Roach helps No. 21 Duke beat No. 13 Virginia for ACC title

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Jeremy Roach scored 23 factors and No. 21 Duke locked down defensively to beat No. 13 Virginia 59-49 in Saturday night time’s Atlantic Coast Convention Event championship, securing a title in Jon Scheyer’s debut season because the successor to Corridor of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Freshman Kyle Filipowski added 20 factors and 10 rebounds because the match’s Most worthy participant for the fourth-seeded Blue Devils (26-8), who accomplished a final-month surge to the highest of the ACC to assert a league-record twenty second championship. It additionally marked the ninth straight win for Duke, a streak that started with an extra time loss at Virginia wherein a league-acknowledged officiating error value the Blue Devils an opportunity to win in regulation.

This time, Duke grinded its approach by to the horn by leaning on a defense-first strategy that Scheyer has pushed all season. The Blue Devils held the second-seeded Cavaliers (25-7) to 33% capturing, with Virginia lacking each contested and clear appears whereas committing practically as many turnovers (12) as made pictures (16).

The Blue Devils by no means trailed, main by as many as 14 factors and preserving the Cavaliers — taking part in a methodical tempo and their very own defensive-minded model — working to inch nearer all night time.

Reece Beekman scored 12 factors for Virginia, which drew to inside six on Isaac McKneely’s 3-pointer with 3:05 and 5 on Kihei Clark’s layup off a scramble with 1:07 left. Lastly, Beekman pulled Virginia to inside 53-49 on a driving layup round Filipowski with 44 seconds left.

However the Blue Devils did not wobble, hitting six straight free throws to clinch this one. Roach hit 4 of these, handing over a veteran’s composure on a freshman-laden workforce paying homage to a few of his huge postseason moments throughout final yr’s Last 4 run.

Scheyer, the 35-year-old former Blue Devils participant and assistant, began the yr with the impossibly troublesome activity of changing a legend who received greater than 1,200 video games and 5 NCAA championships — one coming with Scheyer in 2010.

Now Scheyer is the primary to win an ACC Event title as each a participant and a coach in league historical past, and solely the third first-year coach ever to assert the title.

Scheyer lastly began to wave his arm to the Duke followers behind the bench for noise with freshman Mark Mitchell getting ready to go to the road for the ultimate free throws with 22.1 seconds left.

Moments later, Scheyer started exchanging handshakes and high-fives along with his workers as freshman Tyrese Proctor started dribbling out the clock. The horn sounded and Proctor flung the ball skyward, screaming because the gamers started to mob one another.

Scheyer quickly stepped onto the postgame midcourt stage as his gamers danced across the trophy, wiping his forehead and taking within the scene within the moments earlier than the 7-foot Filipowski walked up behind him and wrapped his arm round his coach’s shoulders.

McKneely added 10 factors for Virginia, together with a pair of 3-pointers for a workforce that shared the ACC regular-season title. However veteran level guard Kihei Clark struggled to 6 factors on 1-for-9 capturing whereas committing one help towards three turnovers.

BIG PICTURE

Duke: Offense had been the story for Duke by the primary two video games within the match, with the Blue Devils beating Pittsburgh and No. 14 Miami whereas averaging 90.5 factors and capturing 58.7% and tallying 43 assists. It wasn’t practically as simple this time as Duke shot 42%, however the protection — blessed with size and athleticism — made Virginia work for the whole lot.

Virginia: The Cavaliers have been looking for their fourth ACC Event title and third below coach Tony Bennett, whose first title got here right here towards Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils in 2014. Virginia beat North Carolina and Clemson to achieve the ultimate regardless of shedding beginning ahead Ben Vander Plas to a season-ending harm on the eve of the match. That altered the rotation right here in Greensboro, with Kadin Shedrick seeing extra minutes inside, and it’ll pressure extra changes for the NCAA Event forward.

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Observe Aaron Beard on Twitter at https://twitter.com/aaronbeardap

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