Associated Press3 minute read
Roach, Filipowski lead Duke past Virginia to win ACC tournament
Jeremy Roach and Kyle Filipowski combine for 43 points in Duke’s win.
GREENSBORO, NC — jeremy cockroach scored 23 points and No. 21 Duke blocked defensively to beat No. 13 Virginia 59-49 in Saturday night’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship, clinching a title in Jon Scheyer’s debut season as successor to Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski.
First year student Kyle Filipowski added 20 points and 10 rebounds as the tournament’s MVP for the fourth-seeded Blue Devils (26-8), who completed a month-long climb to the top of the ACC to claim a record 22nd championship. the league. He also marked Duke’s ninth straight win, a streak that began with an overtime loss at Virginia in which a league-acknowledged officiating error cost the Blue Devils a chance to win in regulation.
This time, Duke worked its way to the buzzer by leaning on a defense-first approach that Scheyer has pushed all season. The Blue Devils held the second-seeded Cavaliers (25-7) to 33% shooting, with Virginia missing both contested and fair looks while committing nearly as many turnovers (12) as shots (16).
The Blue Devils never trailed, leading by as many as 14 points and holding the Cavaliers, who were playing at a methodical pace and with their own brand of defensive mindedness, working to get closer all night.
Reece Beekman scored 12 points for Virginia, which tied it at six in isaac mckneelyThe triple of ‘s with 3:05 and five in clark sizzledLayup from a scramble with 1:07 remaining. Ultimately, Beekman pulled Virginia within 53-49 on a drive-through layup around Filipowski with 44 seconds remaining.
But the Blue Devils didn’t falter and made six straight free throws to clinch this one. Roach hit four of those, displaying the composure of a veteran who remembers some of his great postseason moments during last year’s Final Four.
Scheyer, the 35-year-old former Blue Devils player and assistant, began the year with the incredibly difficult task of replacing a legend who won more than 1,200 games and five NCAA championships, including one with Scheyer in 2010.
Now Scheyer is the first to win an ACC tournament title as both a player and a coach in league history, and only the third freshman coach to claim the title.
Scheyer finally began to wave his arm at the Duke fans behind the bench over noise with the freshmen. mark mitchell preparing to go to the line for the final free throws with 22.1 seconds remaining.
Moments later, Scheyer began exchanging handshakes and high-fives with his staff as a freshman. Tyrese Proctor began to haggle over the clock. The horn blew and Proctor tossed the ball into the sky, yelling as the players began harassing each other.
Scheyer soon took the half court stage after the game as his players danced around the trophy, wiping their foreheads and watching the scene moments before the 7-foot Filipowski walked up behind him and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. from your coach.
