ACC tournament title on the line as Duke basketball battles Virginia

GREENSBORO, N.C.—In the first year of the new ACC, the last two teams standing are old conference foes.

Third-seeded Duke will try to unseat top-seeded Virginia in the ACC tournament championship game Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum. Depending on how the rest of the conference tournament slate plays out across the nation, the teams could also be jockeying for position as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

"As long as I'm coaching, coaching an ACC [tournament] game is an honor, let alone coaching multiple games," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "If you have a chance to win a championship in this league, it's the best."

The first meeting between the two teams Jan. 13 at Cameron Indoor Stadium was played under very different pretenses. Duke (26-7) sat at 1-2 in ACC play and had just seen its AP poll top-10 streak ended, and the Cavaliers (27-6) were unranked and unheralded at the national level.

Duke looked to be in total control in the second half, but the Cavaliers clawed back from a double-digit second half deficit to take a brief lead late in the game. With no margin for error, the Blue Devils squeaked out a 69-65 victory behind a fortuitous bounce on a Rasheed Sulaimon 3-pointer with 18.8 seconds remaining.

Sulaimon—who erupted for 21 points against Virginia after struggling early in the season—acknowledged the importance of his shot to altering the path of Duke's season, but dismissed the first meeting between the teams as "irrelevant."

“Playing them, we’re familiar with how they play, but like I said that was about two months ago," Sulaimon said. "Everything is heightened in March. They’re a better team, we’re a better team, so you can’t really look at that game too, too much."

"All I just remember is us winning and Rasheed coming through with a big play." —Jabari Parker

Since that game, Tony Bennett's Cavaliers have been nearly unbeatable, winning 15 of their last 16 games and claiming their first ACC regular season title since 1981. Duke has also hit its stride, losing just three of its final 16 games.

"Tony's done a sensational job," Krzyzewski said. "What he's done is... build a program. It's not just a Virginia team. It's a Virginia program. It's based on solid play and solid character."

In its first two games in Greensboro, Duke had to deal with two prolific individual scorers in Clemson's K.J. McDaniels and N.C. State's T.J. Warren. By contrast, Virginia relies on a well-balanced offensive attack, led by first-team All-ACC selection Malcom Brogdon and steady senior Joe Harris. Sixth man Justin Anderson is third on the team in scoring, and forwards Anthony Gill and Akil Mitchell provide Bennett's squad with consistent interior production.

The Cavaliers excel on the defensive end, boasting the nation's top scoring defense at 55.1 points per game. Virginia stifled Pittsburgh in the semifinal round, holding the Panthers to 48 points on 36.7 percent shooting. The Blue Devils average 79.3 points per contest, meaning something will have to give Sunday afternoon.

A Duke team that was struggling to find an identity in January won the first meeting. Now a Blue Devil squad predicated on ironclad defense and an inside-out offense will look for the season sweep, the tournament title and a leg-up in the seeding process on Selection Sunday.

“We were still trying to find out who we were back then, and I think we have a better sense of that now," Sulaimon said. "I’m pretty sure Virginia’s the same way."

In the first matchup, Duke freshman Jabari Parker struggled to get anything going on offense, netting eight points on 3-of-11 shooting and playing just 26 minutes. Parker has smoothed out the wrinkles in his game since then, averaging 19.6 points per game in Duke's last 16 games and turning in 10 double-doubles.

When asked what he remembered about that game, Parker's answer hinted at tunnel vision, blocking out his poor performance to focus on the positives for his team.

"All I just remember is us winning and Rasheed coming through with a big play," Parker said.