The top-ranked Duke Blue Devils held off a determined challenge from the Virginia Cavaliers to claim the Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament championship with a gritty 74–70 victory Saturday night.
Isaiah Evans led Duke with 20 points, while Cameron Boozer sealed the win with two clutch free throws with 3.9 seconds remaining. The victory gave the Blue Devils their second consecutive ACC Tournament title under head coach Jon Scheyer and their third in the past four years.
Despite an off shooting night, Boozer still made a major impact and earned tournament MVP honors. The ACC Player of the Year finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, even as he struggled from the field, shooting just 3-for-17. His brother, Cayden Boozer, added 16 points and delivered a key putback late that proved to be the game-winner.
Duke (32–2) extended its winning streak to 11 games heading into the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, where the Blue Devils are widely expected to earn the No. 1 overall seed.
The championship game lived up to the billing. Neither team led by more than seven points, and the contest featured 16 lead changes as the Cavaliers repeatedly pushed the top-ranked Blue Devils to the brink.
Virginia’s defense centered on limiting Boozer, and the Cavaliers executed that plan effectively thanks in large part to center Ugonna Onyenso. The 7-footer delivered a dominant defensive performance with nine blocked shots, including four against Boozer. Onyenso finished the tournament with 21 blocks over three games, breaking the previous ACC Tournament record of 14 set 31 years ago by Hall of Famer Tim Duncan.
Malik Thomas led Virginia with 18 points while Sam Lewis added 17 as the Cavaliers kept the pressure on until the final seconds.
Even after Duke built a 36–29 lead late in the first half, Virginia regrouped and surged ahead early in the second half, briefly taking a four-point advantage. From there, the teams traded baskets in a tense back-and-forth battle.
The decisive stretch came in the final three minutes. With the game tied, Cayden Boozer grabbed a weakside rebound and put it back to give Duke a 68–66 lead with 2:50 remaining. After a Virginia shot-clock violation, Evans — who played his high school basketball just 20 minutes from the arena — calmly knocked down two free throws to extend the lead to four.
Virginia responded when Onyenso scored inside to cut the deficit to two. Boozer then missed a pair of free throws, giving the Cavaliers an opening. Thomas had a chance to tie after drawing a foul but missed the front end of a one-and-one.
Moments later, Onyenso rejected Boozer for the fifth time, but the Duke star grabbed the rebound and kicked the ball out to Evans. Virginia fouled, and Evans sank both free throws with 12.3 seconds left to make it 72–68.
Thomas answered with a quick layup to bring the Cavaliers within two, but Virginia was forced to foul again. This time, Cameron Boozer calmly stepped to the line and buried both free throws, sealing the 74–70 victory.
Despite the loss, Virginia (29–5) showed significant progress under first-year head coach Ryan Odom. The Cavaliers had been blown out 77–51 by Duke two weeks earlier at Cameron Indoor Stadium but proved far more competitive on the tournament stage.
The defeat also continued Virginia’s struggles against top-ranked opponents. The Cavaliers fell to 1–33 all-time against No. 1 teams and 0–18 against Duke when the Blue Devils hold the top spot in the rankings.
Still, Virginia leaves the ACC Tournament with confidence as both teams now turn their attention to the NCAA Tournament — with Duke entering March as one of the nation’s hottest teams and Virginia believing it can compete with anyone after pushing the No. 1 team in the country to the final possession.
