No. 1 Duke holds on to beat Virginia 74-70 for 2nd straight ACC Tournament title under Jon Scheyer

By Canadian Press on March 14, 2026.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Isaiah Evans scored 20 points, Cameron Boozer made two free throws with 3.9 seconds to seal the game and No. 1 Duke defeated No. 10 Virginia 74-70 on Saturday night for its second straight Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship under coach Jon Scheyer and its third title in the past four years.

Cayden Boozer had 16 points, and Cameron Boozer finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as the Blue Devils (32-2) extended their winning streak to 11 games heading into the NCAA Tournament as the likely No. 1 overall seed.

Malik Thomas had 18 points and Sam Lewis had 17 for Virginia (29-5) in a game in which neither team led by more than seven points and featured 16 lead changes.

Ugonna Onyenso had nine blocks and finished with an ACC Tournament record with 20 over three games. Tim Duncan had the previous record of 14 in 1995.

The Cavaliers came into the game 1-32 all-time against No. 1-ranked opponents — and 0-17 against top-ranked Duke teams — and were blown out by the Blue Devils 77-51 two weeks ago at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

But Virginia never looked intimidated, even after Duke threatened to pull away late in the first half after building a 36-29 lead when Evans knocked down a 3 and Cayden Boozer — who had 14 points before the break — scored on a fastbreak dunk off a Virginia turnover.

It was back and forth from there until Cayden Boozer put back a weakside rebound to put the Blue Devils up for good at 68-66 with 2:50 left. The Cavaliers couldn’t get a shot off in time in their next possession and Duke seized the momentum with Evans hitting two free throws for a 70-66 lead.

Onyenso scored low to cut the lead to two and Cameron Boozer missed two free throws. Thomas had a chance to tie the game but he missed the front end of a one-and-one giving Duke the ball back.

Onyenso blocked Cameron Boozer for a fifth time, but Boozer was able to get his own rebound and passed the ball back outside where the Cavaliers fouled Evans, who sank both free throws with 12.3 seconds left to put Duke up by four.

Thomas made a layup and Virginia fouled Cameron Boozer, who made amends for his misses by sinking two free throws to seal the win.

Up next

Both teams will await their seed in the NCAA Tournament. It’s expected Duke will be a No. 1 seed and play in Greenville, South Carolina — the closest site to its Durham campus.

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Steve Reed, The Associated Press