CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Freshman Shelden Williams scored 20 points and Dahntay Jones 17 Saturday night as the eighth-ranked Duke Blue Devils built an 18-point lead in the first half and snapped a four-game road losing streak with a dominating 78-59 Atlantic Coast Conference victory.
Duke (17-4, 7-4 ACC) had dropped four in a row on the road for the first time since the 1995-96 season, including a double-overtime loss at Wake Forest on Thursday night in which the Demon Deacons closed with a 20-5 run.
A day of rest apparently did wonders for the Blue Devils, who also found their shooting touch after connecting from a mere 36 percent in their last four games. Duke shot 45 percent overall and quickly silenced the crowd at University Hall by sprinting out to an 18-6 lead just over nine minutes into the contest.
Jones, who missed all 12 of his shots from the field on Thursday night, had two of Duke's first three baskets on a layup and a jumper. Daniel Ewing had a three-point play and a dunk in a 15-second span, and buried a 3-pointer less than two minutes later to make it 18-6.
Freshman J.J. Redick, a native of Roanoke, Virginia, had 15 points. He had nine points in the first half, including a three-pointer with 5:58 left that gave the Blue Devils their biggest lead of the half at 32-14.
A pair of free throws by Williams with five seconds left made it 39-22 at halftime.
Virginia cut the lead to 53-40 on the three-pointer by Todd Billet with 11:36 left, but Duke answered with a three-point play by Williams.
The Cavaliers cut the deficit to 60-47 on a basket by Travis Watson with 7:48 left before a three-pointer by Redick and a dunk by Jones make it a 65-49 game.
Jones put an exclamation point on the victory with a flying dunk over Nick Vander Laan with three minutes left that ended in a three-point play. As Jones hit the floor, he did several pushups before getting up.
Elton Brown scored 17 points and Billet 13 for Virginia (14-9, 5-6), which lost at home for the first time in 11 games this season.
Duke has won 15 of its last 17 meetings with Virginia, including a 104-93 rout at Cameron Indoor stadium in January. The Blue Devils posted their 100th win over Virginia and lead the all-time series, 100-47.
