And then there was one. The Duke Blue Devils survived a very tough back and forth game at John Paul Jones Arena with the previously undefeated Virginia Cavaliers for a 69-63 win on Saturday night. Duke outscored Virginia 14-2 over the last 3:22 of the ball game including an 11-0 run in the last 2:47 to put themselves back in the hunt for a top seed in the ACC Conference Tournament.
Senior guard Quinn Cook took over late in game as he made two triples and assisted on a big three pointer from Matt Jones with 2:47 remaining to keep the margin at two in favor of Virginia. The Blue Devils forced a turnover that was converted by first-half hero Justise Winslow to tie the game at 63.
Virginia brought the ball back down the court but Anthony Gill could not convert the layup. This opened the door for Duke to take the lead and Quinn Cook nailed an open three pointer from 25 feet to give the Blue Devils a 66-63 lead. Tony Bennett took a timeout as all of the momentum had swung back in the favor of Duke.
The Cavaliers looked to feed Mike Tobey in the post for a quick two pointer but he was fouled before he could take the shot. Tobey missed the front end of the one-and-one but was able to get his own rebound. Unfortunately, he could not convert on the second chance either before a jump ball was called on a tie up. Tobey again missed a layup on the inbounds play with less than a minute to go.
Duke brought the ball down the floor and held the ball once it became obvious that Virginia was not going to foul. With the shot clock winding down, Tyus Jones stepped into a three point shot and absolutely buried it to push the margin to six. Malcolm Brogdon attempted one final shot that was blocked by Matt Jones as time expired.
If there was any surprise in the game, it was the struggles of Jahlil Okafor in the first 32 minutes of the game. Okafor was held to just four points during that time but also turned the ball over five times during the same stretch. He would make two key baskets after the under eight minute media timeout in the second half starting with a dunk off the inbounds play. He would make a beautiful running hook shot just 34 seconds later.
Okafor continues his elevated play with a beautiful feed to Matt Jones for a three to bring the margin to two points before a put back on a missed three just before the under four media timeout kept the difference at two.
Virginia was led by the 17 points from Malcolm Brogdon. He and Justin Anderson were the only two players to score in double figures for the Cavaliers who shot 41.3% from the floor.
The win was absolutely huge for the Blue Devils as they improve to 5-3 in the ACC while the Virginia Cavaliers fall to 7-1.
Duke will look to build on this big victory as they host Georgia tech on Wednesday night from Cameron Indoor Stadium. Their week ends with a massive clash against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, also at Cameron. Virginia has a quick turnaround as they travel to Chapel Hill for a clash with the North Carolina Tar Heels on Monday. They return home on Saturday to face the Louisville Cardinals.