Virginia vanquishes Blue Devils, needs to set sights on Boston College

Virginia 73, Duke 68

To start this post, let's re-visit something I said in my preview for the game:

Photo from my iPhone at the game during the court rushing.
I was in row BB, which is the last row in the arena. It comes after row Z.

"Virginia will need to be firing on all cylinders to snag this win. Joe Harris will get his points probably, but he will need help. A double-double from Akil Mitchell would be nice. A few 3s from Paul Jesperson, Evan Nolte, and maybe even Taylor Barnette would work wonders. Justin Anderson having another double-digit point effort and pumping up the crowd with a dunk would be solid. Jontel Evans playing a mostly turnover-free game could be key. A lot of times this year, it seems like as Evans goes, so go the 'Hoos. Mike Tobey is coming back from mono and had a good game Sunday and hopefully he builds on that. If Virginia could get a bucket or two and a few minutes and rebounds out of Darion Atkins that would be a big bonus. Everyone will need to do their part tonight."

UVa forward Joe Harris

Not too many of these things happened for the 'Hoos vs. the Blue Devils. Jesperson had one 3-pointer and five points. Nolte had two points on two free throws. Barnette played three minutes and didn't take a shot. Anderson notched just two points. Evans had a rather pedestrian line of six points, three assists, and four turnovers. Tobey barely played and had zero points and Atkins didn't log any minutes. Teven Jones provided three points in four minutes off the bench.

Judging by these numbers, you would think Virginia came up short against Duke. But that wasn't the case. UVa won, and quite handily at that.

And that was because of an ACC career-high 19 points and 12 rebounds from Mitchell and the game of his life from Harris, who totaled 36 points on 12 of 20 shooting (2 of 5 from 3), seven rebounds, two blocks, two assists, and a steal. It was an other worldly game from Harris and he had that determined look to his game all night, like he wasn't going to be denied, and coach Tony Bennett said as much after the game.

UVa forward Akil Mitchell

"When Joe gets that look in his eye he's not going to be denied, he's hard to stop because of his strength and size."

Harris made just a pair of 3-pointers and 10 free throws. The rest of the 20 points came from mid-range jumpers, post-ups, drives to the hoop -- he showcased it all, as if he had a little bit of a chip on his shoulder for being overlooked by the ACC media all year long.

Harris is too team-oriented to let on that he was trying to prove a point, though. That's just the way he is.

"Overall, it was a great team effort tonight. It's not like I did it by myself tonight at all," he said. "We played really sound on both ends. To be honest, I was just really focused and trying to win the game. Fortunately enough, I was able to make a few baskets."

A few? Try a lot, Joe.

I attended the game with fellow copy editor George Banko.
He is from New York and likes Syracuse. This was his first UVa game.

If it wasn't for Harris playing out of his mind and a very strong game from Mitchell, Virginia loses this game. But that's the thing. Not only did the Cavs win, they won almost going away. They opened up a 9-0 lead to start the game and fought off a Duke run to lead 28-23 at the half. Seth Curry (28 points, 23 in the second half as he tried to match Harris shot for shot) hit a 3-pointer to open the second-half scoring to pull the Blue Devils to within two points but they would get no closer after that. Virginia won by five points but it wasn't really that close and even though I was uncomfortable -- Miami did come back on Virginia down eight with 29 seconds left in the ACC tournament two years ago -- Duke never threatened to take the lead at the end of the game. With about 1:30 left, the Cavs held a 13-point lead.

If Virginia had played well on the offensive end, it would have blown out Duke. Akil Mitchell missed a dunk, Paul Jesperson fumbled the ball out of bounds on a breakaway near the end of the game, and several Cavs players came up short on shots around the rim. Virginia also made just 3 of 11 3-pointers. I don't know how many the team averages per game at home, but it must be in the five to seven range. UVa did a terrific job of holding the Blue Devils down from beyond the arc (Duke made just 8 of 25 and it is first in the ACC in 3-point percentage) and on the boards (Wahoos won the board battle 36-25). But honestly, it was a sub-par effort on offense. On a good day, Virginia could have put up 90 points. As it was, though, Duke never led in the game and only got within one point once.

And that's what's so scary and exciting. When this team is clicking, watch out. The 'Hoos are truly playing like one of the top 20 to 30 teams in the country right now (especially when at home) and it would be a shame if they get left out of the NCAA tournament. That's the reality, though, if the Cavs don't close the regular season strong. They are playing like a tourney team right now but they still have to answer for their bad early-season losses to squads like Delaware and Old Dominion. Virginia has three more regular-season games left and I think it needs to go 2-1 to ensure no sweating on Selection Sunday. The Duke win helps a lot, but the Cavs can't afford to relax now. Their RPI is up to 58 and they have road games against Boston College on Sunday and Florida State on Thursday before closing out at home with Maryland next Sunday.
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Virginia at Boston College, 4 p.m. Sunday ACC Network

Now comes the hard part. Virginia must close the season strong. It must follow up a Duke victory with another strong performance. The season is kind of a like a metaphor for the Duke game. For large portions of the contest, the Cavs held a comfortable lead, but the Blue Devils were always within striking distance. The 'Hoos were never able to quite put the foot on the throat and leave no doubt in the final minutes, as they did against say, Georgia Tech and Clemson. Virginia is teetering on the edge of getting a bid to the NCAA tournament. It has put itself in position to get in, now it must leave no doubt. It does that, I think, by winning two out of its last three games.

Ryan Anderson

First comes Boston College, which is 12-16 overall and 4-11 in the ACC, but no slouch at home. The Eagles are 3-1 in their last four home games, with victories over Maryland, Wake Forest, and Clemson and a narrow, one-point loss to Duke. Virginia needs to be ready.

The Cavs defeated the Eagles, 65-51, in Charlottesville on Jan. 26. Virginia put the game away in convincing fashion in the second half but was actually behind at halftime, 26-24. Anderson and Mitchell had 16 points each and Harris had just seven. Virginia made just two 3-pointers while the Eagles made seven but shot just 36.2 percent overall while the Wahoos made 56.3 percent of their shots.

Another Anderson, Ryan Anderson, led Boston College in scoring with 14 points. Olivier Hanlan and Joe Rahon put up 10 each. Lonnie Jackson scored nine on three 3-pointers.


Those are again the players Virginia will need to watch out for. Anderson is one of the best players in the ACC and is only a sophomore. He and Hanlan, a freshman, average more than 10 points per game with Anderson at 15.3 and Hanlan at 14.4. Jackson and Rahon are both just a tad below 10 per game. Anderson grabs 8.1 rebounds per game and Hanlan snags 4.1 per game. Rahon dishes out 3.7 assists per game. Beyond the arc, the 'Hoos must mark Jackson, who makes them at a 40 percent clip.

Despite being on the road this time, Virginia does have a couple of advantages over the last time it faced BC. Last time, the Cavs had just one day to prepare for the Eagles and this time they have two. Also, Virginia has gone to a smaller starting lineup recently with Anderson starting and BC starts four guards, so UVa can hopefully cover the Eagles' 3-point shooters well in the first half, something they did not do at John Paul Jones Arena, when BC made five first-half 3s.

Hopefully the short rest can be good for the Cavs. Just enough time to rest up from Duke and focus on BC but not enough time where the team loses momentum. The boys will have to focus. BC is a team that definitely beat the 'Hoos at home and they will be eager to get back home after losing badly at N.C. State and Duke in their past couple games.