Virginia's Jay Huff enters Ralph Sampson territory by standing tall vs. Duke

Tom Gatto

Virginia's Jay Huff enters Ralph Sampson territory by standing tall vs. Duke image

Jay Huff was one rebound away from a triple-double on Saturday vs. Duke. The 7-1 junior forward had nine boards to go with 15 points — and 10 blocked shots.

Ralph Sampson is the only other player in Virginia program history to record double-digit rejections in a game. As it turned out, Sampson was sitting courtside in Charlottesville for Huff's performance, which lifted the Cavs (21-7, 13-5 ACC) to a big 52-50 ACC victory over the No. 7 Blue Devils (23-6, 13-5).

Huff's 10th block was the most important. It denied a potential go-ahead bucket by Vernon Carey in the closing seconds.

Huff was fouled on the rebound and made one of two free throws to give the 2019 NCAA Tournament champions a two-point lead. He then watched a Blue Devils' heave clang off the rim at the buzzer.

"(Huff) was fired up," UVA coach Tony Bennett told reporters postgame . "His length is for real. It was a complete game for Jay."

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It was also redemption for the Durham, N.C., product, who was on the business end of a nasty dunk by the Blue Devils' Zion Williamson last season. That play made the rounds on Twitter as Huff was dominating in the paint. ( WARNING: Salty, NSFW language ahead.)

On Saturday, Huff was throwing it down on Williamson's successors 

Huff finished two blocks behind Sampson's school record, but he'll gladly take the payback and the win.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.