Beating Virginia Twice In One Season Doesn’t Happen Much Anymore

When Duke defeated Virginia at Charlottesville this past Saturday, much was made of the 81-71 result based on rankings, standings, reputations and the like. Rightly so.

Perhaps equally notable but largely overlooked, the Blue Devils were the first ACC squad since 2012, a period of eight years, that defeated Tony Bennett’s Cavaliers twice in the same season.

North Carolina and Florida State both beat UVa in 2012, when UNC and FSU went on to meet in the ACC Tournament final.

At this point, with matchups left on Feb. 23 and March 9, only Louisville has a chance to duplicate that feat in 2019.

Duke now has seven wins over the Cavs in the seven seasons since they became a winning program in ACC competition. The next-closest school in accumulating victories over Bennett’s buttoned-down bunch is Leonard Hamilton’s Florida State units, with five. If there’s a common denominator between Duke and FSU over that span, it’s the athleticism of their squads.

This past weekend’s win by Mike Krzyzewski’s club was the ninth in those seven seasons by an ACC team at John Paul Jones Arena. Of those nine, three belong to Duke, two to Virginia Tech, UVa’s archrival, and two to Florida State.

Virginia has played 67 home games since the 2012 season, posting a 58-9 cumulative record through Duke’s visit.

This is Bennett’s 10^th season at Charlottesville. In his first two years he was a combined 12-20 in ACC play.