No. 8 Virginia Wins Overtime Thriller Over Duke, 69-62

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — No. 8 Virginia (19-4, 11-3 ACC) made a clutch defensive stop at the end of regulation and outscored Duke 11-4 in overtime to complete a 69-62 comeback win over Duke (17-8, 8-6 ACC) at John Paul Jones Arena Saturday afternoon (Feb. 11).

Saturday’s contest marked the first overtime game between the two teams since 2007, when UVA’s Sean Singletary hit a game-winning last-second shot to knock off the Blue Devils, 68-66, at JPJ.

The Cavaliers pulled off the win despite shooting 9 for 22 at the charity stripe.

Armaan Franklin scored a game-high 23 points on 9 of 13 shooting, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range. Kihei Clark (16 points, 7-10 FG) and Ben Vander Plas (13 points, 4-7 FG) also scored in double figures for the Hoos. Reece Beekman led the Cavaliers with six rebounds and seven assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Duke got off to a hot start, connecting seven of its first 13 attempts from the field, including four made 3 pointers. The Blue Devils led by as many as seven points [20-13] midway through the first stanza. Despite Duke’s hot shooting, UVA forced 11 Blue Devil turnovers, which resulted in eight points for the Cavaliers on the other end of the floor. Virginia closed out the half by claiming three of the last four made field goals, including a last-second dunk by Beekman as the Blue Devils clung to a 27-25 lead at the intermission.

The Cavaliers went 0 for 5 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes of play, but dominated the paint, outscoring Duke 20-10 inside. The Blue Devils, however, pulled down five offensive rebounds and tallied 10 second-chance points.

Vander Plas led the Hoos with seven points on 3 of 4 shooting in the first half. Beekman had four assists and three steals.

The second half featured seven of the game’s 11 lead changes. Franklin and Clark scored UVA’s first 10 points of the second stanza to deliver the Cavaliers’ then-largest lead of the game, 35-30. A few minutes later, Duke answered by hitting six straight field goals to regain the lead, 49-44. Ryan Dunn threw down a dunk amid an 8-0 UVA run, which flipped the score once again. With a little under 1:00 in regulation, Duke’s Jacob Grandison drained a 3, the final score of regulation, to tie the game, 58-58. Vander Plas missed a 3 with 28 seconds remaining in the second half and the Blue Devils pulled down the rebound the Vander Plas miss. With no timeouts remaining, Duke held for one final shot. UVA utilized one of its two fouls to give. On the inbound pass, Duke’s Kyle Filipowski received the pass on a backdoor cut, and after an officials’ review, it was determined Filipowski’s shot was blocked by Beekman as time expired with no foul on the play.

The Cavaliers opened up the overtime period by scoring five straight points. Duke only managed two made field goals in overtime and did not reclaim the lead. After back-to-back Blue Devil makes, Virginia closed out the game by scoring six straight points, including a Franklin’s third 3 of the game.

THE GAME BALL GOES TO:
Armaan Franklin. Franklin bounced back in Saturday’s contest after combining for eight points in UVA’s last two games. Franklin scored 14 of his 23 total points in the second half, connecting on six of his eight total shots, including both looks from downtown. Franklin’s 22 points are his second most in an ACC game this season.

UP NEXT
The Cavaliers travel to Louisville (3-21, 1-12 ACC) on Wednesday (Feb. 15). Tipoff at KFC Yum! Center is set for 7 p.m. on ESPNU.