BLACKSBURG — Positioned to double last year’s paltry four NCAA Tournament bids, ACC basketball is, by any metric, markedly improved. Better players and deeper rosters. Younger and more progressive coaches armed with enhanced institutional investment.
Yet to date, one element from last season remains: Duke’s dominance.
The No. 4 Blue Devils won their 19th consecutive game against conference opponents Saturday, leading wire-to-wire in a 72-58 victory at Virginia Tech. That’s the longest such streak in the league since Duke’s 28-game binge from December 1998 to February 2000.
The latter run predates Tech joining the ACC, but since their 2004 transition from the Big East, the Hokies have been a chore for the Blue Devils at Cassell Coliseum, winning seven of 15 encounters prior to Saturday.
Thanks to forward Amani Hansberry’s 20 points and 4-of-5 shooting beyond the 3-point arc, Tech had an opportunity to truly make Duke sweat Saturday. The Hokies drew within 62-56 in the final six minutes, but a Neo Avdalas turnover and air ball dashed those hopes, and the Blue Devils scored 10 of the game’s final dozen points.
For all his gifts as a passer, Avdalas, a 6-foot-9 freshman from Greece, is stuck in a shooting abyss. In 10 league contests, his accuracy is 29.8% overall, 17.3% beyond the 3-point arc.
He was 1 of 8 Saturday and missed all four of his attempts from deep.
“He’s in a dark place here a bit,” Tech coach Mike Young said.
“He’s still a kid,” Hansberry said. “He’s still growing up.”
With incomplete NCAA Tournament credentials, the Hokies (16-7, 5-5 ACC) need him to grow up fast and ignore the smattering of boos he received from the home fans Saturday.
Avdalas’ trials are a stark contrast to Duke freshman Cameron Boozer.
For all the stunning talent in this season’s freshman crop, from BYU’s AJ Dybantsa to North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson, from Kansas’ Darryn Peterson to Houston’s Kingston Flemings, from Illinois’ Keaton Wagler to Arkansas’ Darius Acuff, Boozer stands alone.
His 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists were game-highs Saturday and the central reason Duke (20-1, 9-0) outscored Tech 46-24 in the paint and 16-6 on second-chance points.
“You know the best thing I can say about Cameron Boozer?” Young said. “I was texting with his dad two days ago. You know the best thing I can say about that kid is he plays the right way. … Master of the obvious that I am, he’s an elite basketball player.”
As a sophomore, Boozer’s father, Carlos, joined with the likes of Shane Battier and Jay Williams on the Blue Devils’ 2001 national championship squad. Cameron Boozer and this team are capable of the same.
Jon Scheyer’s group entered Saturday as among two teams — Arizona was the other — ranked in the top five of KenPom in offensive and defensive efficiency. Their lone setback was to No. 11 Texas Tech at Madison Square Garden, 82-81.
Scheyer has at his disposal not only a veteran core that includes a heat-check scorer (Isaiah Evans), lock-down defender (Maliq Brown), imposing post presence (Patrick Ngongba II) and steady point guard (Caleb Foster), but also a leading national Player of the Year candidate.
Averaging 23.5 points per game, Boozer is contending to join Oklahoma’s Trae Young (2018) and VMI’s Jason Conley (2002) as the lone freshmen to lead Division I in scoring. Boozer also averages 9.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists, both team bests and the latter evidence of his exceptional passing for a player his size.
Noting Boozer’s passing, dribbling and shooting acumen, Hansberry said: “That’s really scary when you’re like 6-10, 250.”
Duke lists Boozer at 6-9, 250 pounds, so close enough. He also gets considerable help in the paint from Ngongba and Brown.
“We’re a different kind of team,” Scheyer said. “Our bigs can really play-make and pass.”
Duke hasn’t lost an ACC outing since last February at Clemson, and if Saturday wasn’t revealing enough about the Blue Devils, consider their next five Saturdays: at North Carolina, home against Clemson, a neutral-site clash with Michigan, home versus Virginia and home against UNC.
Those games will speak volumes.
The Hokies also are in a defining stretch. They’re idle until next Saturday at NC State, when they expect forward Tyler Johnson, who’s missed 10 games with a foot injury, back in the lineup. Then they head to Clemson.
The Wolfpack and Tigers are a combined 15-3 in ACC play and each will present a chance for a Quadrant 1 victory, the most essential currency for NCAA Tournament hopefuls. Saturday was a Quad 1 opportunity of the highest order.
“We had our chances,” Young said, “and let it off the hook.”
David Teel, david.teel@virginiamedia.com
