#3 Duke Rolls Past UVA on President’s Day (2-17-25)
By: Ty Tracy
All Photo Credit: Darrell Owens-LMS Network
Monday night’s ACC matchup as the UVA Cavaliers host the Freshman star Cooper Flag and No. 3 Duke Blue Devils. The Cavaliers have been playing good basketball for the last three games, creating a three-game winning streak since the beginning of the season winning their first three games. UVA guards Dai Dai Ames and Issac McKneely both played tremendous roles during their three-game winning streak, Ames and McKneeley both averaging over 16 points per game. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers finally start to find a little hope in holding opponents under 65 points per game. They knew it would be a tough task tonight trying to contain the Duke Blue Devil and one of the best players in the country Freshman Forward Cooper Flagg, who has been averaging 19.7 points per game along with 7.7 rebounds per game. The Blue Devils are still recovering from their first loss in conference play after the Clemson Tigers upset the Duke Blue Devils 77-71 two weeks ago.
In the first five minutes of the game, UVA came out looking good giving the Blue Devils a hard time until they found their rhythm in the game. Flagg and Knueppel lead the Blue Devils with ten points each along with Flagg having a double-double already in the first half stanching 11 rebounds making it his seventh double-double of the season before halftime 43-29. Once the second half started the Blue Devils opened the second half with an 8-0 run after that the Cavaliers did not find any answers on how to slow down the Blue Devils for the entire second half. The Blue Devils shot 9 for 23 from 3-point range and outrebounded the Cavaliers 41-21. Cooper Flagg finished the game with 17 points and 14 rebounds along with Kon Knueppel and Iasiah Evans both scored 17 points each as well. The Cavaliers’ Andrew Rohde and Dai Dai Ames both combine for 30 points together, adding Issac McKneely to 14 points. While Dai Dai Ames scoring fifth consecutive game in double figures. It still wasn’t enough to contain the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils. They were outmatched in Points in Paint, 2nd chance points, and bench points.
Now with five games left in the regular season, the Cavaliers will travel down to Chapel Hill to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels, who are desperately looking for a win to keep them in a good spot in the ACC standing with the ACC Tournament right around the corner. The Cavaliers are trying to keep themselves away from the bottom of the ACC so they can stay in the picture for the ACC tournament in March.
