Dawkins helps Duke pull away from U.Va.

By Doug Doughty

DURHAM, N.C.

If Virginia wanted some inside information on Duke sophomore Andre Dawkins, injured Cavaliers co-captain Mike Scott would've been the person to ask.

Scott isn't sure he could've helped.

"He's gotten better," said Scott, who was a senior at Deep Creek High School, when Dawkins was a freshman on the junior varsity. "Way better."

Dawkins, who graduated from Atlantic Shores Christian, had three 3-pointers and a three-point play during a 4:10 span of the second half as top-ranked Duke pulled away from Virginia 76-60 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

It was the 14th straight loss there for the Cavaliers, who dropped to 1-28 against teams ranked No. 1.

Duke senior Nolan Smith led all scorers with 29 points, but it was Dawkins who put the Blue Devils ahead for good on a three-point play that made it 45-44 with 8:04 to go.

The Cavaliers (10-7, 1-2 ACC) led 31-25 at the half and twice increased their lead to nine, the second time on a Will Sherrill half-hook that put them ahead 42-33 with 16:14 left.

It was reminiscent of a U.Va. home game a week earlier, when the Cavaliers built an 11-point second-half lead against North Carolina before falling 62-56.

"We've got to find a way to last and maintain it," second-year U.Va. coach Tony Bennett said. "That's what we talked about afterwards. I said, 'You were there for most of the game against Carolina and the same thing here.' That's where you can't beat yourself."

Duke (16-1, 3-1) shot 34.5 percent in the first half, including 8.3 percent (1 for 12) on 3-pointers. The Blue Devils then came out blazing in the second half, hitting 10 of their first 13 shots from the field.

Still, when U.Va.'s Sammy Zeglinski made three free throws with 9:04 remaining, a five-point Duke lead had dwindled to 54-52.

That was followed by a crucial sequence during which Virginia twice was unable to clear the defensive boards. Kyle Singler got an inside basket on Duke's third shot following Zeglinski's free throws; then Dawkins knocked down a second-chance 3-pointer on the next possession.

The Blue Devils missed six shots in the first 12 minutes of the second half and got offensive rebounds on five of those.

Virginia held its own on the boards until 7-foot junior Assane Sene picked up his fourth foul with 17:28 remaining. Without Sene, who finished with eight points and five rebounds in 20 minutes, the Cavaliers frequently had four guards on the floor.

"We're pretty thin on the front line," Bennett said. "We try to scrap and tell our guards to come back, but there were some breakdowns, too."

U.Va. announced last week that Scott, a 6-8, 242-pound senior, would require ankle surgery that would cause him to miss the remainder of the season. Scott was the ACC's second-leading scorer at the time of his injury.

U.Va.'s lone double-figure scorers were senior Mustapha Farrakhan and freshman Joe Harris with 15 points apiece.

Farrakhan had 12 points in the first half but was limited to one field-goal attempt in 15 minutes in the second half. He hit three free throws after being fouled 40 seconds into the second half, then didn't score again.

"I think he wore down a little bit," Bennett said. "There was some fatigue, (but) they really got into him. That's just what they do to you."

Without heralded freshman point guard Kyrie Irving - out indefinitely with a foot injury - Dawkins, a 6-4 sophomore, has stepped into Duke's starting lineup and is averaging 11.7 points while shooting nearly 48 percent on 3-pointers.

Dawkins said he went to one of Virginia's elite camps while he was in high school but never considered either of his in-state ACC schools. He committed to Duke as a junior in high school, then decided on early graduation.

"Those 3's he hit, those were the dagger," Bennett said. "He has a beautiful stroke. They were 5 of 20 (on 3-pointers) as a team, but he was the guy."