Jeremy Roach, runners-up as Duke passes Virginia for the ACC title

Greensboro, North Carolina – Jeremy Roach Scored 23 points and 21st-ranked Duke overcame its defense to defeat No. 13 Virginia 59-49 in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Saturday night, sealing a title in John Scheer’s first season succeeding Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski.

student Kyle Filipovsky He added 20 points and 10 rebounds as the tournament’s most valuable player for the fourth-seed Blue Devils (26-8), who completed their last-month rise to the top of the ACC to claim their 22nd league title. It also marked Duke’s ninth straight win, a streak that began with a loss Overtime in Virginia as a league-admitted administrative error cost the Blue Devils a chance to win in regulation.

This time around, Duke made its way to the century by relying on the defense-first approach that Scheyer had pushed all season. The Blue Devils held the second-ranked Cavaliers (25-7) to 33% shooting, with Virginia losing the contested, clean look while committing nearly as many turnovers (12) as shots made (16).

The Blue Devils were never late, leading as many as 14 points and holding the Cavaliers, who had been playing with methodical pace and defensive style, working at close range all night.

Reese Beckman Scored 12 points for Virginia, which tied within six days Isaac McNeely3 – index with 3:5 and five in Kyhee ClarkHe laid off the Stampede with 1:07 left. Finally, Beekman pulled Virginia to within 53-49 on a leadoff layup around Filipowski with 44 seconds left.

But the Blue Devils didn’t falter, hitting six straight free throws to clinch this one. Roach hit four of those, displaying a veteran’s composure reminiscent of some of his big postseason moments during last year’s Final Four.

Scheyer, a 35-year-old former Blue Devils player and assistant, started the year with the incredibly difficult task of replacing a legend who won more than 1,200 games and five NCAA championships — one coming with Scheyer in 2010.

Now Scheyer is the first to win the ACC Tournament title as a player and coach in league history, and the third first-year coach to win the title.

Scheyer finally started waving his arm at the Duke fans behind the bench to make noises with the freshman Mark Mitchell Getting ready to go to the final free throw line with 22.1 seconds left in the game.

Moments later, Scheyer began exchanging handshakes with his freshman staff Therese Proctor He started dribbling around the clock. The horn sounded and Proctor tossed the ball skyward, screaming as the players began to rally together.

Scherr quickly rose to post-court as his players danced around the trophy, wiped his forehead and took in the spectacle in the moments before the 7-foot-tall Filipowski walked up behind him and wrapped his arm around his coach’s shoulders.