03/14/26 10:14:00
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03/14 22:12 CDT No. 1 Duke holds on to beat Virginia 74-70 for 2nd straight ACC
Tournament title under Jon Scheyer
No. 1 Duke holds on to beat Virginia 74-70 for 2nd straight ACC Tournament
title under Jon Scheyer
By STEVE REED
AP Sports Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) --- Isaiah Evans scored 20 points, Cameron Boozer made two
free throws with 3.9 seconds to seal the game and No. 1 Duke defeated No. 10
Virginia 74-70 on Saturday night for its second straight Atlantic Coast
Conference Tournament championship under coach Jon Scheyer and its third title
in the past four years.
Cayden Boozer had 16 points, and Cameron Boozer finished with 13 points, eight
rebounds and eight assists as the Blue Devils (32-2) extended their winning
streak to 11 games heading into the NCAA Tournament as the likely No. 1 overall
seed.
Malik Thomas had 18 points and Sam Lewis had 17 for Virginia (29-5) in a game
in which neither team led by more than seven points and featured 16 lead
changes.
Ugonna Onyenso had nine blocks and finished with an ACC Tournament record with
20 over three games. Tim Duncan had the previous record of 14 in 1995.
The Cavaliers came into the game 1-32 all-time against No. 1-ranked opponents
--- and 0-17 against top-ranked Duke teams --- and were blown out by the Blue
Devils 77-51 two weeks ago at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
But Virginia never looked intimidated, even after Duke threatened to pull away
late in the first half after building a 36-29 lead when Evans knocked down a 3
and Cayden Boozer --- who had 14 points before the break --- scored on a
fastbreak dunk off a Virginia turnover.
It was back and forth from there until Cayden Boozer put back a weakside
rebound to put the Blue Devils up for good at 68-66 with 2:50 left. The
Cavaliers couldn't get a shot off in time in their next possession and Duke
seized the momentum with Evans hitting two free throws for a 70-66 lead.
Onyenso scored low to cut the lead to two and Cameron Boozer missed two free
throws. Thomas had a chance to tie the game but he missed the front end of a
one-and-one giving Duke the ball back.
Onyenso blocked Cameron Boozer for a fifth time, but Boozer was able to get his
own rebound and passed the ball back outside where the Cavaliers fouled Evans,
who sank both free throws with 12.3 seconds left to put Duke up by four.
Thomas made a layup and Virginia fouled Cameron Boozer, who made amends for his
misses by sinking two free throws to seal the win.
Up next
Both teams will await their seed in the NCAA Tournament. It's expected Duke
will be a No. 1 seed and play in Greenville, South Carolina --- the closest
site to its Durham campus.
___
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