I’d been looking forward to watching this Virginia Duke game all week. Acc writer David Teel said it was a game to savor. It lived up to the hype. A top 5 matchup that had it all, and after Virginia won 65-63 at Duke the Hoos can legitimately claim it is the country’s best team. Villanova and Purdue are in the mix too, but none has a win like a victory at Duke. You certainly can’t write the Blue Devils off yet for that title. It’s only January 27th, but for now from the ACC it’s the Hoos.
Virginia and most ACC fans already knew that the Hoos were a Final 4 caliber team. Now the nation will finally catch on. I’ve said Duke has played in 8-10 minute spurts the best basketball I’ve seen this year prior today. The Blue Devils are an immensely talented team, but at times lack focus from to time on the defensive end. There was a strange loss at Boston College, and a suddenly not not so strange looking loss at surging NC State who just won at UNC today.
Today Duke didn’t play unfocused. They weren’t lazy on the defensive end. Virginia was just better. Virginia held the Blue Devils to a season low 22 points in the first half and had them looking out of sync against the Virginia defense.
As expected they made a run and took the lead at home. They shot lights out in the 2nd half, and defensively their zone had Virginia frustrated. For the game they outshot Virginia 48% to 39%. Virginia acquitted themselves well, but Duke prevailed right? Nope… The Hoos showed something special that makes me believe they can win the national title. They withstood a Duke charge in front of the Camerson Crazies. @WillsWorldMN, a frequent podcast guest summed it up best.
There are two reasons this Virginia team is special:
1. After Duke comes back from down double digits, this team didn’t panic. Most teams wilt under the pressure in Durham.
2. After Hunter, who was the team’s best player today, goes down, someone else (Jerome) steps up.
— Will Ojanen (@WillsWorldMN) January 27, 2018
This Virginia team is special. It was a well officiated game, so no argument there for Duke.
Well done UVA, well well earned. Duke deserved the L, too many silly mistakes and missed opportunities.
— Brian Horace (@Dukeblogger) January 27, 2018
That’s correct from @Dukeblogger. If there’s any concern about Virginia, it maybe are they peaking a little to early? That’s a stretch, and I don’t think so. Virginia is on the short list of teams that can win it all. Duke took the loss the today, but they are still very capable of being right there in March too. Two great teams, played a great game. I think we’ll see this matchup again this year at some point.
