Griffin Sinks Two Late Threes to Push Duke Past Virginia

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Freshman AJ Griffin hit back-to-back three-pointers with under four minutes left and sank a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to ice a 65-61 Duke win at Virginia on Wednesday night.

After being held to three points on 1-of-8 shooting through 35 minutes of play, Griffin caught fire late to provide the Blue Devils (24-4, 14-3 ACC) with three crucial baskets down the stretch. His pair of three’s were followed up by a driving layup through contact to increase Duke’s lead to five, and the Blue Devils converted at the free-throw line to hang on in a back-and-forth affair in front of a frenzied crowd at John Paul Jones Arena.

Duke avenged a 69-68 home loss to the Cavaliers two weeks ago at Cameron Indoor Stadium and maintained sole possession of the first place spot in the ACC.

Sophomore Jeremy Roach gave the Blue Devils a much-needed spark off the bench, scoring a season-high 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting and 3-of-3 from behind the arc. Perhaps his biggest contribution, though, came on the defensive end, where he held Virginia guard Kihei Clark in check after Clark stormed out of the gates for six three-pointers in the first half.

Clark finished with a game-high 25 points to lead Virginia (17-11, 11-7 ACC), which cut into numerous Duke leads in the second half but was never able to find the go-ahead basket. Jayden Gardner added 16, and Reece Beekman had 11 for the Cavaliers.

Despite Duke’s top two scorers, Paolo Banchero and Wendell Moore Jr., being held to a combined 12 points, the trio of Roach, Griffin and freshman Trevor Keels (13 points on 5-of-8) stepped up and delivered when needed.

Duke led 30-25 at halftime and by as many as eight in the second half. The Cavaliers used a 7-0 run to get within 52-51 with five minutes to play, and both teams had empty trips down the court before Griffin made his first three from the top of the key.

Duke plays its second of a three-game road swing at Syracuse on Saturday night. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN.