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Duke survives Virginia's last-second three

Jan 13, 2012 - 7:57 AM Durham, NC (Sports Network) - Mason Plumlee scored 12 points to lead four players in double figures, as eighth-ranked Duke hung on to down No. 16 Virginia, 61-58, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

"Hung on" may even be an understatement. As Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski contended after the victory, "It was a war."

Games at Cameron have become automatic for the Blue Devils, but Thursday night was nearly different, as Virginia led at halftime behind Mike Scott, who scored 16 of his 23 points in the first 20 minutes, and had a shot at forcing overtime. Jontel Evans' three-pointer hit the left side of the rim as time expired.

Seth Curry and Austin Rivers each scored 11 points and Andre Dawkins donated 10 for the Blue Devils (14-2, 2-0 ACC), who have won 44 straight games at home.

"I thought both teams competed at the highest level," said Krzyzewski. "It was really a terrific win for our kids because they had to fight for 40 minutes against an outstanding team."

Joe Harris chipped in with 14 points for the Cavaliers (14-2, 1-1), who played the game at their pace, but struggled to make outside shots. Sammy Zeglinksi, one of the program's best long-range shooters, missed all eight of his shots, including five treys. The Cavaliers have lost 15 straight in Cameron, last claiming victory on January 14, 1995.

Virginia held a 32-28 edge at the half because Duke had no answer for Scott, who scored inside and even stepped outside to drain a trey in the closing moments for the halftime margin.

Duke quickly regained its footing in the second half and jumped in front, 41-38, on Curry's trey just over five minutes in. That three was part of seven successive points, as Virginia went four minutes between buckets.

The margin grew to as many as nine on multiple locations, but the Cavs hung on, chipping away and drawing within 59-55 on Angus Mitchell's layup with just under three minutes on the clock.

Ryan Kelly made a pair of free throws for a six-point game, and Harris made only 1-of-2 foul shots on the other end. Yet, Virginia received a gift when Kelly, who went 14-of-14 from the charity stripe against Georgia Tech, missed two foul shots. Akil Mitchell rebounded and slammed home an Evans miss for a three-point margin.

Curry missed a layup, giving Virginia a chance at a tie in the closing seconds. Scott hit the side of the backboard on his three-pointer from the right corner, but the ball caromed right out to Evans, who stepped into a three that drew a lot of rim but didn't fall at the horn.

"We got the stop," said Virginia head coach Tony Bennett. "It was a little wild the way we got the stop. We came down and got two good looks. Mike got a look. We knew we needed a three. It's a similar action we got to end the first half. Jontel's looked pretty good too."

Game Notes

Duke made 52 percent of its shots, while Virginia drained only 39 percent of its attempts...Evans and Zeglinksi were a combined 0-of-14 from the floor...Kelly finished with nine points and seven rebounds in the win...The Blue Devils lead the all-time series, 115-48.