COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Virginia Ends No. 3 Duke’s Streak and Improves Its Own to 16 Games

The top-ranked team in the nation?

No, it isn’t Virginia.

But the Cavaliers can certainly make a case that they belong higher than No. 14, particularly after defeating No. 3 Duke, 77-69, Sunday in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Durham, N.C., breaking the Blue Devils’ 36-game home winning streak and remaining the only unbeaten team in the NCAA’s Division I.

“I told our team coming in that there was nothing to be intimidated about,” Virginia Coach Jeff Jones said. “It’s a great atmosphere for college basketball. . . You might as well use that as a positive rather than a negative.”

Virginia (11-0 overall, 4-0 in the ACC) extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 16 games and remained tied atop the ACC with No. 5 North Carolina.

The Blue Devils, meanwhile, fell one game short of breaking the ACC’s record home winning streak, held by North Carolina State from 1972-75. Duke’s last home loss was on March 4, 1990, to North Carolina.

“(Losing) crossed my mind near the end and I remembered how I felt losing to North Carolina my freshman year,” Duke guard Bobby Hurley said. “It was something I wanted to be without again.”

Virginia, which had lost 19 of the last 21 to the Blue Devils, including 10 in a row in Cameron Indoor Stadium, led throughout by playing a pressure defense and dominating on the boards.

The Cavaliers held Duke (12-2, 2-2) to 36.8% shooting--the 11th consecutive opponent the Cavaliers held under 50%. Virginia also held Duke, ranked fifth nationally in scoring, 25 points under its average.

Duke was outrebounded, 53-37.

“Shots we’re accustomed to making we just aren’t,” Duke’s Grant Hill said. “But, hey, we’ll get through that. We’ll learn from this experience.”

Doug Smith was the star off the bench, scoring all of his 14 points during the second half while substituting for Cory Alexander, who sat out about six minutes after picking up his fourth foul.

Virginia led, 30-24, at halftime as Duke played its worse half of basketball this season, shooting 32%.

“We tried to penetrate and make them take a lot of shots they don’t like to take,” Alexander said. “You have to try to take them one-on-one.”

Duke closed the lead to one point four times during the second half, the last at 51-50 with 7:32 to play on Marty Clark’s layup.

But the two-time defending national champions fell apart over the next five minutes, missing seven of eight shots as the Cavaliers opened a 68-56 lead with 1:40 remaining.

Cornell Parker led the way with 16 points for Virginia, while Alexander had 15 and Junior Burrough 13.

Hurley led Duke with 17 points, while Grant Hill added 15.

OTHER GAMES

Khari Jaxon had 19 points and seven steals as New Mexico opened a 40-10 first-half lead en route to a 77-52 Western Athletic Conference victory over San Diego State. The Lobos (11-3, 4-2) at one point ran off 20 consecutive points. New Mexico shot 69% from the field (18 for 26) and had 11 of its 17 steals in the first half, during which the Lobos opened a 44-19 lead. It was the 22nd conference defeat in a row and 31st consecutive loss to a Division I opponent for San Diego State (4-10, 0-5).

Rick Brunson scored 24 points and Aaron McKie added 21 as Temple (7-3, 3-1) defeated St. Bonaventure, 74-58, in an Atlantic 10 Conference game at Olean, N.Y. The Owls took a 17-point lead on a 13-2 run in the first 7:55 of the second half against the Bonnies (7-4, 0-3). . . . Harold Simmons scored 14 points as Marshall (9-4, 4-2) handed The Citadel (1-10, 0-5) its tenth consecutive loss, 62-50, in a Southern Conference game at Huntington, W.Va. . . . Jerry Pelphrey scored 22 points, had four steals and three assists as East Tennessee State (9-4, 5-1) scored a 98-82 victory over Furman (3-8, 2-3) in a Southern Conference game at Johnson City, Tenn.