Greensboro, N.C. Duke, 75-70Jan. 7, 1989 UVa Duke, 84-76Jan. 2, 1992 UVa Duke, 68-62Feb. 26, 1992 Duke Duke, 76-67Dec. 6, 1997 Duke Duke, 103-59Jan. 24, 1998 UVa Duke, 72-65March 5, 1998 Greensboro, N.C. Duke, 63-41Feb. 11, 1999 UVa Duke, 100-54Mar. 4, 1999 Greensboro, N.C. Duke, 104-67
Gillen Vs. #
Head coach Pete Gillen is 0-3 lifetime coaching against number one-ranked Associated Press Poll teams. He is 0-2 vs. #1 ranked teams at UVa and was 0-1 while the head coach at Xavier. Gillen’s first Virginia team lost twice to Duke in the 1998-99 season (100-54 – Feb. 11 and 104-67 – Mar. 4). His Xavier team lost 73-70 to top-ranked Indiana in the second round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis, Ind. (Mar. 21).