The Duke Blue Devils have been one of the most impressive teams in the nation this season and enter Thursday night's game against Virginia on a two game winning streak after losing to Maryland.
Duke has won eight straight games against Virginia and the Cavaliers will be defending a streak of their own, as they have won 15 straight games at home. The Blue Devils are second in the conference just ahead of Virginia and North Carolina and the Cavaliers are fighting to make the NCAA tournament later this month after losing to both Old Dominion and Delaware.
"You don't sit there and play those games, and say what does this mean long range?" coach Tony Bennett said. "You're just thankful we're playing better basketball now."
Virginia enters the game 16-1 at home and haven't lost at John Paul Jones Arena since November against Delaware. Duke is just 4-3 on the road this season and although they defeated Virginia Tech 88-56, they lost their previous game against Maryland on the road 83-81. Virginia hasn't defeated Duke in sic season and they only have one home win against a ranked team this year.
Duke has defeated the Cavaliers in 17 of the past 18 games and could catch number five ranked Miami in the ACC with a victory on Thursday. The Hurricanes are currently in line for a number one seed after blowing out Duke, but the Blue Devils rebounded with wins over Virginia Tech and Boston College.
The Blue Devils have relied heavily on freshman Rasheed Sulaimon, who has been averaging 22 points this season, scoring 27 in the Saturday victory over Boston College.
"I think he's had a great year and he happens to be a freshman," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He's had a great year for any player, but as a freshman, it's been terrific."
The team has had to compensate for the loss of forward Ryan Kelly, who has missed the past 12 games, although the team has gone 9-3 in his absence. Virginia will likely focus in on Mason Plumlee, who is leading Duke in scoring and has 16 double-doubles this season.
Seth Curry has been one of the best shooters on the team this season and he may want to try to emulate his brother on Thursday after Stephen scored 50 points against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Duke has been one of the highest scoring teams in the nation with 78.9 points per game, while Virginia is one of the worst in the ACC with just 65 per contest. The team has played much better recently, going 4-2 while scoring over 70 points per game.
"I don't think they're a slow-down team, I think they're a smart basketball team that will take opportunistic shots," the coach said. "When they get a good shot, they'll take it. They're more so an efficient team, they're a very efficient offensive team."
Duke is the eighth ranked scoring team in the nation and are ranked 33rd in assists and 21st in field goal percentage. The team is ranked 184th in rebounding, while Virginia is near the bottom of the nation at 283rd. The Cavaliers are ranked 327th in scoring, but are 65th in assists and 37th in field goal percentage, hitting over 46 percent of their shots.
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