GREENSBORO – Duke basketball found itself in a familiar place Saturday at the Greensboro Coliseum, cutting down nets in celebration of a 22nd ACC Tournament championship.
No program in league history has won more tournament titles than the Blue Devils, who secured a wire-to-wire 59-49 victory against Virginia on Saturday for their first ACC championship since 2019.
After a controversial loss at Virginia in February, the 21st-ranked Blue Devils (26-8) had ample motivation and never trailed against the 14th-ranked Cavaliers (25-7). It’s the ninth time Duke has raised a trophy in Greensboro.
First-year head coach Jon Scheyer is the third rookie coach to win the ACC Tournament, joining Duke’s Vic Bubas (1960) and UNC’s Bill Guthridge (1998). He’s the first person to win tournament MVP (2009) and coach a squad to a title.
Kyle Filipowski, the ACC Rookie of the Year, had 20 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Blue Devils. Junior captain Jeremy Roach supplied 23 points.
Kyle Filipowski was the best player on the floor in each of Duke’s three games at the ACC Tournament. On Saturday night, the 7-footer had as many points (7) as Virginia in the first 11 minutes.
After a scoreless performance that included five turnovers in Duke’s OT loss at Virginia, Filipowski had 11 points and five rebounds in the first half. The freshman turned things up in Duke’s first two games in Greensboro.
He hit 16 of his first 19 shots in the ACC Tournament, scoring 22 points against Pitt before adding 17 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high five assists against Miami. His 15 double-double performances leads all Division I freshmen
Duke’s interior defense
In its rout of Clemson, Virginia scored 40 points in the paint. Things didn’t come as easily for the Cavaliers against Duke, which limited the Cavaliers to six points in the paint in the first half.
The Blue Devils made a point to keep Virginia from being comfortable on the interior, forcing the Hoos’ guards away from the rim and daring them to shoot over 7-foot-1 center Dereck Lively, who had two blocks in the first half after not recording a block in the loss at Virginia.
By the end of the first half, the Cavaliers were shooting 27% (6 of 22) and Duke had a 24-17 lead.
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