ROBERT WILLETT - rwillett@newsobserver.com
GREENSBORO -- In rapid succession, Duke’s “big three” triumvirate of Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer helped the top-seeded Blue Devils advance to the ACC semifinals on Friday afternoon.
Thoughts of an upset had invigorated the Greensboro Coliseum when No. 9 seed Virginia trimmed top-seeded Duke’s 11-point lead to two with 6 minutes, 22 seconds remaining in the second half.
But Smith tipped in a Singler miss, Scheyer cleverly shook free to make a 12-foot bank shot, and Singler added a putback of his own. The game was no longer in question, especially with Duke’s defense consistently denying Virginia good looks at the basket in a 57-46 win.
The Cavaliers were held scoreless for 5 minutes, 58 seconds as Duke scored 11 points in a row. Singler led defending tournament champion Duke (27-5) with 18 points. Smith and Singler added 15 points apiece.
Jeff Jones scored 15 to lead Virginia (15-16), but guard Sammy Zeglinski was held scoreless on 0-for-9 from the field one day after scoring 21 in a win over Boston College.
Duke will meet the Virginia Tech-Miami winner in Saturday afternoon’s semifinals.
Both teams struggled to score early. Duke shot 9-for-29 from the field and Virginia 9-for-27 in the first half, which ended with the Greensboro Coliseum buzzing in anticipation of a possible upset.
The Blue Devils led 14-6 after a spinning basket by Smith in the lane with 8:43 remaining in the first half, but Virginia bounced back to grab a one-point lead on two occasions late in the half.
Scheyer scored five points in the final 2:01 of the half, allowing the Blue Devils to reach intermission tied 27-27. Foul trouble in the first half limited starters Brian Zoubek (five minutes), Lance Thomas (12 minutes) and Kyle Singler (13 minutes), but all three got to the second half with two fouls.
The score was tied 33-33 with 15:50 remaining in the second half when Singler started a personal run of 10 straight Duke points.
He spun into the lane for a bank shot and made a 3-pointer from the wing. He converted a high-low feed from Mason Plumlee and was fouled, pumping his fist as the ball dropped through the basket.
After missing the free throw, Singler found himself open with the ball in front of the Duke bench. He hesitated for a moment, then shot a 3-pointer over the outstretched arm of Jones. Soon the lead was 46-35, but Virginia took one more run at the Blue Devils.
The Cavaliers, who’d defeated No. 8 seed Boston College to end a nine-game losing streak and played the tournament without suspended leading scorer Sylven Landesberg, scored nine straight points.
Mustapha Farrakhan’s 3-pointer with 6:22 left trimmed the lead to 46-44, but then Smith, Scheyer, Singler and the Cavaliers’ big drought clinched the win for Duke.
