Duke Wins High Octane ACC Finale

On the night of Saturday, March 14th, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) saw their championship game coming down to the top two seeds of their tournament, a fitting finish.

The top-seeded Duke Blue Devils (31-2 overall, 17-1 ACC) versus the 2nd-seeded Virginia Cavaliers (29-4 overall, 15-3 ACC) meeting inside the Spectrum Center to decide who will be putting new hardware in their showcase.

Duke began the game on a 4-0 run, within an offensive rebound and putback by freshman guard/forward Dame Sarr, then a dunk by senior forward Maliq Brown after a steal by Sarr.

Virginia would respond, tying the game at 6-6 on a layup by graduate guard Dallin Hall and taking the lead, 9-6, immediately after on a three by graduate guard Malik Thomas at the 16:57 mark.

Graduate guard Jacari White's three at the 14:40 mark would give the Cavaliers double the amount of points the Blue Devils had, 12-6.

Freshman guard Cayden Boozer would connect from long range, followed by a layup in traffic to get Duke within one, down 12-11, with 13:34 left in the first half.

Cayden Boozer had an opportunity to take the lead at the line, but instead went 1-for-2, tying the game at 14 just under the 12-minute mark.

Freshman guard/forward Nikolas Khamenia got to the rim to put the Blue Devils ahead 16-14 and freshman center Johann Grunloh responded immediately, heading to the rim himself to tie the game at 16-apiece.

After another layup by Cayden Boozer that gave him 10 points on the night at the 10:56 mark, freshman forward Thijs De Ridder made two free throws to bring about the fourth tie of the game, at 18-18.

Brown would lay the ball in to give the lead back to Duke, 20-18, which would be followed by White's jumper, Cayden Boozer's layup, a layup by Virginia freshman guard Chance Mallory, and Sarr at the rim, all amounting to four lead changes in short order.

Following the media timeout with 6:48 remaining, De Ridder got his own rebound at the rim and put the ball in the hoop for a 25-24 lead, but freshman forward Cameron Boozer would answer right back for the Blue Devils, getting his first points of the contest, and putting Duke back ahead, 26-25.

Sarr would then match the number on his jersey (7) with a three from the left wing to give the Blue Devils a 29-25 lead.

Thomas' two freebies got the Cavaliers back within two, 29-27, before the four-minute mark.

Duke sophomore guard/forward Isaiah Evans got his first points of the night when he cut to the basket and Cameron Boozer sent him the ball from the top of the key.

Evans would send a long-distance strike from the left corner to follow, and Cayden Boozer would dunk the ball home in transition for three-straight field goals that resulted in a seven-point lead, 36-29 with 2:31 left on the first-half clock.

At the 1:33 mark, Hall went 2-for-2 at the line to get Virginia within five, down 36-31.

Hall would then nail a three from right in front of the Blue Devils' bench, turn around, and look at the bench as Virginia got within two, 36-34, with exactly one minute remaining.

In the final 38 seconds, both teams would trade points, with Evans going inside for two, followed by Cavaliers' senior center Ugonna Onyenso cashing in from the paint himself, making it 38-36 Blue Devils at the break.

Good ball movement on Duke's second possession of the second half concluded with Evans knocking down a three for the first points by either team in the final 20 minutes, giving the Blue Devils a 41-36 lead.

However, junior guard Sam Lewis would respond with a three of his own, followed by Thomas at the rim, and the game was tied once again, this time at 41-all.

Then, Thomas went 2-for-2 at the line to give the Cavaliers their first lead, at 43-41, since the 6:28 mark of the first half, when the score was 25-24, a span of exactly 10 minutes to the 17:28 mark of the second half.

Evans and Lewis would send in opposing buckets from long range once again before Cameron Boozer made one of two at the charity stripe.

A three by Mallory at the 16:03 mark gave Virginia a four-point lead, 49-45.

Cameron Boozer's three-pointer with 14:08 to go in the game brought Duke within one, down 49-48, and Khamenia would go 2-for-2 less than 40 seconds later to give the lead back to the Blue Devils, 50-49, at the 13:36 mark.

Onyenso took his own trip to the charity stripe, going 2-for-2 to give the Cavaliers a 51-50 lead.

On the other end, Onyenso would block a putback attempt by Cayden Boozer.

Sophomore guard/forward Darren Harris would take a pass in transition, make the contested layup and the free throw that followed, giving Duke a 53-51 lead.

Lewis would head to the rim for two, resulting in the eighth tie of the night, at 53-apiece.

Khamenia would have something to say about it though, sending a deep shot into the net for a 56-53 lead for the Blue Devils.

Lewis would take a defensive rebound all the way down the floor and to the rim for two, making it 58-55 Duke. His three after a layup by Sarr would get Virginia back to a tie game, this time at 58-58.

Mallory broke the tie with two free throws for the Cavaliers.

Cameron Boozer would then grab an offensive rebound, lay the ball in, and be fouled, securing the old-fashioned three-point play to put Duke ahead 61-60.

After two free throws by Cameron Boozer, Thomas would complete his own old-fashioned three-point play for Virginia, locking the game at 63 with 5:36 remaining; this was the 11th tie of the night.

Out of the media timeout at the 4:57 mark, Evans sent a deep shot through the net for the Blue Devils and Thomas answered with a jumper, making it 66-65 Duke.

De Ridder would go 1-for-2 at the line, tying the game at 66-apiece.

Cayden Boozer followed by pulling down an offensive rebound and laying the ball in to get his total to 16 points along with giving the Blue Devils a two-point lead, 68-66, with 2:49 to play.

Evans going 2-for-2 at the line just inside two minutes remaining moved Duke ahead by two possessions, 70-66.

Onyenso cleaned up at the rim after a missed tip in, laying the ball in the net to get to a 70-68 deficit.

With 1:15 left on the game clock, Cameron Boozer missed both of his freebies.

Thomas would try to go behind his back and Duke was called for a foul, sending him to a 1-and-1 attempt with 51 seconds to play. He would miss the front end of the 1-and-1 and Cameron Boozer grabbed the defensive board.

Evans would be fouled by Lewis with 12.3 seconds remaining after an offensive rebound by Cameron Boozer, making both free throws to give the Blue Devils a 72-68 lead.

Thomas drove to the rim for a layup making it 72-70.

Then, Cameron Boozer went back to the line.

This time, he made both, giving the Blue Devils a two-possession lead, 74-70.

His brother, Cayden, would steal the inbound pass attempt by the Cavaliers, securing the 2026 ACC Title for Duke who rose to 32-2 on the season with this victory.

Evans led all Blue Devils with 20 points, followed by the "Boozer Bros", Cayden with 16 and Cameron with 13.

Thomas finished with 18 for the Cavaliers, followed by Lewis' 17.

As a result of the win, Duke will get an automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Tournament.