Duke must go on the road to try to maintain its spot atop the Atlantic Coast Conference.
It’s a three-game stretch of games away from home for the No. 7 Blue Devils, beginning with Wednesday night’s matchup with Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.
While attention on Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final season is growing, this is a game that ought to have the Blue Devils’ full focus.
“We have a one-game lead,” Krzyzewski said. “We have Virginia coming up. That’s all I’m thinking of. There’s plenty of time for that (sentimental stuff).”
Duke (23-4, 13-3 ACC), which has built a four-game winning streak since losing to Virginia, is a game ahead of Notre Dame in the ACC.
Virginia (17-10, 11-6) has won five of its last six games, clinching its 11th consecutive winning ACC record. That strong stretch includes the 69-68 victory Feb. 7 at Duke, where Reece Beekman drained a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining.
So the Cavaliers know Duke will come out with certain motivation. Virginia players will have to counter that.
“Play with a sense of urgency from the start of the game,” Cavaliers forward Jayden Gardner said. “… All the stuff that we did in the first game, we just got to do it again. But this time they’re going to be even more hungry. So we’re going to get their best shot, and they’re going to get ours.”
For Duke, the quest to capture the regular-season title will have more bearing than a revenge factor.
“We have four games left to accomplish (winning the regular season), so we’re taking it one game at a time,” Duke forward Wendell Moore Jr. said. “We’ve got three road games and no road games in the ACC are easy.”
This will mark only the third game against a ranked opponent for Virginia this season — a November loss to Houston and the first meeting with Duke were the others. However, an 18-point thumping of Providence in November looks more impressive now on Virginia’s slate.
Yet the Cavaliers need more notable outcomes to bolster their hopes of reaching the NCAA Tournament.
“We’re not listening to all the outside noise of tournament talk,” Virginia center Kadin Shedrick said. “We’re taking it one game at a time, trying to win every game we can.”
Perimeter shooting has been an issue for the Cavaliers despite Beekman’s winning 3 at Duke. Beginning with that game, Virginia is a combined 11-for-55 on 3-pointers in its last four games.
Getting the ball inside to Gardner has been a key to much of the Cavaliers’ success. He scored 23 points in Saturday’s 74-71 victory at Miami. Gardner has scored in double figures in the last 10 games.
Also in the Miami game, Kihei Clark became the Virginia program’s 50th player to reach 1,000 career points.
Duke will want to get center Mark Williams as involved as possible. He has shot 80 percent (36 of 45) from the field over the last seven games.
Virginia has won four straight home games since a setback to Wake Forest on Jan. 15.
“It’s definitely going to be fun to play Duke in our home gym this time,” Shedrick said.
Duke will go to Syracuse and Pittsburgh before finishing the regular season March 5 at home vs. North Carolina.
“Coach says we have the chance to do something special,” Moore said. “But at the same time, we have our mind set on one goal right now — that’s to win the next game against Virginia because if we win that game, we’re one step closer to our bigger goal.”
–Field Level Media
