Duke knocks off Virginia, Jon Scheyer wins ACC Tournament in first season

No team headed to Greensboro hotter than Duke, winning its final six games of the regular season. The goal was simple from the get-go — win the ACC Tournament and make an attempt to significantly improve NCAA Tournament seeding. The Blue Devils were able to do exactly, that, knocking Virginia off on Saturday night.

As you might expect in a game played against Virginia, there was a slow pace throughout and not too many points were scored. Duke was able to put 20 on the board with Kyle Filipowski being the second-leading scorer. The freshman has been the best player for head coach Jon Scheyer all season long and continued on the biggest stage to this point.

Experience played a factor as well. Point guard Jeremy Roach put on an offensive clinic and was just ahead of Filipowski in the scoring department with 23 points. He is one of the few currently on the roster with experience in the postseason. It came up in a huge spot on Saturday.

Virginia really struggled from the field, shooting just over 33%. They were even worse from behind the three-point line, making just 4 of 17. If you take away the 13 points scored from the free-throw line, the Cavaliers only scored 36 from the field.

Duke winning the ACC Tournament is nothing new. They were able to secure recent titles in 2017 and 2019, doing so under Mike Krzyzewski. This is an unfamiliar feeling for Scheyer though, taking home a trophy during his first season in charge in Durham.

A quality achievement Jon Scheyer will have something to hang his hat on for some time. He will be looking for a national championship as well. And with how well Duke is playing at the moment, Scheyer will have his players believing they will be good enough to cut down the nets in Houston.