Associated Press

Virginia's Sammy Zeglinski (13) defends Duke's Nolan Smith on Sunday. Smith finished with five points in the Duke win.

Associated Press

Virginia freshman guard Jontel Evans (1) looks to pass as Duke's Nolan Smith (2) and Jon Scheyer defend. Scheyer scored 20 points as No. 5 Duke handed the Cavaliers their seventh straight loss.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Until Sunday night, there was no injury or other hardship to which Virginia's string of double-digit losses could be traced.

At least the Cavaliers had an excuse Sunday night, not that an able-bodied Sylven Landesberg would have lifted UVa past fifth-ranked Duke.

The Cavaliers have struggled offensively with Landesberg and they were even worse without him, shooting a season-low 31.7 percent from the field in a 67-49 loss at John Paul Jones Arena.

It was the seventh straight defeat for the Cavaliers, whose last five losses have been by double figures.

Leading scorer Landesberg was in uniform but did not see action as the result of a deep thigh bruise sustained Tuesday night in a 74-62 loss at Miami, where he scored 27 points.

"He was going to try [Saturday] to practice and couldn't," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said.

"It really restricted him. He's been doing a ton of treatment but today, at the shootaround, it wasn't moving very good.

"He really wanted to play. We put him in the back gym and tried to make him cut hard and he couldn't even move. I said, 'OK, give me a full-blast layup. Let me see what you can do.' He labored."

On top of the injury to Landesberg, Virginia (14-13, 5-9 ACC) got nothing out of second-leading scorer Mike Scott.

Scott. who was 0-for-7 from the field at Miami, missed all six of his field-goal attempts Sunday and was scoreless for the second game in a row.

"I can't buy a basket," Scott said. "It's almost like there's a lid on it."

The Cavaliers opened the game 1-for-12 from the field and trailed 20-4 with 11:26 remaining in the first half. Virginia was able to play the Blue Devils on even terms until halftime, when Duke led 35-21, but the Cavaliers then went 1-for-13 from the field to open the second half.

"I'll look at the tape," Bennett said.

"I think there was probably a couple of quick ones, but, honestly, there were some pretty good looks."

Junior Jeff Jones got the start in Landesberg's place, missed a 3-point shot from the wing on Virginia's first possession and finished 0-for-3 in 20 minutes.

"I thought, 'Boy, this will be an opportunity for him to step up,' " Bennett said.

"It was a tough night, but that happens. Besides Jerome [Meyinsse], nobody was lighting up."

Meyinsse, a 6-foot-9 senior who had not scored more than 10 points in a game until this year, contributed a career-high 21 points and seven rebounds.

Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer had 21 and 20 points, respectively, for Duke (25-4, 12-2).

"I'm trying to play every game like it's my last," said Meyinsse, who was coming off a 13-point, seven-rebound performance at Miami. "I don't want my career to end but, when it does end, I want to go out fighting."

Meyinsse made six of eight shots from the floor, compared to a 10-for-43 performance by his teammates.

He also made nine of 11 shots from the free-throw line, where he is shooting 73.7 percent after hitting 55.3 percent going into the year.

Virginia didn't have a second double-figure scorer, but 7-foot sophomore center Assane Sene had a season-high 10 rebounds.

Meyinsse played 30 minutes before coming to the bench with 2:57 left, when he immediately started icing his right thumb, injured earlier in the half.

Sene played 27 minutes and Scott played 12 minutes, including three minutes in the second half.

"I don't know what to tell you," Bennett said when asked about Scott. "I thought 'Rome battled his butt off. I didn't see it from Mike in this game. To make it competitive, we needed a number of guys [to produce]."

Bennett chuckled at the notion of trying to beat Duke with his two leading scorers not contributing a single point.

He said, "I joked with somebody, 'We're such an offensive juggernaut; it shouldn't be a problem.' "

DUKE (25-4)

Singler 6-10 7-9 21, Thomas 2-5 0-0 4, Zoubek 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 1-8 3-4 5, Scheyer 8-14 0-0 20, Ma.Plumlee 3-5 0-0 6, Dawkins 2-4 0-0 5, Mi.Plumlee 1-3 1-2 3, Kelly 0-0 0-0 0, Davidson 0-0 1-2 1, Johnson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 24-50 12-17 67.

VIRGINIA (14-13)

Scott 0-6 0-0 0, Meyinsse 6-8 9-11 21, Baker 0-2 0-0 0, Zeglinski 2-9 1-1 6, Jones 0-3 0-0 0, Evans 1-3 3-4 5, Farrakhan 3-11 0-0 7, Sene 1-4 0-0 2, Jonke 0-0 0-0 0, Sherrill 0-0 0-0 0, Spurlock 2-4 1-1 5, Tat 1-1 1-1 3. Totals 16-51 15-18 49.

Halftime--Duke 35-21. 3-Point Goals--Duke 7-18 (Scheyer 4-7, Singler 2-5, Dawkins 1-3, Smith 0-3), Virginia 2-12 (Farrakhan 1-3, Zeglinski 1-6, Spurlock 0-1, Jones 0-1, Scott 0-1). Fouled Out--Mi.Plumlee. Rebounds--Duke 31 (Mi.Plumlee 5), Virginia 33 (Sene 10). Assists--Duke 13 (Scheyer, Singler 3), Virginia 7 (Sherrill, Zeglinski 2). Total Fouls--Duke 17, Virginia 15. A--13,663.