There used to be a lot of meaning when the Duke basketball team battled the Virginia Cavaliers but Monday night shined the light on the true gap between the programs at the moment.
The No. 3 Blue Devils barely broke a sweat in its 80-62 victory over Virginia in which its three rookies – Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, and Isaiah Evans – led the way. Each freshman scored 17 points and did it in a different way.
Flagg’s night consisted mostly of 2-point field goals on which he was 8-for-13 after missing all three of his 3-point field goals and only adding one point at the free throw line while Knueppel showed a little bit of everything. After scoring a combined 15 points in his last two games, the sharpshooter was 5-of-12 from the field and 3-of-6 from 3-point range.
Evans, however, delivered flashbacks to his iconic performance against Auburn earlier in the season. He was 5-of-6 from 3-point range and his only miss came on heat check attempt late in the second half. It was the most points he scored in a game since his 18-point outburst against the Tigers.
Duke used a 16-2 run midway through the first half to grab a 13-point lead, 27-14, on Virginia (13-13, 6-9 ACC) and never looked back. Its advantage grew to as many as 17 points in the final minute of the first half before taking a 14-point margin into halftime.
The Blue Devils started the second half on an 15-4 run to seize control of the game even further.
Despite its lead, there was a black cloud cast over the Duke bench after Maliq Brown was injured late in the first half with a shoulder injury. Brown deflected a pass and immediately grabbed his arm and was taken back to the locker room.
The team announced he would not return to the game, and he later arrived back on the Duke bench with his arm in a sling.
The Blue Devils (23-3, 15-1 ACC) will have the rest of the week off before finishing its non-conference schedule with a matchup against Illinois (17-9, 9-7 Big Ten) inside Madison Square Garden on Saturday night (8:00 p.m. ET, FOX).