NEW YORK — For the second time in seven times, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski was denied a seminal instant in the twilight of his coaching career.
Immediately after rival North Carolina spoiled his final video game at Cameron Indoor Stadium very last Saturday, it was upstart Virginia Tech that knocked off the Blue Devils in Coach K’s closing visual appeal in the ACC Event in the remaining Saturday at Brooklyn’s Barclays Middle.
Enjoying their fourth match in four days, the seventh-seeded Hokies (23-12) clinched a berth in future week’s NCAA Tournament with a stunning 82-67 win over leading-seeded Duke behind a blistering offensive performance from Hunter Cattoor.
The junior guard hit his to start with 6 3-stage shots on the way to a career-higher 31 factors as the Hokies return to Blacksburg with an ACC Match title in their 1st championship appearance. Virginia Tech gets the cheapest seed to get the event.
“I believe they are the workforce they considered they ended up heading to be,” Mentor K explained postgame. “We couldn’t stop them. He (Cattoor) experienced a Klay Thompson form of night.”
MARCH Insanity BRACKET Game:Make a pool and invite your close friends!
The loss for Duke adds an unfortunate footnote in a prolonged chapter of dominance in the ACC Event for Krzyzewski, who fell shorter of his 16th title ahead of his retirement at the summary of this period.
Krzyzewski finishes with a 15-7 history in ACC title video games — he went 1-1 in Brooklyn finals with a gain in 2017— passing legendary UNC coach Dean Smith (21) for the most championship appearances in league heritage.
“I am very pleased of the way we played this 7 days. Clearly, we’re disappointed we shed in the championship but that doesn’t define how nicely we performed this entire 7 days,” Mentor K claimed.
Bubble Watch winners and losers:Indiana, Texas A&M lock up at-large bids Michigan and SMU in trouble
Duke (28-6), which defeated Syracuse and Miami on the road to the final, entered the evening with an exterior shot at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament but will likely settle for a 2nd or third seed immediately after the reduction.
The Hokies’ remarkable run as a result of the ACC subject started Wednesday with a last-second earn over No. 10 Clemson. They upset No. 2 Notre Dame on Wednesday right before dominating No. 3 UNC in Friday’s semifinal.
“These men have earned the appropriate,” Mentor K stated motioning to his crew. “And the workforce we played was not positive if they manufactured the tournament since of all the prognosticators. They punched their ticket vehemently tonight, and God bless them, they ought to have it.”
Virginia Tech led 42-39 at halftime — the Hokies also held a slight advantage in their very first and only game versus Duke on Dec. 22 — powering 17 factors from Cattoor and a 3-stage barrage that gave the Hokies a seven-point edge late in the initial half.
They made 7 of 10 from outside of the arc with Cattoor hitting all four of his tries. Duke was led by Paolo Banchero’s 10 factors but failed to use a notable dimension advantage in the publish. The Blue Devils finished the 50 % with a person offensive rebound but ended up capable to transform on 7 of 8 cost-free-throw makes an attempt.
Banchero finished the evening with a workforce-substantial 20 details whilst Virginia Tech’s Keve Aluma added 19.
Coach K pulled his starters with 1:14 remaining in the recreation, letting his grandson, Michael Savarino, to acquire the courtroom with other Duke reserves and perform out the reduction.
“We go on to the next 1,” Duke’s Wendell Moore stated soon after the decline. “Tomorrow we are likely to see where we’re seeded at and then we just go from there. We get a couple of times of great observe in buy to prep for who we have. We’ve bought to fail to remember about this a person. The video game is by now over.”
David Thompson is an award-profitable reporter for the United states These days Community covering NC Point out and Duke athletics. He can be reached at [email protected], at 828-231-1747, or on Twitter at @daveth89.
