The days when Duke's Blue Devils could beat up on Virginia's post-Ralph Sampson era teams are over.
"We have to make them realize they can't win games on their name and tradition alone," Virginia guard Anthony Oliver said Saturday after he led the 18th-ranked Cavaliers to an 81-64 victory over No. 8 Duke."They can't just show up and win any more. They better be ready to play when they come to our place."
Oliver had 21 points, six steals and four assists as the Cavaliers capitalized on a sloppy effort by Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.
Virginia coach Jeff Jones used a variety of defenses to harass the younger Blue Devils, who had difficulty getting consistent offense out of anyone other than junior center Christian Laettner.
"We wanted to attack for 40 minutes," Jones said, "and I think we did that."
It was the seventh consecutive victory for Virginia (9-2) and the Cavaliers' second in a row over Duke. The Blue Devils had won the previous 16 before that, a streak that began at the end of the 7-foot-4 Sampson's tenure as a Cavalier.
"Every time we get a chance to play them," Oliver said, "you can feel the electricity in the air, starting at practice. We were very pumped for this game."
Duke (10-3) saw its five-game winning streak snapped.
"We were totally outplayed by Virginia," said coach Mike Krzyzewski, whose Blue Devils shot just 37.5 percent and had 24 turnovers.
Krzyzewski said the Cavaliers "played outstanding defensive basketball, and they played like the veteran team they are. They've been through the wars together. They play like an end-of-the-season team because of their experience. I think our youth showed today. We haven't been through what they've been through together."
John Crotty added 16 points for Virginia and Kenny Turner had 15.
Laettner led Duke with 27 points and Brian Davis had 10.
Villanova 76, No. 3 Syracuse 66
At Syracuse, N.Y., Villanova bumped No. 3 Syracuse from the unbeaten ranks, using a near impenetrable zone defense to frustrate the Orangemen until Lance Miller and Chris Walker started a 17-4 run that carried the Wildcats to a victory.
It was the third straight regular-season win over the Orangemen (13-1 and 1-1) for Villanova, which handed Syracuse its worst-ever conference loss in the Carrier Dome last season, 93-74.
No. 4 Arizona 84, Wash. St. 69
At Pullman, Wash., reserve guard Khalid Reeves scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half, rallying No. 4 Arizona to an 84-69 Pacific-10 Conference victory over Washington State.
Arizona (11-2, 1-1) overcame a 39-38 halftime deficit behind the shooting of Reeves and Brian Williams, who had 11 of his 18 points in the final 20 minutes. Sean Rooks added 15 points for the Wildcats.
No. 5 Indiana 99, Northwestern 58
At Bloomington, Ind., Damon Bailey scored 17 points to lead a balanced offense as fifth-ranked Indiana defeated Northwestern.
Indiana (14-1 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) has won 19 straight over Northwestern at Assembly Hall and has a 33-3 advantage over the Wildcats in Bob Knight's tenure as coach of the Hoosiers.
No. 6 Ohio State 67, Michigan 57
At Ann Arbor, Mich., Jimmy Jackson scored 12 of his 16 points during the final 8:17 of the second half to help No. 6 Ohio State remain unbeaten with a victory over Michigan.
The Buckeyes, who won for the first time at Michigan since 1984, improved to 12-0 overall and a 2-0 in the Big Ten. Ohio State is one of only two undefeated teams in Division I. Top-ranked Nevada-Las Vegas is the other.
Michigan fell to 0-2 in the conference and 7-5 overall.
No. 7 N. Carolina 82, N. Dame 47
At East Rutherford, N.J., Hubert Davis made three of North Carolina's four 3-pointers during a 17-5 run to start the second half and the seventh-ranked Tar Heels won their ninth in a row, over Notre Dame.
North Carolina (11-1) struggled home at the close of the first half for a 28-24 lead at halftime. The Tar Heels hit just nine of 27 shots in the first half and had the four-point lead after opening the game with a 15-2 run.
No. 9 St. John's 75,
Boston College 68
At New York, Malik Sealy scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half as St. John's rebounded from its only loss this season with a Big East Conference victory over Boston College.
The Redmen (10-1, 1-1) got 18 points from Rob Werdann and 14 from Chuck Sproling as they atoned for a 92-86 overtime loss Wednesday night at Syracuse.
No. 10 UCLA 88, Louisville 81
At Los Angeles, Don MacLean scored 18 of his 26 points in the first half and Darrick Martin fueled an 11-0 second-half run with five points as 10th-ranked UCLA beat Louisville.
Gerald Madkins scored all of his 11 points in the second half for the Bruins (12-1).
No. 12 Conn. 81, No. 11 Pitt. 76
At Hartford, Conn., Scott Burrell made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 58 seconds left as No. 12 Connecticut beat No. 11 Pittsburgh in the Big East Conference for its seventh straight victory and 21st in a row at home.
The Huskies (10-1, 2-0), led by Chris Smith's 21 points, shot 62 percent in the second half, but couldn't shake the Panthers.
No. 13 Okla. 64, James Madison 61
At Landover, Md., Jeff Webster scored 22 of his 24 points in the second half, including a key tip-in with 11 seconds left, as No. 13 Oklahoma survived a cold-shooting first half to beat James Madison.
No. 15 G'town 73, Seton Hall 65
At Landover, Md., Charles Harrison scored 16 of his game-high 18 points in the second half and Georgetown scored 16 consecutive points to turn back Seton Hall in the Big East Conference opener for the No. 16 Hoyas.
No. 17 East Tennessee St. 89,
Appalachian St. 70
East Tennessee (10-1) continued its best start ever while dropping Appalachian State to 7-5.
Keith Jennings scored 22 points and had 12 assists to lead the Buccaneers, who regained the lead five minutes into the first half and held it the rest of the game.
No. 19 Nebraska 74, Kansas St. 69
At Manhattan, Kan., Rich King knocked down a follow shot and backed an Eric Piatkowski layup with a turn-around jumper late in the game Saturday, giving Nebraska the lead and allowing the 19th-rated Cornhuskers to escape its Big Eight Conference opener with a 74-69 victory over the Kansas State Wildcats.
No. 21 S. Miss. 84, Florida St. 72
At Hattiesburg, Miss., Darrin Chancellor and Daron Jenkins scored 20 points apiece as No. 21 Southern Mississippi used a string of free throws in the final minutes to beat Florida State in the Metro Conference.
No. 16 Kentucky 93, No. 14 LSU 80
At Lexington, Ky., two 3-pointers by Richie Farmer began a streak of five as No. 16 Kentucky overcame a powerful performance by Shaquille O'Neal in a Southeastern Conference victory over No. 14 Louisiana State.
O'Neal had 28 points and 17 rebounds for LSU (8-3, 1-1), which also got 15 points from Vernel Singleton.
No. 22 Iowa 79,
No. 25 Michigan St. 66
At Iowa City, Iowa, James Moses scored 19 points and Val Barnes added 17 Saturday to lead No. 22 Iowa to a Big Ten win over No. 25 Michigan State.
WAC games
Wyoming 92, New Mexico 79
At Albuquerque, N.M., Tim Breaux scored a career-high 27 points - 20 of them in the first half - and Wyoming again solved New Mexico's homecourt magic with a Western Athletic Conference win.
Wyoming (10-2, 1-0) ended the Lobos' 17-game homecourt winning streak and beat New Mexico in Albuquerque for the third straight year. Of New Mexico's 10 longest winning streaks at home, Wyoming teams have ended five of them.