Duke Wins 22nd ACC Title With 59-49 Victory Over Virginia

Box Score GREENSBORO – Duke used 20-point performances from Jeremy Roach and Kyle FIlipowski en route to its 22nd ACC title, defeating Virginia, 59-49, on Saturday night. The Blue Devils (26-8, 14-6) limited the Cavaliers to just 16-of-48 (.333) shooting from the field and forced 12 turnovers. 

Roach ended the game with a career-high 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc and a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. The junior captain scored 19 second-half points, a season-high for any Duke player.

Filipowski logged his 16th double-double of the season with a 20-point, 10-rebound performance and was named ACC Tournament MVP after averaging 19.7 points, 7.0 rebounds while shooting 24-of-36 (.667) from the field.

 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Duke scored six quick points off of layups from Jeremy Roach and Dereck Lively II while holding Virginia scoreless for the first three minutes of play. Kyle Filipowski got into the scoring column with a layup late in the shot clock to put Duke ahead, 8-3, with 15:33 on the clock.
• Two free throws by Ryan Young gave Duke its largest of the game so far, 13-5, just over nine minutes into the contest. The Blue Devils took their first double-digit lead, 22-11, on a put-back layup by Filipowski with 2:23 remaining in the first half. Duke held Virginia to its lowest first-half scoring total since March 22, 2022, and remained in the lead at halftime, 24-17.
• Jumpers by Roach on back-to-back possessions helped the Blue Devils extend their advantage, 31-22, at the first media timeout of the second half. A contested three-pointer by Roach pushed Duke’s lead to 14, 36-22, with 14:35 left in the game. Virginia responded with five fast points to cut Duke’s lead to single-digits, 36-27.
• Both defenses continued to feature prominently, as the two teams combined to go scoreless for nearly nine minutes before a layup by Filipowski gave Duke an 11-point lead, 38-27, at the 9:19 mark. 
• Following a three-pointer by Virginia, Proctor connected on a shot of his own from beyond the arc. Filipowski turned a steal into a breakaway dunk on the next possession and gave the Blue Devils a 43-32 lead, forcing a timeout by the Cavaliers. The freshman capped off another double-double after his 10th rebound of the game with 4:28 left in the game.
• The Blue Devils kept…