Cavaliers Suffer 56-41 Loss to No. 5 Duke
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CHARLOTTESVILLE-Senior guard Nolan Smith scored 22 points and had seven rebounds to lead No. 5 Duke to a 56-41 victory over Virginia in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at John Paul Jones Arena on Wednesday.
Sophomore forward Ryan Kelly added 11 points and five rebounds for the Blue Devils, while sophomore forward Mason Plumlee scored nine points and had a game-high nine rebounds.
Senior guard Mustapha Farrakhan was the only player to score in double figures for Virginia with 11 points. Freshman guard Joe Harris scored eight points and had a team-high seven rebounds for the Cavaliers and freshman guard KT Harrell scored seven points.
The victory was the fifth in a row for Duke and improved the Blue Devils overall record to 24-2. Duke is now 11-1 in the ACC. The Blue Devils have won the last seven games with Virginia.
It was the third consecutive loss for Virginia. The Cavaliers are now 12-13 overall and 3-8 in the ACC.
The final point totals in the game were season lows for both teams.
Duke led 34-26 at halftime and Virginia got no closer in the second half. The Blue Devils scored 22 points in the second half and the Cavaliers 15.
Six consecutive points by Duke gave the Blue Devils a 45-30 lead with 11:28 left in the game and the Cavaliers got no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
Duke shot 50.0 percent (23-46) from the field in the game, including 31.3 percent (5-16) from three-point range. Virginia shot 28.6 percent (16-56) from the field for the game, including 25.0 percent (3-12) from three-point range.
In the first half a 10-0 run by Virginia gave the Cavaliers a 12-7 lead with 13:38 left in the opening period. Farrakhan scored five of the points in that UVa run.
Virginia led 15-13 with 10:34 left in the first half when Duke went on a 10-0 run that gave the Blue Devils a 23-15 lead with 6:40 left in the half. Kelly scored five points for Duke in that run.
UVa got no closer than five points the rest of the half and trailed by eight at halftime.
Smith had 13 points in the first half for Duke and Farrakhan had nine points for Virginia.
The Cavaliers return to action on Saturday (Feb. 19) when they host Virginia Tech at John Paul Jones Arena. That game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. and will be televised by the ACC Network.