Five Takeaways From Virginia Basketball's 80-62 Loss to No. 3 Duke

Virginia (13-13, 6-9 ACC) fell to No. 3 Duke (23-3, 15-1 ACC) on Monday night at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Blue Devils defeated the Cavaliers 80-62. Read below for our takeaways from the game.

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Virginia Fails to Keep Up With Duke Pace Despite Showing Early Promise

Both teams came out on fire to start the game, each shooting 71% on their first seven shots. Virginia came out strong with Isaac McKneely and Andrew Rohde both knocking down early threes alongside a dunk by Blake Buchanan after a steal by Rohde. A jumper by Dai Dai Ames kept the Hoos in the game early with Duke leading 13-12 at the 14:41 mark in the first half. Despite the strong start, it was unsustainable for the Hoos as out of the first break, the Blue Devils raced out to a 14-2 run, a lead they never looked back from. The Cavaliers may have been playing their best basketball heading into tonight, which showed in the opening stages of this contest, but were purely outmatched against the team from Durham on Monday night.

Duke Dominates the Boards

The story of the first half was Duke's dominance on the boards as the Blue Devils outrebounded the Cavaliers 23-7 in the first half, giving the Blue Devils constant second and sometimes third-chance opportunities to score. The failure to rebound made it impossible for Virginia to create scoring runs, as the prolonged Duke possessions usually ended with points. The rebound battle finished 41-21 in favor of the Blue Devils. Rebounding has been a problem at points this season, so although it can be challenging to truly assess strengths and weaknesses against the No. 3 team in the country, Virginia's ability to rebound should be noted moving forward.

Despite all of the struggles on the defensive side of the ball, Anthony Robinson blocking Cooper Flagg was the Hoos best play all night.

RELATED: Anthony Robinson Rejects Cooper Flagg's Dunk With Emphatic Block

ANTHONY ROBINSON MET COOPER FLAGG AT THE RIM 😱 pic.twitter.com/Sm3ck9liAr
— ESPN (@espn) February 18, 2025

Duke Exposes Virginia Defensively by Taking Advantage of UVa Switching on Picks

The Blue Devils speed on the offensive end prompted Virginia to constantly switch on picks, leaving brutal matchups that Duke exploited immediately, whether it was Dai Dai Ames getting caught down low or one of the Virginia big men getting stuck with Kon Knueppel. With these shaken-up matchups, the Blue Devils were creating wide-open shots from range for themselves or allowing Cooper Flagg easy drives to the basket. Duke finished 39% from three and 53% from the field as the Blue Devils found open shots for their stars to drain throughout the game.

Read Val's Plus/Minus breakdown of the game here.

Virginia Struggles Against Duke Defense

To a similar vein, the Blue Devils defense involves lots of switching off picks which frustrated the Virginia offense as the Cavaliers were forced to fight tooth and nail for every basket. Duke's athleticism and speed showed on the defensive side of the ball, making it difficult for the Cavs to create space on their shots.

Following the trend of past games, Virginia showed flashes of good play, such as a near-posterizing dunk from Elijah Saunders and a 36% clip from beyond the arc, but having to work so hard on the offensive end, certainly drained the Cavaliers, which showed in the second half and on the defensive end.

Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, and Co. Outmatch the Cavaliers

The Cavaliers were outmatched on Monday night by the star power of Duke's five-star freshman and outstanding depth. Projected no. 1 draft pick Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel led the way with 17 points each, with Kneuppel shooting a 3/6 clip from beyond the arc. After the two of them, other standouts included Isaiah Evans, who started the game with five straight threes and 17 points. Duke's recruiting power showed in their stars and bench, as the Blue Devils were still the aggressors even when Flagg and Kneuppel were on the sideline.

The Cavaliers return to action on Saturday, February 22nd, on the road against North Carolina. Tipoff is set for 4 pm.

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