100 grand
Duke hits triple digits again, pounds Virginia by 46
Posted: Friday February 12, 1999 01:51 AM
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Trajan Langdon and the Blue Devils kept Adam Hall and the Cavaliers off balance all night. AP |
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Against most teams, even with only six scholarship players, Virginia can compete by staying out of foul trouble and playing coach Pete Gillen's brand of hustle, up-tempo basketball.
Duke, clearly, isn't most teams.
The best start to a season in Blue Devils' history was never in jeopardy Thursday night as the nation's No. 1 team overwhelmed Virginia 100-54, Duke's seventh 100-point game this season and its 19th straight victory.
"I've been a head coach for a while and that's as good a team as I've coached against," Gillen said. "If they stay healthy, I think they'll win the national championship. They just dominated us in every phase."
The Blue Devils (24-1, 12-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) led by 19 at halftime and extended their lead throughout the second half. Duke is bidding to become the first team in league history to go through the 16-game schedule unbeaten.
"Now it's more of a reality," center Elton Brand said of the perfect ACC record, now four wins away. "I remember being asked that question when we were 8-0, halfway. It's not impossible, but it's tough in the ACC."
Brand, William Avery and Corey Maggette each scored 15 points for Duke, which outshot Virginia 58.7 percent to 27.4 percent, made 11 3-pointers to the Cavaliers' two and dominated the glass, outrebounding Virginia 58-26.
Avery and Trajan Langdon were scoreless with five minutes left in the first half, but when Virginia pulled within 31-25, the guards got hot, combining for 15 points in a half-ending 18-5 run that made it 49-30.
"I picked it up on defense and got into an attack mode on offense," said Avery, who had eight of the points, all in the final 2:11 of the half.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said the burst was the game-changer.
"We stopped fouling and William made a couple of big plays and it was 19," he said. "That's a lot different than 13 or 15, psychologically."
Gillen agreed.
"The guys got discouraged. When you're competing and not scoring, you're getting in there and not making shots, you get frustrated," he said. "You get worn down physically, too. They bring nine guys at you, we're playing six, and they get frustrated a little bit. We don't like it, but it happens."
Chris Carrawell added 14 points for Duke, while Langdon had 12 and Nate James 11. Brand had 12 rebounds, James and Maggette 10 each.
Willie Dersch and Chezley Watson paced Virginia with 12 points each, Chris Williams had 10 and Donald Hand just eight on 2-for-14 shooting.
The Cavaliers, beaten 115-69 in Durham, N.C., on Jan. 10, were playing the nation's No. 1 team for the 22nd time in school history, and lost for the 21st. They beat North Carolina in Charlottesville on Jan. 30, 1986.
A 17-2 run gave Duke a 19-6 lead and quieted the sellout crowd, but Virginia rallied, outscoring the Blue Devils 19-12 over the next seven minutes to pull within 31-25 with five minutes left in the half.
Then Avery and Langdon silenced them again with their late run.
"We're a rebuilding team and not playing well and that's what happens," Gillen said. "We got rocked."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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