Duke basketball’s ‘revenge tour’ continues, will meet Virginia in ACC championship game
Having rolled through an unofficial redemption tour for the last two weeks, No. 21 Duke seeks to exorcise the demons of its most bitter defeat and win an ACC championship at the same time.
Having avenged earlier losses to Virginia Tech, N.C. State and, on Friday night in the ACC semifinals, Miami, the Blue Devils square off against No. 13 Virginia in the ACC tournament final at 8:30 p.m.
Playing for an ACC trophy provides passion enough. But the events of one month earlier give Duke an extra edge.
On Feb. 11 on Virginia’s home court at John Paul Jones Arena, Duke’s Kyle Filipowski appeared ready to shoot two free throws with less than a second left in a tie game. But the officials who called the foul looked at replay and wiped it out, sending the game to overtime where Virginia won 69-62.
Five hours after the game ended, the ACC admitted its game officials incorrectly adjudicated the replay situation by not allowing Filipowski, a 75% free throw shooter, a chance to win the game in regulation.
The Blue Devils seethed. But they haven’t lost a game since that day. Their 85-78 win over No. 14 Miami on Friday night gave Duke an eight-game winning streak with wins in 11 of their last 13 games.
One of those two losses in that stretch was that odd day at Charlottesville, Virginia.
WHAT’S AT STAKE
Duke last won the ACC tournament championship in 2019 in Charlotte. The Blue Devils also won in 2017 in Brooklyn, New York. Duke and Virginia met in the 2014 ACC tournament final at Greensboro with the Cavaliers posting a 72-63 win.
Virginia last won the ACC championship in 2018, when the Cavaliers topped North Carolina, 71-63, in the title game at Brooklyn.
Both Duke and Virginia will play in the NCAA tournament when it begins next week. With the tournament selection committee currently deliberating and putting the bracket together, a win Saturday would certainly give either team a case to maybe move up a seed line.
But this one is more about pride and earning a championship. Duke has a conference-record 21 tournament championships. Virginia has won it three times.
FIRST IMPRESSION
The late-game officiating shenanigans aside, Duke and Virginia played a tight game in their lone regular-season meeting last month.
Duke damaged itself by turning the ball over a season-worst 22 times against the Cavaliers’ suffocating defense. The Blue Devils shot 44.9% but hit only 2 of 6 shots in overtime. Jeremy Roach scored 16 points but committed five of Duke’s turnovers. Freshman guard Tyrese Proctor finished with 14 points and three turnovers.
Filipowski, Duke’s leading scorer (15.3) and rebounder (8.9) this season, went scoreless with five turnovers before fouling out in overtime.
Virginia’s Armaan Frankin scored a game-high 23 points that day while senior guard Kihei Clark scored 16 with five assists. Brad Vander Plas tallied 13 points off the bench as Virginia shot 51.9%.
SCOUTING REPORT ON VIRGINIA
The Cavaliers are once again a stout defensive team, allowing 60.5 points per game (No. 9 nationally.) Opponents have only made 41.9% of their shots against the Cavaliers. That’s No. 67 nationally and No.3 in the ACC behind only Clemson (40.5%) and, incidentally, Duke (40.9%).
Clark, Franklin and 6-7 Reece Beekman give the Cavaliers three elite players on the perimeter. Jaylen Gardner, a 6-6 senior forward from Wake Forest, contributes 11.9 points and 5.9 rebounds on the interior.
Virginia will be without the 6-8 Vander Plas, who is out after breaking his hand in practice on Wednesday. He won’t play the rest of the season.
The obvious thing Duke needs to do Saturday night is protect the ball better against the Cavaliers. The Blue Devils have done that during their eight-game winning streak, when they’ve averaged just 9.4 turnovers per game.
They’ve also shot better than the 44.9% the had at Virginia five times during this streak, including a season-best 62..1% in pounding Pittsburgh, 96-69, in the ACC tournament quarterfinals and 54.9% while beating Miami, 85-79, on Friday night in the semifinals.
This story was originally published March 10, 2023 at 11:53 PM with the headline "Duke basketball’s ‘revenge tour’ continues, will meet Virginia in ACC championship game."