Virginia Men's Basketball To Play At Duke Saturday Night

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Jan. 27, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –

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The Game
Virginia enters tonight’s Atlantic Coast Conference game with a 10-6 overall record and a 4-2 mark in the ACC. The Cavaliers, who have won their last three games, are coming off a 71-51 win over Miami (Jan. 24) in University Hall.

Duke stands at 18-1 overall and 6-0 in the ACC and is ranked second in both The Associated Press and ESPN/USAToday Top 25 polls. The Blue Devils are coming off an 80-67 win over Virginia Tech (Jan. 26) in Blacksburg, Va.

The Series vs. Duke
Duke leads the all-time series with the Cavaliers 106-47 and has won the last eight meetings. The Blue Devils won the only regular season meeting last season 80-66 (Jan. 16) in Durham and then won 76-64 (Mar. 11) in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament in Washington, D.C. Duke was ranked fifth at the time of both meetings last season.

The Blue Devils swept all three meetings in the 2003-04 season from UVa. Duke, ranked second in the nation at the time, won the first meeting 93-71 (Jan. 11) in Charlottesville. The Blue Devils also won 93-75 (Feb. 11) in Durham when they were the top-rated team in the nation. In the ACC Tournament, then fifth-ranked Duke won 84-74 (Mar. 12) in Greensboro, N.C.

Duke also won all three meetings during the 2002-03 season. Ranked number one in the nation at the time, Duke won the first meeting 104-93 (Jan. 15) in Durham. The eighth-ranked Blue Devils won 78-59 (Feb. 15) in Charlottesville. In the 2003 ACC Tournament, 12th-rated Duke won 83-76 (Mar. 14) in Greensboro. UVa split the 2001-02 season series with the Blue Devils. Virginia lost the first meeting 94-81 (Jan. 27) in Durham and won at home 87-84 (Feb. 28). The Cavaliers also split the 2000-01 series with the Blue Devils with both teams winning at home. Duke won the first meeting 103-61 (Jan. 13) in Durham, while UVa 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 22 years, winning 42 of the last 52 meetings since Ralph Sampson’s graduation from Virginia in 1983. The Blue Devils have also won 21 of the last 23 meetings dating back to the last matchup of the 1995-96 season.

In addition to snapping the 12-game losing streak to the Blue Devils with its win in 2001, Virginia broke a six-game streak in which Duke reached triple digits against the Cavaliers.

During Duke’s 12-game winning streak over UVa, the Blue Devils wonin convincing fashion, winning by an average of 25.3 points per game. Duke won by more than 40 points on four occasions. Only six of the last 21 games have been decided by fewer than 10 points.

Playing in front of the “Cameron Crazies” has been difficult for UVa as the Wahoos are 8-45 against Duke at Cameron. All-time Virginia is 10-50 on Duke’s various home courts through the years. The Cavaliers have lost their last 10 games at Cameron Indoor Stadium. UVa’s last win at Cameron was a 91-88 double overtime victory on January 14, 1995.

Playing Ranked Blue Devil Teams
Twenty of UVa’s last 21 meetings against Duke have occurred with the Blue Devils being ranked in the top 10 of The Associated Press Poll. UVa is 2-19 in the last 21 meetings against a top-10 Blue Devil squad. Duke is currently ranked second in The Associated Press Poll (and also second in the ESPN/USAToday Poll). The meeting in the 2003 ACC Tournament on Mar. 14 was the first time since Jan. 18, 1997 that the Blue Devils were not ranked in the top 10 when the two teams met. Duke was ranked 12th when it defeated UVa 83-76 in the 2003 ACC Tournament. The previous time the Blue Devils were not a top 10 team when they played UVa was on Jan. 18, 1997 – 13th (a 78-59 Duke win).

After dropping 10 consecutive meetings against top-10 ranked Duke teams, the Cavaliers have won two of the last 11 games, including an 87-84 victory at University Hall (Feb. 28, 2002) – the last Virginia win over Duke. The other Cavalier victory was a 91-89 decision on February 14, 2001 at U-Hall.

In the past eight seasons, Virginia has played Duke when the Blue Devils were ranked as the nation’s top team eight times.

Four ACC Wins
After just six ACC games this season, Virginia has already tied its conference win total from last season. At 4-2, UVa is also two games over .500 in conference play for the first time since the 2001-02 season when it was also 4-2 after six games. The Cavaliers lost their first two ACC contests that season before winning their next four.

No Steals
UVa committed only eight turnovers in its 71-51 win over Miami (Jan. 24) and the Hurricanes did not have a steal in the game. It marks the 10th time a Virginia opponent did not have a steal in a game and the first time since Feb. 26, 2003 when Ohio did not record a steal.

20 Point Win
UVa’s 20-point win over Miami (Jan. 24) is its largest margin of victory in an ACC contest since the end of the 2000-01 season. The Cavaliers closed their home ACC season in 2001 with a 19-point victory (84-65) over Clemson (Feb. 28). In the previous game, UVa registered a 20-point win (86-66) over then second-ranked North Carolina (Feb. 25) at home.