The stage was set for a Blue Devil victory.
The last time an unclassified Duke of Virginia faced just over five years ago, the Blue Devils shocked the seventh-ranked Cavaliers at Cameron Indoor Stadium, with Grayson Allen hitting an acrobatic one-handed bench shot to to win it at the buzzer.
And Saturday night in the same home venue, Duke did it again and no. 7 Virginia relegated 66-65 for its third consecutive conference win, but the first win of the season.
While the Blue Devils kept the lead from one point and less than one minute left, the Cavaliers walked on the floor looking for Sam Hauser to try and lead them. The forward missed a leaning catch-and-shoot try with 37 seconds left, but the red-shirt Jay Huff got the offensive setback to give Virginia a second chance. The Cavaliers then recovered their offense, with Kihei Clark taking the ball, driving the baseline and throwing up a driver who bounced back over the iron with 14 seconds.
The Cavaliers got another chance when DJ Steward of the Duke Guard missed his first release on a one-on-one with just under ten seconds left. But the Blue Devils defended Clark perfectly, forcing him to a controversial try at the buzzer that was tipped by Blue Devil forward Matthew Hurt and did not fall under the basket.
“It’s sad that fans were not at this game. It was an epic game,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. ‘It [was] a great basketball game, tonight. Every possession is fought – sometimes looks like every dribble. [Virginia is] an excellent team and program. They are veterans and they played like that. They are so ready and play an excellent defense. And our kids also played good defense tonight and came up with some great plays. ‘
Virginia looked to take control with eight minutes left in the game, with Hauser coming off a screen and tapping a deep two to break a 51-51 tie. Just over a minute later, Clark drove down the track and struck a shot as he picked up the offense and sank the free throw to put the Cavaliers ahead 56-51.
But the Blue Devils did not let Virginia break away, with a Wendell Moore Jr. jumper and Steward try to level the game again.
From there, the score went back and forth, with both teams still exchanging buckets in a classic game between Duke and Virginia. Two Huff free throws put the Cavaliers ahead 65-62 with three minutes left, but Steward responded right back with a jumper to pull Duke inside one.
When Clark receives the ensuing incoming pass, the Blue Devils hit the floor in harmony, a trademark for the program. Virginia would not score the rest of the game.
In possession, Jaemyn Brakefield swung away a Clark training effort, followed by a reverse set-up on the other side to give the Blue Devils a 66-65 lead, which ultimately was the final score.
“We just knew once they went up, we had to stay calm and just stay in the game,” Brakefield said. “We knew we were always in the game. Just to make those plays, that’s why you come to Duke, man – just to make such plays. And that’s Duke basketball.”
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Duke (10-8, 8-6 in the ACC) led 39-36 at halftime, but Virginia (15-5, 11-3) opened the second half with revenge. More specifically, Huff opened the second half with revenge. The 7-foot-1 forward hit three straight dumps home to open the period, quickly regaining the lead for the Cavaliers.
But Hurt went on to show off his “Larry Bird-esque” shooting, as Jay Bilas of ESPN so eloquently put it, by tapping a fast jumper and three to keep it close.
The Minnesota native took part red-hot and shot 18-of-21 from the field and 9-of-11 from deep over his last two games, both winning Blue Devil. And the sophomore continued the hot streak on Saturday in the first half, draining his first three shots, all from outside the arc.
Hurt eventually finished with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor, including 5-of-8 from distance.
“I think my teammates and my coaching staff made me very confident,” Hurt said of his recent hot streak. “There were some games I did not play well, but my coaching staff and my teammates – they believe in me … I’m just trying to be aggressive and just trying to win, especially. We won, and that’s all I care about. ‘
Still, Virginia kept a narrow lead for most of the first half, thanks to a quick move from Huff, Clark’s cleverness and Hauser’s sharp shooting. The trio combined 54 of the Cavaliers’ 65 points on the evening.
But then Brakefield decided enough is enough.
The first rookie scored seven consecutive points through a layup, a breakaway and a try, making a 25-22 deficit Duke in a 29-25 lead, with five minutes left.
Brakefield finished with 11 points, five rebounds and four blocks in a career-high 29 minutes.
“The experience of playing on a collegiate level, on this level with the physicality, is a learned experience,” Krzyzewski said. “You can only learn it by playing in these games. And now that we’ve played a number of them, we’ve learned by losing and losing from close games. But at least we learned from it – not just losing, but also why. “And these children did what we asked them to do. And Jaemyn is an excellent example.”
The Blue Devils immediately earned a No. 20 ranking after Allen’s buzz of defeating Virginia in 2016, and they remained in the top 25 for nearly five years each week until January 5th. It remains to be seen if Duke can return to the top 25 at some point this season. But one thing is for sure: the Blue Devils’ NCAA tournament chances are still alive.
Duke had a quick turnaround after this big win, and Syracuse took on Monday at 7 p.m.