Mike Krzyzewski made his final trip to Charlottesville Wednesday, and it was fitting that Virginia natives Jeremy Roach and Trevor Keels played key roles in Duke’s 65-61 win over Virginia.
But in the end, it was Duke freshman A.J. Griffin that kept the Blue Devils from suffering a season-sweep by the Cavaliers. Griffin’s 10 points over the final four minutes propelled No. 7 Duke to the win.
Roach, a sophomore, and Keels, a freshman ,were state champions at St. Paul’s VI High in Chantilly before crossing the border to play at Duke.
For Virginia, it was California native Kihei Clark who practically single-handedly carried the Cavaliers all night. Clark scored a game-high 25 points for Virginia (17-11, 11-7 ACC), including 18 straight points for UVA in the first half on six three-pointers.
Duke led 30-25 at halftime, only to see the Cavaliers pull to within one early in the second half. The Blue Devils led by as many as eight when Roach drilled a three-pointer with 6:46 remaining.
Virginia, refusing to fold t,ook advantage of a Duke offense that went on a three-minute struggle. A Clark floater in the lane sliced the Duke lead to 52-51 with 5:02 left as the JPJ crowd exploded.
The Cavaliers had two shots to grab the lead, but Clark, proving human, missed an open three-pointer, followed by a Jayden Gardner miss on a short jumper.
Krzyzewski, after a timeout, went to a smaller lineup. Griffin ended Duke’s scoring drought with a critical three-pointer to make it a 55-51 game with 3:39 left.
After an Armaan Franklin basket, Griffin drained another long three with 2:40 left, giving Duke a 58-53 lead.
Griffin’s most significant contribution of the evening possibly occurred on the defensive end of the floor. Virginia trailed 60-57, and with a dwindling shot clock, tried to force the ball in the paint. Griffin deflected the pass, an opportunistic Keels picked the ball up, and then drove the court for a layup to push the lead back to five with less than a minute remaining.
The Blue Devils were able to hold off Virginia the last 50 seconds, avoiding a season sweep, and moving back into first place in the ACC standings.
Did the loss, cripple the Cavaliers postseason hopes? Not according to Krzyzewski. “You can’t always look at the numbers. Virginia has beaten two of the top teams in the conference (Miami, Duke) three out of four games. If they don’t make the tournament, it would be a sin,” stated Krzyzewski.
The Cavaliers will close out the regular-season home slate with a 4 p.m. tipoff against Florida State Saturday.
Story by Scott German
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