Cavaliers Fall to No. 5 Duke 67-49
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Kyle Singler scored 21 points as No. 5 Duke beat shorthanded Virginia 67-49 on Sunday night.
The Blue Devils (25-4, 12-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) remained a game ahead of Maryland heading into a first-place showdown with the Terps in College Park, Md., on Wednesday night.
Jon Scheyer added 20 points for Duke in its eighth straight win and fourth consecutive victory in the series.
The Blue Devils took command right away, opening the game on a 20-4 run. Singler had 11 points before Virginia had two field goals, and from there the Cavaliers never got closer than 10. They trailed 35-21 at halftime and went five minutes without a field goal after the break.
The Cavaliers (14-13, 5-9) lost their seventh straight playing without scoring leader Sylven Landesberg, who sustained a bruised right thigh in Virginia’s loss at Miami on Feb. 23. Landesberg is averaging 17.4 points a game.
Jerome Meyinsse scored 21 points for Virginia, seven more than his previous career best, but was the only Cavalier to score in double figures. Meyinsse was 6 for 8 from the field and 9 for 11 from the free throw line. He also had seven rebounds and blocked one shot.
Mustapha Farrakhan scored seven points for the Cavaliers and Sammy Zeglinski had six points. Assane Sene had his second double figure rebound game of the season for UVa with a game-high 10.
Singler and Scheyer were efficient offensively. Singler finished 6 for 10 from the field and Scheyer was 8 for 14, and both watched for the last several minutes as Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and Virginia coach Tony Bennett emptied their benches.
Duke shot 48.0 percent (24-50) from the field, including 38.9 percent (7-18) from three-point range, and 70.6 percent (12-17) from the free-throw line. The Blue Devils turned the ball over only eight times and forced 14 Virginia turnovers.
Virginia shot 31.4 percent (16-51) from the field, including just 16.7 percent (2-12) from three-point range, and 83.3 percent (15-18) from the free-throw line. The Cavaliers out-rebounded Duke 33-31.