Duke Punishes Virginia 80-62; Evans, Flagg & Knueppel with 17 Points Each

The Blue Devils came into JPJ arena with a business mindset. Obviously, the Blue Devils would be favored against the Cavaliers of Virginia, but UVA came in on a 3 game winning streak and playing much better basketball. For the first 8 minutes of the game, it looked like Virginia came to play. Ron Sanchez had his team hitting tough shots and even with Duke playing efficient basketball, the Hoos were within 4 of the Blue Devils (18-14. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, as good as they were offensively in the first half, the defense was lacking (which feels weird to say about a UVA team). Duke from their 18-14 lead, Duke would go on a 12 to 2 run to push the lead to 30-16. It had to be somewhat disconcerting for Virginia to shoot 50% from 3 point range and still find yourself down 14 at the half because the Blue Devils shot 55%. As impressive as Duke hitting 6-11 from 3, where Duke really owned the first half was on the boards. Duke out rebounded UVA 24-8 in the first half, including 8 offensive rebounds that Duke turned into 14 points.

A 15 to 4 run after the break would put the game out of reach for Virginia and allow Jon Scheyer to mix and match lineups. 3 Blue Devils scored in double figures with Kon Knueppel, Cooper Flagg and Isaiah Evans all scoring 17 points each. Flagg, in addition to his 17 points, pulled down 14 rebounds, assisted on 2 baskets and added 2 blocks and 2 steals. Knueppel added 7 boards to the Duke total of 41 rebounds. Freshman Isaiah Evans had another electric offensive output for the Blue Devils, hitting 6 of 7 shots, including 5-6 from beyond the arc. Tyrese Proctor added 7 points, but was also Duke’s leading assist man with 4. Junior forward Maliq Brown who was injured in the first half did not return with a separated shoulder which allowed more minutes for freshman Patrick Ngongba who hit 4 of 5 shots for 8 points in his 11 minutes.

The Blue Devils, for the game, shot 53% from the field to 38% from Virginia. Duke hit on 9 of their 23 shots from beyond the arc, good for 39%, UVA shot 36%. Duke also won the rebounding battle decisively 41-21 against Virginia, including 10 offensive boards that Duke cashed in for 16 second chance points. Duke also had an edge in paint points of 42-18 on their way to an 80-62 win.