Field Level Media
Feb 29, 2020
Mamadi Diakite scored the go-ahead basket with 39 seconds left and Virginia held on to defeat No. 7 Duke 52-50 on Saturday night in Charlottesville, Va.
Duke's Tre Jones missed a shot and after a scramble for the ball the possession arrow was in Virginia's favor with 16 seconds to play.
Virginia's Braxton Key missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Duke delivered the ball in the post to Vernon Carey Jr., whose shot was blocked by Jay Huff.
Huff then made the second of two free-throw attempts with 3.7 seconds to go before Duke used its final timeout. Jones' 3 at the buzzer was off the mark.
Huff finished with 15 points and 10 blocked shots. Diakite and Key each had 14 points as Virginia (21-7, 13-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) stretched its winning streak to six games for the longest active string in the conference.
Carey and Jones each had 17 points for Duke (23-6, 13-5), which was trying to pull into a three-way tie for first place in the ACC. Instead, the Blue Devils lost for the second time in the week.
Both teams had already clinched double byes into the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, but the pecking order among the top four teams still needs to be sorted out.
Carey, who had 10 rebounds, picked up his 14th double-double of the season.
Jones gave Duke a 42-39 lead with a 3-pointer at the 9:10 mark. The Blue Devils didn't score again until Carey's two free throws with 5:13 left put them back ahead at 44-43.
With less than three minutes remaining, Jones drained a 3-pointer. But on its next possession Virginia went back up 49-48 on Key's dunk with 2:33 to go.
The Cavaliers had a chance to extend the lead, but Kihei Clark's shot on a drive was blocked by Carey. Duke had two shots blocked at the other end, then used a timeout before Jones converted when Diakite was called for goaltending with just under a minute remaining.
Huff, playing against his hometown school, had 10 first-half points on 5-for-7 shooting, aided by back-to-back dunks.
The score was tied 25-25 at halftime. Duke had a first-half stretch with eight straight missed shots.
This was Duke's final road game of the season.
Duke won two regular-season meetings with Virginia last season. This was the only scheduled matchup this season.
--Field Level Media