Four and a half minutes into last night's game, J.J. Redick sank a three-point jumper to set off an unstoppable shooting spree. Add to Redick's fire the best free throw shooting Duke has seen of late, and there lies the answer to No. 1 Duke's (12-0, 3-0) 104-93 victory over Virginia (10-4, 1-2).
Redick was four-for-four shooting from beyond the arc in the first half, and his first three-point miss came with only 2:49 left in regulation. The 6-foot-4 guard set a freshman school record, surpassing Johnny Dawkins, with 34 points against his native state.
"[In the first half] we kind of got into a lull offensively, and I kind of got hot," the Roanoke, Va. native said. "I wanted the ball. [In the second half], they went to their matchup zone, and they were matching up pretty well out of it. We were still scoring points-guys were taking advantage of them putting so much pressure on me."
With Duke down 22-17 midway through the first half, Redick made a layup to bring the Blue Devils within three. Just twenty seconds later, he cut across the lane, caught a pass from Chris Duhon off a Shavlik Randolph block, and nailed a long-range three. His biggest play of the game came with about four minutes remaining in the game. Redick doubled Duke's lead with a three-point
"That may be, for us, the biggest play," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He not only got fouled, but somehow he put that ball in."
The Blue Devils were also hot from the line. What has normally been Duke's Achilles Heel, its free throw shooting, was key to its victory. The Blue Devils missed a mere three of 40 for the entire game and shot 100 percent in the first half. Virginia also looked strong from the line, with a 72.4 percentage, but that was not good enough to beat Duke.
"For our kids to be able to hit that many free throws at that percentage in a game that we're either behind or one or two possessions up-and we haven't been hitting them well-was key," Krzyzewski said.
The second half seemed to be more of a free throw contest rather than a continuous basketball game. A rare minute went by without a fouled being called. An astounding 64 of the game's total points came off free throws and a combined 61 were shot by both teams, in the second half.
Virginia's preseason Naismith Award candidate Travis Watson led his team with 26 points, though he too found himself in foul trouble. He came up with his fourth when both teams were tied at 59, which created an opening in the inside for the Blue Devils.
"It was a weird game," Duhon said, who played the final four minutes with four fouls himself. "There were a lot of fouls. We couldn't stop them, and they couldn't stop us. It was just one of those games where everything was just going right for both teams. We did a great job of just holding them off and making the most plays to be victorious."
Five minutes into the game, Krzyzewski used one of his classic moves in pulling out all five starters. Sean Dockery, Daniel Ewing, Nick Horvath, Lee Melchionni and Randolph stepped into the game, while the five starters were benched for a couple minutes.
Randolph also had a stellar game, scoring 17 points. His three-point straightaway 5:22 into the second half was the start of a seven point run for the freshman. He had a steal just thirty seconds later, leading to a layup, and then within the minute again made a tip-in off a miss by Ewing. Dahntay Jones had a big game, with 23 points and a number of key shots at crucial times.
"I'm proud of our guys because we beat a heck of a basketball team tonight in kind of a different game," Krzyzewski said. "It's a heck of a win for us because I think they're really good. I think they're extremely good."
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