No. 8 Duke 61, No. 16 Virginia 58
Virginia put up a great effort at Duke on Thursday night but came up a little short and fell to the host Blue Devils 61-58. The boys showed a lot of grit staying in the lead for most of the first half and going into the locker room up 32-28. They also took on the challenge of having to come from behind at the end of the second half and almost accomplished the feat.
Duke made a run like normal in the second half and got up by as many as nine points. Virginia fought back to within three at 61-58 when Akil Mitchell made a spectacular put-back dunk with just under a minute remaining. The Cavs got two last-second looks with a Mike Scott 3 in the corner and then a Jontel Evans shot on the wing to tie but both came up empty. Virginia had one timeout left and I was surprised coach Tony Bennett didn't call it following a rebound off a Duke miss. I thought it would have been better to set up something there for Joe Harris but Bennett is the one who got the Hoos to play with one of the nation's traditional powers toe-to-toe at their place so I'm not going to question him too much.
Scott led Virginia with another 23-point outing, his second in a row. Harris had 14 points, bouncing back from a lackluster effort against Miami. After that though, Virginia came up small on the offensive end. Both Mitchell and Assane Sene chipped in six points while Malcolm Brogdon put in five points for the second straight game. Jontel Evans had zero points as did Sammy Zeglinski. Zeglinski, the best 3-point shooter on the team, went 0 for 5 from beyond the arc and 0 for 8 overall. He hits just two shots, and we could be talking about how UVa beat Duke in Durham for the first time since 1995.
Virginia wasn't much better from deep as a team. The Cavs made only 3 of 16 from 3-point land after making just 4 of 13 against Miami. The Hoos are normally good from 3 but they haven't shot well from there since Jan. 2 against LSU when the Hoos made 6 of 10 3-pointers and won 57-52.
Freshman Paul Jesperson got some more minutes on the floor and threw down a terrific slam dunk on a backdoor pass from Zeglinski. Jesperson looked surprisingly comfortable playing just his fifth college game ever in one of the craziest environments in America.
Duke was uncharacteristically bad from the free-throw line which helped keep UVa in the game down the stretch. Mason Plumlee made just 2 of 10 from the line and the Blue Devils converted on just 8 of 19 from the line.
I don't have too many complaints about the reffing. When a team plays at Duke, you worry about it being 5-on-8 because of the refs. Duke shot more free throws but I don't know of anything that really ticked me off too much in the realm of the zebras. I thought the game was well called for the most part.
Even though I have a few gripes, I can't say enough about the team's effort in this game. The defense broke down for a few minutes in the second half and the 3-point shooting wasn't there, and the Cavs still came within three points of taking Duke into overtime at Cameron Indoor Stadium. They showed they belong in the conversation as a contender in the ACC. When this team is playing at its best, it might just be able to contend with anyone in the country, and certainly in the ACC during a down year. Will the Hoos lose a few more ACC games? Of course. The style of basketball they play is conducive to letting teams stick around. But as everyone can tell tonight, these guys have game as well and can play with the best of them.
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NFL PLAYOFF PICKS
SATURDAY
Saints at 49ers, 4:30 p.m. FOX
I think this will be an extremely tough game for the Saints and I know they aren't great away from hoem but I just think this offense is on a tear and won't be denied. The 49ers won't be able to keep up.
Saints 24, 49ers 20
Broncos at Patriots, 8 p.m. CBS
Even though the last time these teams played the Patriots won 41-23 in Denver, I like the Broncos chances in this one. Still, the Patriots will be too much. New England has been losing too much at home in the playoffs lately and Bill Belichick and company can't be happy about that.
Patriots 30, Broncos 24
SUNDAY
Texans at Ravens, 1 p.m. CBS
Baltimore is locked in now. I think the Ravens will have great focus and come up big. Houston won't be able to overcome a second-half deficit with T.J. Yates at quarterback.
Ravens 27, Texans 21
Giants at Packers, 4:30 p.m. FOX
I am so very tempted to pick New York. The Giants hung with the Packers earlier in the season and lost by just three. New York did the same thing in its Super Bowl year when it almost beat the Patriots to close the regular season then did beat them in the Super Bowl. Green Bay is having to deal with the unfortunate distraction of the death of their offensive coordinator's son. I am going to pick the Pack to pull through, however, in another close one.
Packers 28, Giants 26
Virginia put up a great effort at Duke on Thursday night but came up a little short and fell to the host Blue Devils 61-58. The boys showed a lot of grit staying in the lead for most of the first half and going into the locker room up 32-28. They also took on the challenge of having to come from behind at the end of the second half and almost accomplished the feat.
Duke made a run like normal in the second half and got up by as many as nine points. Virginia fought back to within three at 61-58 when Akil Mitchell made a spectacular put-back dunk with just under a minute remaining. The Cavs got two last-second looks with a Mike Scott 3 in the corner and then a Jontel Evans shot on the wing to tie but both came up empty. Virginia had one timeout left and I was surprised coach Tony Bennett didn't call it following a rebound off a Duke miss. I thought it would have been better to set up something there for Joe Harris but Bennett is the one who got the Hoos to play with one of the nation's traditional powers toe-to-toe at their place so I'm not going to question him too much.
Scott led Virginia with another 23-point outing, his second in a row. Harris had 14 points, bouncing back from a lackluster effort against Miami. After that though, Virginia came up small on the offensive end. Both Mitchell and Assane Sene chipped in six points while Malcolm Brogdon put in five points for the second straight game. Jontel Evans had zero points as did Sammy Zeglinski. Zeglinski, the best 3-point shooter on the team, went 0 for 5 from beyond the arc and 0 for 8 overall. He hits just two shots, and we could be talking about how UVa beat Duke in Durham for the first time since 1995.
Virginia wasn't much better from deep as a team. The Cavs made only 3 of 16 from 3-point land after making just 4 of 13 against Miami. The Hoos are normally good from 3 but they haven't shot well from there since Jan. 2 against LSU when the Hoos made 6 of 10 3-pointers and won 57-52.
Freshman Paul Jesperson got some more minutes on the floor and threw down a terrific slam dunk on a backdoor pass from Zeglinski. Jesperson looked surprisingly comfortable playing just his fifth college game ever in one of the craziest environments in America.
Duke was uncharacteristically bad from the free-throw line which helped keep UVa in the game down the stretch. Mason Plumlee made just 2 of 10 from the line and the Blue Devils converted on just 8 of 19 from the line.
I don't have too many complaints about the reffing. When a team plays at Duke, you worry about it being 5-on-8 because of the refs. Duke shot more free throws but I don't know of anything that really ticked me off too much in the realm of the zebras. I thought the game was well called for the most part.
Even though I have a few gripes, I can't say enough about the team's effort in this game. The defense broke down for a few minutes in the second half and the 3-point shooting wasn't there, and the Cavs still came within three points of taking Duke into overtime at Cameron Indoor Stadium. They showed they belong in the conversation as a contender in the ACC. When this team is playing at its best, it might just be able to contend with anyone in the country, and certainly in the ACC during a down year. Will the Hoos lose a few more ACC games? Of course. The style of basketball they play is conducive to letting teams stick around. But as everyone can tell tonight, these guys have game as well and can play with the best of them.
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NFL PLAYOFF PICKS
SATURDAY
Saints at 49ers, 4:30 p.m. FOX
I think this will be an extremely tough game for the Saints and I know they aren't great away from hoem but I just think this offense is on a tear and won't be denied. The 49ers won't be able to keep up.
Saints 24, 49ers 20
Broncos at Patriots, 8 p.m. CBS
Even though the last time these teams played the Patriots won 41-23 in Denver, I like the Broncos chances in this one. Still, the Patriots will be too much. New England has been losing too much at home in the playoffs lately and Bill Belichick and company can't be happy about that.
Patriots 30, Broncos 24
SUNDAY
Texans at Ravens, 1 p.m. CBS
Baltimore is locked in now. I think the Ravens will have great focus and come up big. Houston won't be able to overcome a second-half deficit with T.J. Yates at quarterback.
Ravens 27, Texans 21
Giants at Packers, 4:30 p.m. FOX
I am so very tempted to pick New York. The Giants hung with the Packers earlier in the season and lost by just three. New York did the same thing in its Super Bowl year when it almost beat the Patriots to close the regular season then did beat them in the Super Bowl. Green Bay is having to deal with the unfortunate distraction of the death of their offensive coordinator's son. I am going to pick the Pack to pull through, however, in another close one.
Packers 28, Giants 26
as much as it is cliche to say, i liked the fight and the heart showed at the end by our guys. fighting for loose balls and getting clobbered in the process, attacking the rim for that putback dunk. that's what kept them close at the end. (and the blond plumlee's terrible ft shooting)
ReplyDeleteThis is Jeremy Lambert--I don't have a Google profile.
ReplyDeleteI understand that we should be happy with the fight put up by Virginia, and I respect that, but to me, we should have won that game. Plain and simple. It is too bad we do not get a shot at them at home this year. A win would have done so much for us in terms of our standing in the ACC, our standing for tournament chances, and the like. Putting up a fight is not enough if we are going to have expectations for the program. This is no longer a program in its infancy; it's the first year of Tony Bennett's true program, and we are going to go places. So putting up a fight really doesn't mean much to me. And now, we ride into a game against a Georgia Tech team that also "put up a fight" against Duke. Duke really is not that great of a team this year at all. I have no idea why they are ranked in the top 10, to me that makes no sense. We should have beaten them. We are not going to go to the tournament if Sammy Zeglinski stays cold (which he shouldn't I don't think).
still, it is uva at duke, and we havent played them there that close in awhile. it is a step in the right direction. and while this might not be the best Duke team, it is better than the one of a few years ago we beat at home. im pretty sure that team lost about 10 games and they lost to VCU in the first round of the NCAA tournament. i am worried about the GT game, too, they are getting better under a new coach and it is on the road. also, GT was down by almost 20 early at home. they made it interesting, but to me it isnt the same as us keeping the game close or being in the lead the entire game at Cameron.
ReplyDeletethe comment above was me, btw, not holly lol. just ended up using her account for it.
ReplyDelete