The Key Three: Duke basketball vs. Virginia

Duke beat Virginia 69-65 Jan. 13 on a late 3-pointer by Rasheed Sulaimon. Since then, the Cavaliers have won 15-of-16 games, and will have a chance to add an ACC tournament championship to their conference regular-season title when they face the Blue Devils Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum. For Duke, a second victory against Virginia would help the Blue Devils strengthen their case for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Here are today's keys to the game:

• Score more than 60 points: Virginia has the nation's best scoring defense, allowing a stingy 55.1 points per contest. The Cavaliers have allowed just 99 points through two games in Greensboro, but haven't seen anything close to the likes of Duke's offensive firepower so far in the tournament. The Blue Devils started to hit their shots from behind the arc Saturday against N.C. State—doing so again is imperative to spreading out the Cavalier defense.
• Get the guards involved: Jabari Parker and Rodney are options 1A and 1B for the Blue Devils, but Duke's guards came up big in Saturday's semifinal win against N.C. State. Quinn Cook shook off a bit of a slump and tickled the twine with three triples, Rasheed Sulaimon drove relentlessly to the basket and finished in traffic, and Tyler Thornton did all the little things that Tyler Thornton always does. A repeat performance from those three could have Duke atop the podium at the end of the day.
• Withstand a second-half surge: The Cavaliers have made a habit of playing close first halves before blowing off their opponents after intermission. Virginia blitzed Syracuse March 4 to win the regular season title, and pulled away from Florida State to win easily in the tournament quarterfinals. This habit lies in contrast to Duke's habit of allowing teams to make second-half runs, so limiting the Cavaliers' momentum will be important to Duke's title hopes.