Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 8, 1991 TAG: 9102080219
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Brill
DATELINE: DURHAM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Painful.
The Blue Devils, who credit their embarrassing 17-point defeat at Charlottesville for turning their season around, beat UVa 86-74.
But there was nothing artistic about it, either way.
These are teams that believe in winning their games the same way, with defense.
The difference this time was Duke's suffocating first-half man-to-man that worked Virginia's John Crotty into exhaustion and forced 13 turnovers. In the first game, UVa had only 11 mistakes in 40 minutes.
But Duke's nine-point margin at halftime came despite two air balls, a badly missed breakaway layup and two dunks that thundered off the rim.
Duke's errors weren't fatal for the ACC leaders, ranked sixth nationally, because UVa had too few weapons.
For the first time, the Cavaliers missed shooting guard Anthony Oliver, who has been out since Jan. 21 with a broken hand.
Since Oliver's injury, freshman Cornel Parker has played very well, especially on defense. In particular, he has shown an ability to play the opponent's shooting guard.
But Parker isn't experienced enough offensively, and UVa couldn't get into its offense with Crotty getting double-coverage most of the time.
That forced coach Jeff Jones to use Doug Smith, normally a backup point guard, along with Crotty to smooth out the ball-handling.
That worked in the bake-oven that was Cameron Indoor Stadium, but it left the Cavaliers with precious few offensive possibilities.
Kenny Turner wound up with a career-high 28 points, but he was the only threat for a long time because Bryant Stith picked up a critical fourth foul just 1:40 into the second half.
With its scoring leader reduced to a spectator, the Cavaliers didn't have enough options to overcome Duke's obvious depth advantage.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who scrimmaged his squad here after arriving back from the UVa loss, has settled on a nine-man rotation, and he uses it freely.
"We didn't understand what it took to win in the ACC," Krzyzewski said of the first Virginia game. "We were all bad. I coached a bad game, and Virginia was terrific."
Since then, Duke has lost only at North Carolina State, a game in which the Wolfpack shot 63.5 percent.
"Our bench has been terrific," Krzyzewski said.
Without Oliver, Virginia can't say that. Dirk Katstra was overwhelmed in the first half and Smith isn't a scorer. Terry Kirby, who was a pleasant surprise last year after the football season, hasn't been a factor this year, rarely getting off the bench.
Matt Blundin, the other football player, is strictly a defender and rebounder, which means Jones can't expect to find instant offense when he looks down his bench.
This is the start of a critical week for both teams, the difference being that Duke is at home for three games in four days while UVa is on the road.
"I look at it as good preparation for the NCAA Tournament," Krzyzewski said.
Jones, whose team must play at North Carolina on Saturday and at Wake Forest on Sunday, said, "We've got to come away with something positive."
By sticking around all night, trailing from six to 17 points, UVa showed that it's just as advertised - tough and tenacious.
The defeat here was surely predictable; UVa hasn't won at Duke since Ralph Sampson graduated. What the Cavaliers needed was one more hot hand. That could only have been Oliver, who wasn't available.
Duke understood that, drawing praise from its coach for the overall effort. The game deteriorated into one whistle after another, and the Blue Devils made their free throws.
The Blue Devils figure they learned a serious lesson in the first UVa game. For a young team, that was necessary.
by CNB