Cavaliers fizzle after strong start vs. Duke

CHARLOTTESVILLE

For a team playing its third game in five days, Virginia came out with some hop in its step Wednesday night.

With the John Paul Jones Arena packed for a visit from No. 6 Duke, the Cavaliers played with passion and energy, which is precisely what Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski expected.

"We knew they were going to be up," he said. "Adrenaline."

For 15 minutes, yes. Then came the crash. Duke took control late in the first half and never let up, cruising to an 86-70 win that set up the Blue Devils (26-3, 13-2 ACC) for a first-place showdown with North Carolina on Saturday night.

As for the Cavaliers, they can ensure they won't finish last by beating Maryland on Sunday.

Virginia (14-14, 4-11) failed to solve Duke's zone and gave up offensive rebounds at critical times in the second half.

The Cavaliers had cut a 19-point deficit to nine with 10:39 to go when Duke got busy on the boards, scoring on follow-ups by Kyle Singler, DeMarcus Nelson and Jon Scheyer in a span of three minutes.

The Blue Devils pushed the lead back to 14 and Virginia never got any closer.

Duke did what Duke does, spreading the floor, penetrating and kicking the ball to the perimeter for open 3-point shots. The Blue Devils made 12 of 27 from behind the arc, and placed five players in double figures, led by Gerald Henderson with 19.

Sean Singletary led Virginia with 18 and seemed as if he could keep Virginia in it almost single-handedly in the early going.

A step quicker than anyone on the court, Singletary blew by Duke defenders at will, getting in the lane and dishing to teammates or pulling up for short jumpers. He scored nine of Virginia's first 14 points.

Duke switched to a zone to cut off Singletary's penetration.

"That put the onus on the other guys," coach Dave Leitao said.

No one stepped forward. U.Va. went more than six minutes without a basket, and Duke turned a 29-28 deficit into a 43-29 lead.

The zone seemed to confuse the Cavaliers, who committed 11 first-half turnovers, including five from Singletary and four from guard Calvin Baker.

Defensive and rebounding lapses were Virginia's undoing in the second half.

"Anytime we mounted a little bit of a charge, they just spread us out," Leitao said.

Virginia had won 3 of 4 coming in, and had gotten a lift from the return of power forward Laurynas Mikalauskas, who missed 13 games with a shoulder injury.

"We knew that Virginia was playing its best basketball of the season," Krzyzewski said.

Mikalauskas turned in another solid outing, scoring 10 points and providing what little inside presence Virginia could muster. But the four starters other than Singletary combined for just eight points.

The Cavaliers remain in a three -way tie for 10th place with Boston College and N.C. State, and own tiebreakers over both. But a loss to Maryland and wins by the Eagles and Wolfpack would mean that the Cavaliers, who tied for first place last year, would fall to last.

It's not a scenario Virginia cares to contemplate, especially with Sunday being Singletary's final home game.

"It would be a sad situation to go out with a loss," Baker said.

Ed Miller, 446-2372, ed.miller@pilotonline.com