In the final minutes of the Virginia men’s basketball team’s ESPN College GameDay clash with Duke Saturday night, Blue Devils freshman guard Tyus Jones stepped up and delivered the final blow at the sold-out John Paul Jones Arena.
Up 66-63 with the shot and game clocks running down, the Apple Valley, Minnesota native sized up his defender and unleashed a 3-pointer from the right wing. The ball fell through the net, giving Duke a six-point lead with 9.9 seconds remaining.
Virginia junior guard Malcolm Brogdon looked to quickly cut the lead in half, but Blue Devils sophomore guard Matt Jones blocked his 3-point attempt and No. 4 Duke (18-3, 5-3 ACC) — playing its third road game in six nights — walked off the court with a 69-63 win.
The No. 2 Cavaliers (19-1, 7-1 ACC) led by nine with less than six minutes to play after a flagrant foul on Blue Devil’s freshman forward Justise Winslow precipitated a four-point swing.
“I’m frustrated right now because I felt like [the win] was in the grasp,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “We had it to take home and we couldn’t finish it.”
The late Blue Devil rally saddled Virginia with its first loss of the 2014-15 season. Bennett said his team scored enough to win but did not get the job done on the defensive end, where Duke became the Cavaliers’ first conference opponent in 45 games to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor.
“We didn’t come up with what you have to do [which] is come up with some tough stops,” Bennett said. “So I think those errors on our part, or breakdowns, probably cost us.”
Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s team missed nine of its first 10 3-point attempts before stroking five of its last seven — with help from dominant freshman center Jahlil Okafor, a gifted passer out of the post.
“Our defensive game plan going into the game was when Okafor got the ball, the guard would choke down and help,” Brogdon said. “But he was making good passes and they were hitting shots.”
Winslow — a hard-driving left-hander from Houston — led the charge for Duke for much of the night, putting up 11 points and six rebounds in the first half and finishing with a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double.
“He was special tonight,” Bennett said. “I think you could see why they talk about him the way they do.”
But after Winslow drove the lane, ending up on the floor beside Virginia junior guard Justin Anderson with a flagrant one to his name and his team down by five, Duke seemed to be in a bad way.
Trailing by 11 after junior center Mike Tobey’s short jump shot with 10:54 remaining, Duke had drawn within two after Okafor scored two baskets and assisted on another despite struggling to that point.
Sophomore point guard London Perrantes stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer from the left wing, and Winslow’s flagrant followed shortly thereafter.
Virginia made Winslow pay — Anderson knocked down two free throws and junior forward Anthony Gill scored inside. But Jones got down the court quickly, banking in a runner, taking a foul and hitting the free throw to cut the Blue Devil deficit to six.
Perrantes put up a floater that dropped right in before Duke senior guard Quinn Cook hit a corner 3. The Blue Devils, cold from distance for much of the night, were starting to heat up.
Okafor put back Jones’ missed 3-pointer, pulling his team within three points at 58-55 with 4:03 to go. Out of the media timeout, Brogdon pushed back, knocking down a long-distance jump shot from the right wing.
Brogdon paced Virginia with 17 points and six rebounds. He played all but three minutes.
“Brogdon is not a good player — he’s a great player,” Krzyzewski said. “He’s one of the best players — so poised and strong. I mean they’re all good, but he’s exceptional.”
The Preseason All-ACC selection’s long-range strike, however, only served as prelude to the final sequence.
Cook answered Brogdon with a 3-pointer of his own before Anderson got behind the Blue Devil zone with Perrantes in holding the basketball. Perrantes threw a lob pass that Anderson pulled in and threw down for an alley-oop — and a five-point Virginia lead — with 2:59 to play.
Thirteen seconds later, Matt Jones hit Duke’s third 3-pointer of the final five minutes. Perrantes turned the ball over trying to work it into the high post, and Jones found Winslow underneath, who laid the ball in to tie the score at 63.
Duke went inside to Okafor after Gill missed in close. Okafor kicked the ball out to Cook for a go-ahead 3-pointer.
“We tried to make [Okafor] work,” Bennett said. “You can see how capable he is…That job was good, but probably not a good enough job on the other guys.”
Tobey missed the front end of a one-and-one. He grabbed his own miss, allowing Virginia to reset, but missed inside after driving from the high post. Cook secured the rebound with 46 seconds left, and the Cavaliers declined to foul.
Jones then took the air out of the gym.
Virginia plays at No. 13 North Carolina (17-5, 7-2 ACC) at 7 p.m. Monday night in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Tar Heels lost to No. 10 Louisville 78-68 in overtime earlier Saturday.
“We just have to get rid of this, put it behind us and get ready for North Carolina,” senior forward Darion Atkins said. “It’s a great challenge and I hope we can come through.”
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