NEW YORK — For the second time in seven days, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski has been denied a defining moment in the twilight of his coaching career.
After rival North Carolina ruined their final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium last Saturday, it was upstart Virginia Tech who eliminated the Blue Devils in Coach K’s final appearance in the tournament. ACC during the final Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Playing their fourth game in four days, the seventh-seeded Hokies (23-12) clinched a spot in next week’s NCAA Tournament with a stunning 82-67 win over number-one seeded Duke behind a blistering offensive performance from Hunter Cattoor.
The junior guard hit his first six 3-point shots on his way to a career-high 31 points as the Hokies return to Blacksburg with an ACC Tournament title in their first championship appearance. Virginia Tech becomes the lowest seed to win the tournament.
“I think they are the team they thought they were,” Coach K said after the game. “We couldn’t stop them. He (Cattoor) had a Klay Thompson-like night.”
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The loss to Duke adds an unfortunate footnote in a long chapter of ACC tournament dominance for Krzyzewski, who did not win his 16th title before retiring at the end of this season.
Krzyzewski finishes with a 15-7 record in ACC title games – he went 1-1 in the Brooklyn Finals with a victory in 2017 – passing legendary UNC coach Dean Smith (21) for the most championship appearances in league history.
“I’m proud of the way we’ve played this week. Obviously we’re disappointed to have lost in the Championship, but that doesn’t define how well we’ve played all week,” coach K said. .
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Duke (28-6), which beat Syracuse and Miami en route to the Finals, entered the night with an outside shot on a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament but will likely settle for a second or third seed after the loss.
The Hokies’ remarkable run in the ACC field began Wednesday with a last-second win over No. 10 Clemson. They beat No. 2 Notre Dame on Wednesday before dominating No. 10 UNC. 3, in Friday’s semi-final.
“These guys have earned the right,” Coach K said as he waved to his team. “And the team we played against weren’t sure we made it to the tournament because of all the tipsters. They banged their ticket vehemently tonight, and God bless them, they deserve it.”
Virginia Tech led 42-39 at halftime – the Hokies also held a slight advantage in their first and only game against Duke on Dec. 22 – behind 17 points from Cattoor and a 3-point barrage that gave the Hokies an advantage seven points late in the first half.
They made it 7 of 10 from beyond the arc with Cattoor hitting all four of his attempts. Duke trailed Paolo Banchero’s 10 points but failed to use a noticeable height advantage in the post. The Blue Devils finished the half with an offensive rebound but were able to convert on 7 of 8 free throw attempts.
Banchero finished the night with a team-high 20 points while Virginia Tech’s Keve Aluma added 19.
Coach K retired his starters with 1:14 left in the game, allowing his grandson, Michael Savarino, to take the field with other Duke reserves and play for the loss.
“We’re moving on,” Duke’s Wendell Moore said after the loss. “Tomorrow we’ll see where we rank and then we’ll go from there. We’ll have a few days of good practice in order to prepare for who we have. We have to forget about this one. The game is already over.
David Thompson is an award-winning reporter for the USA Today Network covering NC State and Duke athletics. He can be reached at dthompson1@gannett.com, 828-231-1747, or on Twitter at @daveth89.
