Game Preview: Duke vs Virginia | Feb 7, 7PM ET | Cameron Indoor Stadium

Duke vs Virginia Preview

 MONDAY, FEB. 7, 2022 | CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM | DURHAM, NC | 7 PM ET

The Series

Overall Duke leads, 122-52
In Durham, NC Duke leads, 59-10 (54-9 at Cameron Indoor)
In Charlottesvilla, VA Duke leads, 42-35 (6-3 at JPJ Arena)
Last Meeting Duke 66, Virginia 65 (2/20/21 @ Duke)
Coach K vs. Virginia 58-20 (58-19 at Duke)
Last 10 Games (Streak) Duke, 7-3 (Duke, 1W)

TV

Network ESPN
Play-by-Play Dan Shulman
Analyst Cory Alexander
Sideline Andraya Carter
Producer Kim Belton
Stream WatchESPN 

RADIO

Network Blue Devil Sports
Play-by-Play David Shumate
Analyst John Roth
Engineer John Rose
Stream GoDuke.com; Varsity app
Sirius/XM 84 / 84 

Duke vs Virginia:

The Duke Blue Devils are set to host the Cavaliers of Virgina in Cameron Indoor Stadium Monday night. Each of the last 12 games in the series have been decided by 10 points or fewer, including five of the last seven decided by one or two points. The average margin of victory in the last 12 is 4.6 points.

Virginia

Virginia has won two straight and three of the last four to improve its ACC record to 8-5, good for sixth place. Leading the ACC and 10th nationally in scoring defense, the Cavaliers are yielding just 59.5 points — 54.2 points in their 14 wins.

Virginia (1.42) is second to Duke (1.67) in assist/turnover ratio in the conference and the teams are also the top two in the ACC in blocked shots — Duke at 5.41 and Virginia at 4.74.

Only three teams have scored 70+ versus Virginia — Iowa (75-74 loss), North Carolina (74-58 loss) and NC State (77-63 loss).

A pair of transfers are UVa’s leading scorers in Jayden Gardner (ECU) — 14.3 points and Armaan Franklin (Indiana) — 12.3 points. Gardner his also leading the Cavaliers in rebounding at 6.8 per game. Senior guard Kihei Clark leads the Cavs in assists with 4.0 per contest to go along with his 9.8 points.

Duke

Winners of five straight and in sole possession of first place in the ACC, No. 9 Duke welcomes Virginia for a Big Monday showdown at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils are coming off of a 20 point victory over UNC just Saturday. The Blue Devils defeated the Cavaliers last year in Durham, 66-65, and have taken seven of the last 10.

Duke leads the ACC in both field goal defense (.400) and three-point defense (.300) — one of just two power conference teams this season holding opponents to .400/.300 or worse (LSU).

Six-time ACC Freshman of the Week, Paolo Banchero leads the blue Devils in both scoring and rebounding. Banchero is scoring 17.5 points per game and rebounding at an 8.4 clip per contest. Banchero is averaging a double-double over Duke’s five-game winning streak with 15.8 points, 10.8 rebounds in that span.   Banchero, the ACC’s lone representative on the late-season watch list for the Wooden Award, has nine 20-point efforts this season — seven coming against power conference opponents — six in ACC play — in addition to 21 points vs. Gonzaga. He is the second leading scorer (18.6) and rebounder (9.5) in ACC play.

Sophomore Mark Williams, a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, leads the ACC and is 11th nationally in blocks (3.14). Williams is 38-of-49 (.776) from the field and averaging 12.7 points over Duke’s last seven games.

Freshman AJ Griffin set a Duke freshman record for three-point accuracy with his 5-of-5 at Louisville and scored a career-high 27 points at UNC. He is averaging 20.7 points over the last three games.   Griffin is the only power conference player — and one of nine players nationally — shooting .500+ from three with a min. of 50 attempts.   Sophomore Jeremy Roach has a 6.83-to-1 assist/turnover ratio over Duke’s last seven games (41 assists, six turnovers). He is second in the ACC and 13th nationally for the season (3.0-to-1).

Duke vs Virginia: Keys to the Game

The Blue Devil staff is well versed in what Virginia is going to do defensively. Possessions will be long on the defensive end and offensive possessions are going to be difficult. Virgina is a grind – period. The packline defense employed by Virginia is a fairly simple idea, it’s a “sagging” man-to-man defense. The idea is to clog the inside, protect the paint, and prevent dribble-penetration. Virginia is going to pressure Duke’s guards and try to prevent lines of sight and if they are beaten off the dribble help defense is triggered.

Beating the packline means making the defense defend multiple actions, reversing the ball. Duke has the ability to attack in straight lines and this will be a must – but also attacking under control. Duke having good passing post players will also be a plus in attacking the UVA defense as they often attempt to double the post. Duke perimeter players will need to make themselves good targets if the ball goes into the post and Williams, Banchero or John are doubled. Virginia is a marvel of team defense while Duke has scorers – it will definitely come down to that war. Can Duke be patient?

Possessions will be limited and if Duke can manufacture their own through turnovers or long rebounds they can push and dictate the pace. Pace will be huge, Duke has played better in the half-court as of late, they will have to be better against Virginia. Duke cannot afford to have a high turnover effort, valuing the basketball will be paramount for the Blue Devils.

DUKE VS VIRGINIA OVERALL
STAT COMPARISON

DUKE VS VIRGINIA CONFERENCE
STAT COMPARISON

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS

DUKE VS VIRGINIA

Duke Blue Devils

G Jeremy Roach 6’1, 180lbs – Sophomore
G/ F Wendell Moore 6’5, 213lbs – Junior
F AJ Griffin 6’6, 222lbs – Freshman
F Paolo Banchero 6’10, 250lbs – Freshman
C Mark Williams 7’1, 242lbs – Sophomore

Virginia

G Kihei Clark 5’10, 172lbs – Senior
G Armaan Franklin 6’4, 204lbs – Junior
G Reece Beekman 6’3, 181lbs – Sophomore
F Jayden Gardner 6’6, 246lbs – Senior
C Francisco Caffaro 7’1, 242lbs – RS Junior