The Plus/Minus: To No One’s Surprise, Virginia Falls to Duke

Duke is the class of the ACC, a presumed #1 seed and a good bet to be playing for a national championship six weeks from now. Just a month ago we were writing that Virginia might not even make the ACC Tournament. The gulf in talent between the two teams was too big for Virginia to overcome.

Minus

Team A: 41 total rebounds, 10 offensive.

Team B: 21 total rebounds, 4 offensive.

Which team do you think won? Duke pounded Virginia on the boards, and the disparity was even more stark at the half as Duke had 24 rebounds (8 offensive) versus Virginia’s 8 and 1. Cooper Flagg had 11 boards by himself at the half. Rebounding, even on the offensive glass, had been a crucial component of Virginia’s mini-resurgence, and it completely failed them on this night.

Plus

To get myself pumped up for the game, I watched the highlights from the Jay Huff game, you know, the one where he recorded 10 blocks against the Dukies.

There was no season-defining magic to this game, but this sequence was the highlight of the night for the Hoos: two blocks back-to-back.

IT'S A BL🚫CK PARTY @UVAMensHoops | @VirginiaSports | #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/dzAcxoGQEG
— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) February 18, 2025

First off, Jacob Cofie stuffs Kon Knueppel only for Anthony Robinson to deny Cooper Flagg. That’s Virginia’s two freshmen snuffing out Duke’s two prized freshmen, both of whom will be playing in the NBA this time next year.

Plus

Virginia was pretty efficient on the court, turning the ball over just five times and committing just eight fouls for the game. Virginia had a solid night at the line (14/17) and the Hoos were respectable from deep (8/22) as Isaac McKneely was 4/7 and Andrew Rohde 2/4. And after Duke ran the two-shots-for-one-shot play to perfection at the close of the first half, Virginia even corralled the ping pong ball at the end for Dai Dai Ames to nail this three at the buzzer.

Just like we drew it up ¯\_(ツ)_/¯#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/weBQ1JTnbq
— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) February 18, 2025

Minus

And it was still for naught. Duke’s ball movement was too good, and they have too many players who can drive the lane, so that even when Virginia made a good defensive stand, Duke was repeatedly able to find wide open players. Virginia came out ready to play and the crowd at the JPJ was in full voice. Virginia and Duke traded buckets for about the first eight minutes, but Duke made five of their nine made threes in the first half in less than 10 minutes of play, and they opened up a 14-1 advantage on the boards en route to 14-2 run that took the game out of reach.

Read More: Aidan's Five Takeaways

Minus

Virginia didn’t finish well at the rim. Robinson, Rohde, Ames and Taine Murray were all blocked at the rim on drives that they really should have converted. Four times guys got to the rim and were fouled, but because their shots didn’t fall, there were no And-1s that might have made the game closer.

Plus

Virginia was down by 17 just before the half and by 26 in the middle of the second frame and they kept fighting. The Cavaliers didn’t play well enough for this to be a moral victory, but the effort was very much in line with the rest of their play in February. This team could surprise us all and win a couple of games in the ACC Tournament, and given the state of the team in January, this is a positive development.

Next Up: Virginia heads down to Chapel Hill to take on UNC on Saturday, February 22nd. Gametime is 4:00pm and the game will be on ESPN.

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