DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- Mike Krzyzewski called it an aberration.
Pete Gillen said it was more like intimidation. The end result was
No. 2 Duke beating Virginia (No. 9 ESPN/USA Today, No. 10 AP) in another lopsided game.
|  | | Jason Williams' 17 points helped Duke beat Virginia for the 12th consecutive time. |
The Blue Devils (15-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) used a
23-0 run in the first half Saturday to top the Cavaliers 103-61,
notching their biggest victory margin over a Top 10 opponent in
school history.
The previous best was a 111-71 victory over No. 6 West Virginia
in 1963.
"Every time we come in here we get shook early," said Gillen,
Virginia's coach, who is 0-6 against Duke with an average losing
margin of 33.3 points.
"To have a chance against a great team like this you've got to
get off to a decent start," Gillen added. "We just get unnerved
and shook, then it becomes a tidal wave and they get more
confidence and that's it."
Krzyzewski said his team may have played its best 40-minute game
of the season and was surprised by the margin of victory.
"I would hope we're going to be a better team than Virginia,
but we're not that much better than Virginia," Duke's coach said.
"This was one of those crazy games where everything went well for
us and nothing went well for them."
Nate James scored 19 points, Shane Battier 18 and Jason Williams
17 as Duke beat Virginia for the 12th straight time and 33rd in 41
meetings since 1983. It also was the sixth consecutive time the
Blue Devils have hit the century mark against the Cavaliers.
Duke's players had the word "attack" taped inside each locker.
It had special significance for the Blue Devils as they tried to
slow down the run-and-gun Cavaliers.
"The best way to beat a team like that is to attack and not
play just to play with them," Battier said. "We really went to
the boards hard, we drove strong, we went to the free-throw line a
lot. It was good execution of the game plan."
Virginia (11-3, 1-3) started the season 10-0, but has lost three
of four, including a 23-point road loss at Wake Forest and a
five-point home loss to Georgia Tech.
"Hopefully we can regroup and get our act together and play the
way we're capable of playing," Gillen said. "A lot of that today
was Duke, a lot of that was us."
The Cavaliers shot a season-low 35 percent against the Yellow
Jackets and turned it over 23 times.
It looked like their offense was lost again against Duke, which
has won 50 of its last 52 ACC regular-season games. Virginia shot
27 percent and was held 30 points below its scoring average as
Chris Williams led the way with 11 points.
The two teams had never met each other with both ranked so
highly.
But this one was over in the opening 20 minutes as the Cavaliers
missed 23 of their first 27 shots and turned the ball over 14 times
as Duke rolled to a 4-0 start in the ACC for the fourth straight
season.
"Our defense was very good and we were an extremely unselfish
team," Krzyzewski said. "Virginia is an explosive team. They
missed some open shots, and that always helps, but we didn't give
them the lane. We protected the basket real well on drives and as a
result we made them more of a half-court offensive team."
Both teams started slowly, but while Duke pulled it together
offensively, the Cavaliers fell apart, shooting 19 percent in the
opening half to fall behind 53-20.
Gillen used four of his timeouts in the first 13:13, but nothing
he diagrammed slowed down Duke or energized his team.
Virginia's scoreless streak lasted over 5 minutes as Duke scored 10
points in a span of 1:01 at one point, getting a driving layup from
Nate James and a 3-pointer, a three-point play from Carlos Boozer
and two free throws by Battier.
A three-point play by Chris Williams snapped Duke's run, but by
that time the Blue Devils were up 39-9 and the only mystery was
whether they would score 100 against Virginia.
The Duke lead reached 40 less than two minutes into the second
half and J.D. Simpson scored on a baseline jumper with 1:56 left to
hit 100 points.
"Mike was being kind," Gillen said of Krzyzewski. "They could
have won by a lot more if they wanted to."
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Virginia Clubhouse
Duke Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Duke's Jason Williams fires a rocket pass to Mike Dunleavy under the hoop for the bucket.
avi: 747 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Virginia's Donald Hand lets out his frustrations as throws down a one-handed slam.
avi: 896 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Jason Williams gets the steal then cruises in for the slam at the other end.
avi: 1094 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Virginia's Chris Williams gets the foul and the bucket off the spin move.
avi: 646 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Jason Williams gets another assist as he hits the trailer, Carlos Boozer.
avi: 1162 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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