Virginia played tough today in Greensboro, but was unable to pull the huge upset as they fell to #5 Duke University 46-57. Duke has won the ACC Tournament an incredible 8 of the last 11 times, and certainly Vegas thinks they will continue the almost annual tradition of winning this year. As Pete Gillen once said: "Duke is Duke; They are on tv more than Leave it to Beaver…"
The Hoos played tough in the first half as it was a 27-27 tie at half-time, but just did not have enough in the tank to beat the much more physical Blue Devils. Virginia really struggled with finishing their drives inside as they turned the ball over, or lost their sense of positioning on the baseline many times. No one struggled today more than Jontel Evans did in the transition game. He’s lighting fast, but simply cannot put the ball in the basket for whatever reason. He’s a freshman, and if he’s back next season (which is in question along with Spurlock and Farrakhan), I expect him to be much improved.
Duke received a solid second-half effort from the 6-8, Jr. from Medford, Oregon Kyle Singler who finished with 18 points on 7-14 shooting. Jon Scheyer also chipped in 15 points and 6 rebounds. Duke out-rebounded the Hoos 35-34, but it seemed like the Blue Devils were much better and more aggressive on the boards. Especially offensively.
The Sylven Landesberg-less Wahoos were led by Junior Jeff Jones who had an excellent game offensively as he scored 15 points on 5-10 shooting. Farrakhan hit some big shots, but did not have his shot going on the final stretch of the contest. He added only 9 points on a very streaky 3-9 shooting effort. Sammy Zeglinksi was scoreless today on 0-9 shooing as he really had a tough time getting open. Zeglinski forced a few shots today, but someone had to shoot. Virginia only went to the free-throw line 11 times, as Duke made it there 17 times. Very typical for a Duke ACC Tournament game, that’s for sure.
I think we saw the last of the 2009-2010 Virginia Cavaliers today. I have a gut feeling that Virginia’s athletic department brass would turn down an NIT bid. In this economy, it’s sure tough to justify buying a ticket to see another game this season. Not to mention the travel costs incurred with such a run in the potential tournament.
I’d like to take this time to thank Coach Bennett for reinvigorating the downtrodden UVA fan-base this year. Good luck next year Hoos. And we will miss you Jerome Meyinsse. And on a personal note, my lovely wife Harmony and I found out we are going to be having a boy in July which will be named Myles Cooper Thurston. Go Hoos!
