Losses at N.C. State and Georgia Tech overshadowed a road win at Clemson. Pile on a 12-point loss at Georgetown, and a perception was created.
But the No. 5 Blue Devils have put together a string of four straight ACC road wins, capped by their 67-49 victory over Virginia on Sunday night at John Paul Jones Arena.
Kyle Singler owned the first half for Duke (25-4, 12-2 ACC), posting 15 of his team-high 21 points in the period. Jon Scheyer took over in the second half, finishing with 20 points after netting seven before halftime.
"It's definitely a good win," Scheyer said. "We did a good job defensively. We wanted to come out from the start and set a tone, and I thought we did a good job of that."
One play, in particular, caught the attention of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. With the Blue Devils leading 44-27 at the 12:34 mark of the second half, Scheyer dove to recover a loose ball, then passed to Mason Plumlee for a driving basket.
"That was a huge play; that was a big-time play," Krzyzewski said. "You need that, you know. That's the kid who's probably played the best for us all year making that one.
"Then Mason finishes -- you get excited when you see your guys making those plays."
Meanwhile, Virginia (14-13, 5-9) struggled without sophomore Sylven Landesberg, the Cavs' leading scorer who did not play because of a thigh bruise suffered in Tuesday night's loss to Miami. Landesberg is averaging 17.4 points and five rebounds.
"They obviously missed one of the best players in the conference with Landesberg not playing," Krzyzewski said. "Sometimes, when that happens, you've got to be careful that you don't just assume that you're going to win, that it's going to be easy."
Add the Cavs' 31.4-percent shooting to Duke's pressure defense, and it may be understandable why some of the 13,663 in attendance began to leave with 9:23 remaining in the game.
"His kids couldn't hit a shot tonight, and his best kid's out," Krzyzewski said of UVa coach Tony Bennett, whose team has lost seven games in a row. "In this losing streak they've had, they could have won two or three of them. It's not easy."
The first half belonged to the Blue Devils, as they scored 20 points through the 11:26 mark interrupted only by a pair of free throws and a field goal by Jerome Meyinsse. Singler did the majority of the damage for Duke, posting 11 points during the run and making 4 of 5 shots in the half, 2 of 3 from 3-point range.
In the second half, a 10-2 run through the 9:23 mark gave Duke a 54-29 lead and prompted the first wave of departures by UVa fans. Mason Plumlee had six points for the Blue Devils during that spurt.
Even when the Cavs posted a 5-0 run, which ended with Andre Dawkins' drive inside for a 56-34 Duke lead, UVa fans continued their exodus during each media timeout.
Meyinssee led the Cavs with 21 points, while Assane Sene grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
"In a game like this, for us to make it competitive, we needed a number of guys to contribute," Bennett said. "I thought we shot quickly to relieve pressure, and I thought some guys were a little nervous.
"It was frustrating not to have a few of those shots go in. We are not playing well, there's no doubt about it."
In four previous ACC road wins by the Blue Devils, they had averaged winning by 8.25 points and their 13-point victory over Clemson was the largest.
Duke heads to Maryland on Wednesday night with an eight-game winning streak and can lock up the No. 1 seed for the ACC Tournament with a victory.
"This a great game to build off of and really move forward," Scheyer said. "We're happy with the win, but obviously we have two tough ones ahead of us."
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