Blue Devils top Hoos in a classic ACC Tournament final
No. 10 UVa came up just short in its rematch with No. 1 Duke in the ACC Tournament Championship Game, falling 74-70 in Charlotte on Saturday night.
It was a heavyweight fight throughout, a game with 16 lead changes and 12 ties that hung in the balance until the final seconds.
Duke threw the first punch, quickly going up 4-0 on two lay-ins. The Hoos would bounce back, with Sam Lewis hitting back-to-back tough layups and an open Jacari White 3 from the top of the key gave UVa a 12-6 lead. It was then Duke’s turn to bounce back, as the Blue Devils went on an 8-2 run to retake the lead at 16-14. They were led in the first half by Cadyn Boozer, who took on a much larger role with regular starting point guard Caleb Foster out with a foot injury. He had 14 points for the Blue Devils at the break.
After some back-and-forth action, Duke (32-2) started to create some separation, with a Cayden Boozer dunk giving his team a 36-29 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the half. Dallin Hall’s five quick points and a Ugonna Onyenso lay in just before the buzzer kept the Cavaliers within a bucket at the break, down 38-36.
Duke opened the scoring in the second half with a wide open Isaiah Evans 3, but a UVa mini run led by Malik Thomas to go up 49-45. A bunch of stops allowed UVa (29-5) a chances to separate, as Onyenso’s shot blocking became a big factor for the Hoos on the defensive end. But Duke refused to let UVa extend the lead beyond four, as the Cavaliers missed eight in a row and couldn’t can a few good looks from deep. The Blue Devils would eventually retake the lead, but the Wahoos would answer in what quickly became a back-and-forth affair.
The ACC Player of the Year came Cameron Boozer, who had been quiet for most of the night, came up with a big rebound, taking the ball away from Onyenso and earning a hoop and harm to put Duke back on top. The Blue Devils pushed the lead to 63-60 on Cameron’s two free throws with 5:58 to go, but Thomas came up with an answer, scoring plus the foul at the basket to tie the game up at 63-63 with just over five minutes left.
Out of a Duke timeout, Evans hit another big 3 from deep, and UVa countered with a Thomas floater. Thijs De Ridder hit one of two at the line with 3:10 to go to tie it up, 66-66, heading down the stretch.
Cayden Boozer put back a missed 3 to put the Blue Devils back in front, and UVa didn’t get a shot off on its next possession, committing a shot clock violation. Duke hit a pair of free throws to extend the lead to four before UVa had a chance to tie the game at the line in the final minute, but Thomas missed the front end of a one-and-one. Duke rebounded its own miss on the ensuing possession, as the writing was on the wall for the upset bid.
Thomas would hit a layup with 5.8 seconds remaining to cut it to two, but Cameron Boozer went on to ice it with two free throws with 3.9 seconds left, sealing a 74-70 Duke win.
Virginia got a good scoring punch from its wings, with Thomas pacing the Hoos with 18 points and Lewis adding 17. Both Thomas and Lewis had strong showings in Charlotte, but the star of the team for the three-game stretch was Onyenso. The 7-footer had six points and nine blocks, bringing his tournament total to 21, a new record for the event dating back to Tim Duncan’s 14.
The Cavaliers dropped their second straight ACC Tournament title game, both to Duke (2022-23). They are now 2-9 all time in ACC title games, having last won in 2018.
They now turn their attention to the NCAA Tournament, where they should be a protected top-four seed and go in playing good basketball despite tonight’s loss. UVa is still looking for its first NCAA Tournament win post 2019 national title.
