No. 7 Duke, Virginia battle for position in ACC

No. 7 Duke, Virginia battle for position in ACC

Shortly after the week began, No. 7 Duke was in control of its destiny in terms of being the top seed for the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

With just three games remaining, that could be shifting dramatically.

The Blue Devils go to Virginia for Saturday night's game in Charlottesville, Va., needing to win in order to keep one of the top three spots in the pecking order.

Third-place Duke (23-5, 13-4 ACC) leads fourth-place Virginia (20-7, 12-5) by one game heading into the only meeting of the regular season between the teams. Both teams have secured the double-bye in the quarterfinals of next month's ACC Tournament.

Duke has lost two of its last three games, including Tuesday night's brutal final minute of regulation at Wake Forest in an eventual 113-101 double-overtime loss.

"We didn't make the right plays at the end and let them back into it," Duke guard Tre Jones said.

The Blue Devils had hit late-season glitches that coach Mike Krzyzewski figured would have been sorted out by now.

"I'm disappointed in our group," Krzyzewski said. "I didn't think we came the way we should and the way we practiced. We show our youth so much. Tre is the veteran, but then we're young. This is our 28th game -- you'd think we'd be older by now."

Part of the problem for Duke has revolved around foul trouble. The frontcourt players were saddled with fouls in the Wake Forest game, and by the end, the Demon Deacons attempted 50 free throws.

"I'm angry with us for fouling so much," Krzyzewski said. "They had 18 free throws in the first half."

Virginia has reached the 20-win mark for the ninth consecutive season. The Cavaliers have won five games in a row for the longest active winning streak in the ACC.

"Some guys made plays, and I have said that repeatedly you have to make plays offensively, defensively," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said.

Nine of the Cavaliers' victories, including seven of the last nine, have come by six or fewer points.

Virginia's latest hero was guard Kihei Clark, who drained the winning 3-point basket in Wednesday night's 56-53 victory at Virginia Tech.

It was another example of the way the Cavaliers have come up with winning plays. Clark ended up with the ball in his hands at the right time.

"I kind of challenged him," Bennett said. "I didn't think he had the greatest second half with some of his defensive things, but he responded the right way with the way he played, and we needed every ounce of it."

Clark finished that game with 10 points after scoring 17 points in each of the Cavaliers' previous two games. Those marked the first time in the sophomore's career that he had consecutive games with 15 or more points.

The Cavaliers had their defense locked in across the first half Wednesday night, holding Virginia Tech to 11 points by the break.

Last season, Duke punctured Virginia's defense in a way that few opponents did in a pair of victories, scoring 72 and 81 points in those matchups.

--Field Level Media