RJ Barrett's 30 points and Zion Williamson's 27 guided top-ranked Duke as it knocked No. 4 Virginia from the unbeaten ranks with a 72-70 victory in Saturday night's showdown at raucous Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.
Duke (15-2, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) benefited from late-game defense despite some woes on free throws (18 of 31 for the game).
Virginia (16-1, 4-1) was the country's only undefeated Division I team after No. 2 Michigan lost earlier in the day at Wisconsin.
De'Andre Hunter posted 18 points, and Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy added 14 apiece for Virginia, which went cold down the stretch.
It was the 16th top-five clash in Cameron Indoor Stadium history, with Duke winning 11 previous times. With Virginia holding the No. 1 ranking in the coaches' poll, this marked only the fourth meeting between two No. 1 teams in men's basketball history.
Cam Reddish returned after missing Duke's last game against Syracuse because of illness and notched nine points, including a clinching free throw with 8.3 seconds left. He added nine rebounds.
In a game clearly played at Virginia's preferred pace, Duke led for almost 22 minutes before two Braxton Key free throws at the 14-minute mark of the second half swung the score in Virginia's favor. That began a stretch of seven lead changes in seven possessions.
Barrett drove for a 63-60 Duke edge with 3:12 to go. After Guy missed a 3-pointer from the wing, Barrett drove on Guy for another basket with 2:18 remaining.
Marques Bolden hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with 1:09 to go, creating a 67-60 edge for the Blue Devils. A Guy 3-pointer closed the gap to 69-66 with 26 seconds remaining, but Barrett came back with a pair of free throws to put Duke back up by five with 21 seconds left.
Key sunk two free throws for Virginia with nine seconds to go before Reddish hit his clincher.
Duke led 37-32 at halftime, buoyed by 14 points apiece from Williamson and Barrett. Virginia trailed at the half for the first time this season.
The teams combined for 3-for-18 shooting on threes in the first half.
Duke played without freshman point guard Tre Jones, who suffered a separated shoulder in the opening minutes of the loss to Syracuse.
--Field Level Media
Virginia | Duke | |
De'Andre Hunter 18 | Scoring | RJ Barrett 30 |
Ty Jerome 4 | Assists | RJ Barrett 3 |
Kyle Guy 6 | Rebounds | Zion Williamson 9 |
Braxton Key 7 | Free Throws Made | RJ Barrett 7 |
Kihei Clark 1 | Steals | Cam Reddish 2 |
Jay Huff 2 | Blocks | Zion Williamson 1 |