It didn’t matter whether J.J. Redick was on the baseline, the wing or at the top of the key. The Duke senior was going to knock down his shot.
Redick finished 8 for 10 from 3-point range and scored 40 points despite taking a mere 13 shots from the field as the No. 2 Blue Devils rolled to an easy 82-63 win over the Cavaliers (10-7, 4-3 ACC) in Durham. The Blue Devils (19-1, 7-0 ACC) jumped off to a 20-2 lead and led by as much as 29 points in the second half.
“What [Redick] is doing this season, all of us should really savor,” Virginia coach Dave Leitao told the Virginia Sports Network. “He’s having a season for the ages. He understands the game of basketball for what he is as a player more than anyone else I’ve seen in a long time.”
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J.R. Reynolds, shown here against Miami, led Virginia against Duke with 19 points. |
J.R. Reynolds, who left Tuesday’s game against Miami with a head injury, led the Cavaliers with 19 points. Sean Singletary was held to 13 points on 5-for-13 shooting, including 0 for 4 from 3-point range, in large part due to the defense of Sean Dockery.
After a Josh McRoberts’ layup put the Blue Devils up 33-16 with only two minutes remaining in the first half, Reynolds scored eight points on Virginia’s next three possessions to pull the Cavaliers to within nine. A Shelden Williams turnaround in the lane made the score 35-24 at the half.
“I thought maybe towards the end of the first half we went to the zone and they took some bad shots but we didn’t have any staying power within that particular time or before or after that,” Leitao said. “We were looking for consistency, but we didn’t have that. We were never in a good place.”
Duke managed to get back on track in the second half. The Blue Devils held the Cavaliers to only eight points in the first eight minutes after the break, taking a 61-32 lead on a layup from reserve forward Martynius Pocius. Duke turned the ball over only twice in the second half after committing 15 first-half turnovers
Williams finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils. The senior forward was also a defensive presence in the paint and registered eight blocks against the Cavaliers.
“You’re talking about one of the most prolific shot blockers and intimidators that the ACC has ever seen,” Leitao said of Williams. “In order to go up against this guy you have to be creative and we weren’t able to do that.”
Jason Cain led Virginia with 8 rebounds to go along with his 10 points. The junior forward was a perfect 6 for 6 from the foul line, helping to make up for his 2-for-9 performance from the floor. Overall the Cavaliers made an impressive 19 of 22 foul shots.
Only six Cavaliers scored against the Blue Devils. Laurynas Mikalauskas and T.J. Bannister scored six points apiece off the bench but both starting center Tunji Soroye (0 for 3, 17 minutes) and reserve forward Mamadi Diane (0 for 2, 12 minutes) couldn’t get on the board.
Virginia did manage to outrebound Duke 29-26, but the Blue Devils’ 55.3 field goal percentage (26 for 47) helped offset the minor disparity on the boards. The Cavaliers made only 35.7 percent (20 for 56) of their shots from the field
“What makes this particular team so good is not only the fact that they have two of the top four or five players in America, but everybody else, including those two, execute their mission on the court,” Leitao said of the Blue Devils.
Redick made all three of his shots from 2-point range for a remarkable 84.6 percent shooting from the field overall. He also sank 10 of his 11 free throws.
“I’ve never really seen this here at Duke where with 13 shots you get 40 points,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “J.J. is just incredible, it was an incredible performance.”
It seemed as if the legendary coach couldn’t believe his own eyes.
“Are you kidding me? I’m not even sure how many times he hit the rim. He hit the rim more on his free throws than he did on his 3-point shots.”
Virginia remains near the top of the ACC standings despite the defeat, currently standing alone in fourth place. Virginia is one of only four ACC teams with an above-.500 league record.
Things don’t get any easier for the Cavaliers, however. Before taking on Wake Forest at home and No. 18 Maryland on the road, they have to make the trip back down Tobacco Road on Wednesday night when they face No. 15 N.C. State (15-4, 4-2 ACC) in Raleigh.
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