Jeremy Roach scored 15 points off the bench and AJ Griffin hit key shots in the final minutes as No. 7 Duke survived for a 65-61 road victory at Virginia on Wednesday night at Charlottesville, Va.
Trevor Keels had 13 points and Griffin finished with 13 points for Duke (24-4, 14-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), which kept sole possession of first place in the league. Griffin made clinching free throws with two seconds left, stretching the Blue Devils' winning streak to five games.
Kihei Clark poured in 25 points, Jayden Gardner posted 16 points and Reece Beekman had 11 points for Virginia (17-11, 11-7), which lost for just the second time in its last seven games.
Clark was 6-for-11 on 3-pointers, but the rest of the team was a combined 2-for-9.
Virginia won 69-68 at Duke on Beekman's 3-point basket with 1.1 seconds to play earlier in the month. The Cavaliers shot just 2-for-12 on 3s in the first meeting with Duke.
This marked the 14th consecutive Duke-Virginia game decided by 10 points or less.
Duke's six-game road winning streak is the longest active by a member of a Power 5 conference.
Mark Williams pulled in 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils.
Duke looked ready to try to pull away with a 49-42 lead with less than eight minutes to play. Suddenly, it was 52-51.
Griffin answered with a 3-pointer, part of his personal eight-point stretch across a 1-minute 37-second span.
Clark drained six 3s in the first 16 minutes, accounting for nearly all of Virginia's points as it held a 22-17 edge.
Duke closed the first half by scoring 13 points in the last 4 1/2 minutes for a 30-25 lead.
It was tied at 13-13 midway through the first half, with Duke reserves scoring seven of the team's points and Clark accounting for nine of Virginia's points.
Then there was a three-minute stretch when neither team scored.
--Field Level Media
Duke | Virginia | |
Jeremy Roach 15 | Scoring | Kihei Clark 25 |
Paolo Banchero 5 | Assists | Kihei Clark 7 |
Mark Williams 10 | Rebounds | Reece Beekman 7 |
Paolo Banchero 4 | Free Throws Made | Reece Beekman 2 |
Trevor Keels 2 | Steals | Reece Beekman 2 |
Mark Williams 4 | Blocks | Armaan Franklin 1 |