CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Blue Devils entered the well-furnished but tepidly enthusiastic John Paul Jones Arena Friday night coming off of one of their most disappointing performances of the season at home against Virginia Tech Jan. 28.
Although Duke certainly improved on its 75-65 win over the Hokies-the team's lowest margin of victory in ACC play-the Blue Devils lacked the level of intensity that they had shown in prior games against Maryland and Tennessee.
In those games, Duke fed off the anticipation of facing strong competition and the atmosphere of high-energy fans. Against then-No.1 Maryland, the Blue Devils were supported by the sold-out crowd at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and at then-No. 4 Tennessee, the team faced the hostile 20,000-plus Volunteer faithful. The Virginia matchup lacked both of those characteristics. And in that setting, Duke could not generate anywhere close to the level of intensity it had against better foes.
On paper the Cavaliers did not pose any sort of challenge for Duke. Entering the game, Virginia had lost four straight games and had very little height-the Cavaliers' tallest player was 6-foot-2-to combat Alison Bales, who picked up her second straight double-double.
Moreover, JPJ Arena was docile most of the night and only had a few brief moments of outburst. The only viable noise in the arena was the overwhelming horns section of the Virginia band that seemed more determined to drown out the sound of the accompanying flutes and drums than to cheer its team to victory.
Duke's play in the open floor exemplified the team's lack of intensity. More often than not, whenever the Blue Devils pushed the ball on the break, they looked out-of-sorts as passes sailed out of bounds and were mishandled.
"We didn't seem like we were in sync a good bit of the night," head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "So, that's something we're going to have to address, probably through video, and just break it down."
Duke's inability to establish the fast-break-neither team scored a point in transition in the first half-prevented the Blue Devils from developing any scoring runs.
Instead, Duke slowly chewed away at the less-talented and less-experienced Cavaliers, building up a small cushion that it maintained for most of the contest, except for Virginia's mini-comeback during the final minutes of the game.
Without any sustained scoring runs, the Blue Devils could not build up the momentum that was needed to increase their level of intensity.
The lack of passion Friday night, though, was understandable. There are only a few teams that can seriously compete with Duke on a night-to-night basis, and the Blue Devils will play in some vapid atmospheres at times.
So, during the lull between matchups with the likes of Tennessee and North Carolina, it is unfair to expect the Blue Devils to always bring a high level of energy.
But when lesser teams challenge Duke during the game, like Virginia did when it cut the lead to seven with 3:57 remaining, the Blue Devils ought to be able to put their game into high gear. And against the Cavaliers, Duke took care of business as it responded to the scoring with a series of layups and tough defense to close the game and pick up the 23rd win of the season.
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