Duke @ Virginia preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 9, 2019 ) Duke 81, Virginia 71

A pair of ACC powers trending in opposite directions meet Saturday evening in Virginia, where the surging Cavaliers host No. 7 Duke. Virginia has won five in a row and eight of nine to solidify its once-wavering NCAA Tournament chances while pulling within a game of Duke for third place in the conference.

Meanwhile, the Blue Devils have lost two of their last three, one being a 22-point setback at North Carolina State and the most recent a double-overtime defeat at Wake Forest on Tuesday in which the sub-.500 Demon Deacons scored 113 points. "I'm disappointed in our group," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told reporters Tuesday. "I didn't think we came the way we should and the way we've practiced. We show our youth so much. ... This is our 28th game. You'd hope that we'd be older by now, but we were not tonight." The Cavaliers are showing plenty of maturity by surviving a string of close games, as seven of their victories during the 8-1 surge have come by seven points or fewer, including a 56-53 win at Virginia Tech on Wednesday. Saturday marks the only meeting during the regular season between the two teams, who have already clinched double byes in the upcoming ACC Tournament.

TIME: 6 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN

ABOUT DUKE (23-5, 13-4 ACC): A bright spot in the 113-101 loss to Wake Forest was the best game of the season for freshman forward Wendell Moore Jr., who scored a season-high 25 points in 40 minutes of action. Sophomore guard Tre Jones added 24 points, nine assists along with seven rebounds, and he ranks second on the team in scoring (16.1) and first in assists (6.5, second in the ACC). Freshman center Vernon Carey Jr. leads the Blue Devils with 17.6 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, although he had only 10 points in 19 minutes before fouling out Tuesday.

ABOUT VIRGINIA (20-7, 12-5): Sophomore guard Kihei Clark scored 17 in back-to-back games before finishing a 10-point effort at Virginia Tech with a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left, giving the Cavaliers a fifth straight win in games decided by a single possession. "We're giving a lot of people a heart attack," senior swingman Braxton Key told reporters. "We're learning. We're a young team. We're starting to grow up though. We're learning how to win." Senior forward Mamadi Diakite scored 19 points against the Hokies and leads Virginia with 13.6 per contest, while Key is the team's top rebounder (7.3).

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Clark is 10-of-20 from 3-point distance over his last six games after going 0-for-14 over his previous six.

2. Blue Devils freshman G Cassius Stanley is averaging 17.5 points over his last two games to push his season average to 12.4

3. Duke has won five of the last six meetings and three in a row at Virginia.

PREDICTION: Duke 73, Virginia 70