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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Keith Jenifer, of all people, helped
Virginia put some hope back into a quickly disintegrating season.
|  | | Duke's Jason Williams, center, loses the ball as Virginia's Roger Mason, left, makes the steal while teammate Jermaine Harper helps out. |
In a game the Cavaliers had to have, they overcame a 12-point
deficit in the final seven minutes and beat No. 3 Duke 87-84 Thursday
night.
The Blue Devils' loss gave Maryland the Atlantic Coast Conference title outright for the first time since 1980. It also ended Duke's five-year hold on the crown, and may have put some hope back into what had been dying NCAA Tournament hopes for Virginia (17-9, 7-8).
Jenifer, a freshman point guard, hit floater over Carlos Boozer with 1:13 to play that gave Virginia the lead for good.
"We were thinking of calling a timeout, but we kept him in and he had the guts to take the shot," coach Pete Gillen said of the play, even more stunning because Jenifer has been such a reluctant shooter all season.
"Not many freshmen on national television against the No. 3 team in the country are going to take a shot like that," Gillen said.
Especially not with so much at stake for a team that started 14-2, climbed as high as No. 4 in the AP poll by Dec. 31, and had been free-falling since. The Cavaliers had lost seven of nine, many in embarrassing fashion.
But Jenifer said he was just doing what he was told.
"The last couple of games, people have been sagging off of me,
so I have to keep them honest and I had to take a couple of shots
tonight. (Gillen) told me before the game, `If they overplay, just go.' I just thought about that, and I went," he said after scoring 10 points.
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There are a lot of teams that lost seven of nine who aren't good and don't have any character, and they would have gotten killed. Don't try to lump them with some other teams. They aren't lumpable. " |
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- Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, on Virginia |
Jenifer's shot came during a 17-0 run, gave Virginia a 78-77
lead, its first of the game, and brought the crowd to the edge of
hysteria. When the Cavaliers went 9-of-10 from the free throw line
over the next minute, they had the win.
"You need everything to beat a team like that, and tonight we had all cylinders running," said Roger Mason Jr., who led Virginia with 22 points.
The Blue Devils (25-3, 12-3) had a chance to tie it when Jason Williams was fouled while making a basket with 12.1 seconds left, but Williams missed the free throw missed and Virginia rebounded.
"There are a lot of teams that lost seven of nine who aren't good and don't have any character, and they would have gotten killed," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said in heaping praise on the character Virginia showed.
"Don't try to lump them with some other teams. They aren't
lumpable."
The Cavaliers, playing for the first time since falling from the Top 25, trailed 77-65 with 6:53 left and appeared to be fading again.
But Virginia held the Blue Devils scoreless for more than 6½
minutes to open an 82-77 lead, then held on despite Williams' late
heroics.
"We went on a run, we rebounded, we defended, we made shots, we made free throws and when it comes right down to it, when you make shots and you play, you're going to win games," Mason said.
Williams was just 4-for-13 from the field, but made a three-point play with 22 seconds left to pull the Blue Devils within 84-82. After Adam Hall's free throw for Virginia, Williams had a chance to pull Duke even and silence the crowd after rebounding his own miss and being fouled as his shot fell.
This time, though, his free throw bounced out, Mason added two free throws with 9.1 seconds left and Chris Williams knocked the ball away from Williams, giving Mason two clinching free throws with four seconds to go.
He missed both, but Williams' halfcourt heave at the buzzer missed.
"Hopefully we'll realize this is not the end of it. Beating Duke is not our Super Bowl. It's just a start," said Mason, whose team plays Maryland on Sunday in the final game at Cole Field House.
Hall added 21 points for Virginia in his final regular season home game, including five straight right before Jenifer's go-ahead score. Chris Williams added 14 points, also in his final home game,
and Travis Watson had 12 despite sitting out much of the second half with four fouls.
Boozer scored a career-high 33 points for Duke, but didn't get a
shot off over the last 8:47, or after his layup gave Duke a 74-59
lead. Boozer made 12 of 13 shots and had made 50 of his last 59
from the field.
"It'd be nice to get him the ball," Krzyzewski said of the closing minutes, "but I thought they played him tougher. And we had shots."
Mike Dunleavy added 15 points for Duke, and Williams had 14.
A year ago, the Cavaliers ended a 12-game losing streak against
Duke, and the Blue Devils' 24-game road winning streak, with a
91-89 victory. This time, they became only the second unranked ACC
team to beat the Blue Devils in their last 61 games.
"We kept swinging," said Gillen, who drew a technical foul late in the first half. "We finally defended in the last three or four minutes, and that helped."
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Duke vs. Virginia