Virginia Goes Cold, Falls to Duke 59-49 in ACC Championship Game

The Blue Devils denied the Cavaliers their fourth ACC Tournament title on Saturday night in Greensboro

Virginia will have to wait a little longer for its fourth ACC Tournament title. 

The Cavaliers went ice cold on the offensive end and couldn't quite complete the comeback in the second half as Duke (26-8) defeated Virginia (25-7) 59-49 on Saturday night at Greensboro Coliseum to win the 2023 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament Championship. 

Kyle Filipowski and Jeremy Roach combined to score 43 points, which was too much for the Cavaliers to keep up. Virginia was out of sorts on the offensive end in the first half, making just six shots on 27.3% shooting and scoring just 17 points. UVA was lucky to only trail by seven points at halftime, as the Virginia defense was able to limit Duke to 24 points in the first half. 

After scoring zero points in the regular season meeting with UVA, Kyle Filipowski was back with a vengeance in the rematch. The ACC Rookie of the Year had 20 points, 10 rebounds, and three steals to lead the Blue Devils. Duke jumped out to a 36-22 lead early in the second half, but Virginia fought back to get it to single digits at 36-27. A lengthy scoring drought ensued for both teams, as the Cavaliers' offensive woes continued to prevent them from capitalizing on the opportunity to get within striking distance. 

A three-pointer from Isaac McKneely made it a six-point game with eight and a half minutes to play, but Duke responded with a haymaker, as Filipowski delivered a great cross-court pass out of a double-team to Tyrese Proctor, who drained the big three-pointer from the opposite corner. Filipowski then came up with a steal and slammed home a dunk in transition, putting the Blue Devils back ahead by 11. 

Virginia continued to fight and managed to cut the deficit to four points at 53-49 with 46 seconds remaining, but Duke was solid from the free throw line, in particular Jeremy Roach, who made all seven of his free throws in the game to seal the win. Roach finished with 23 points and four rebounds. 

Reece Beekman led Virginia with 12 points and four assists and the freshman Isaac McKneely joined him in double figures with 10 points on 3/5 shooting, including 2/4 from three-point range. Jayden Gardner and Armaan Franklin were quiet on the offensive end after having big games in the semifinals, scoring just seven points apiece. Kadin Shedrick gave the Cavaliers a solid lift off the bench for the third-straight game with five points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes. Kihei Clark did not have a good game on Saturday, finishing with just six points on 1/9 shooting with one assist and three turnovers. 

Virginia shot 33.3% from the floor and simply couldn't score enough to support what was otherwise a sufficient defensive showing for the Cavaliers. 

Virginia (25-7) will await its NCAA Tournament selection on Sunday. The NCAA Selection Show will be held at 6pm on Sunday on CBS. 

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