CHARLOTTE – No. 10 Virginia would like a different result against No. 1 Duke when the teams meet in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament final Saturday night.
Two weeks after the teams’ previous encounter, the Cavaliers won’t be looking for an overhaul in how they go about doing things.
“There’s no reason to change anything at this point,” Virginia coach Ryan Odom said. “We’re however many games into the season and these guys know how we do things, and there’s a process, and we’ve just got to stick with that.”
Duke (31-2), the tournament’s top seed, will be aiming for its second championship in a row. The Cavaliers (29-4), the second-seeded team this week, last won an ACC tournament championship in 2018.
“It’s a great opportunity for us ahead and to compete for an ACC championship,” Virginia guard Malik Thomas said.
The Blue Devils could become the first ACC team to win the outright regular-season and tournament titles in consecutive years since 1999 and 2000 – when Duke accomplished that.
Duke beat Virginia 77-51 on Feb. 28 at home in the only regular-season matchup. The Blue Devils won’t have Patrick Ngongba II and Caleb Foster for the tournament final because of injuries. They combined for 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in the first meeting with the Cavaliers.
“It feels like a million years ago in some respects,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “I’ll rewatch the game (overnight). You’re seeing what they did earlier. They have big time firepower.”
Duke shot 50% (12-for-24) on 3-pointers in that game compared to Virginia’s 20% (7-for-35).
Odom said there are concerns about center Johann Grunloh’s status after he suffered a wrist injury Thursday. He didn’t attempt a shot in 11 minutes Friday.
“There’s nothing structurally wrong with it,” Odom said. “Another day he’s going to be ready to go.”
Virginia and Duke gained momentum late in the first halves of their respective semifinal games.
The Cavaliers topped third-seeded Miami 84-62.
Duke was in control of fifth-seeded Clemson for much of the game, rolling out to a 20-point lead in the second half before settling for a 73-61 victory.
Playing for a third consecutive day is something that Odom said the Cavaliers can handle.
“It’s not about one guy, it’s about the totality of our roster,” he said. “We’ve certainly gotten beat on some nights, but most nights these guys take up for one another. … These guys just show a poise that you need to win basketball games.”
Duke used seven players in the Clemson game and in Thursday night’s 80-79 escape against Florida State. Scheyer said he’s aware that Virginia goes deep into its bench.
“That’s part of the strength of their team is their depth,” he said. “I think the way we can sub and with our rotations, we’ll be fresh ready to go. It’s a blessing to be playing for a championship. So fatigue is not going to be a factor in this.”
Odom will aim to become the fourth coach in his first ACC season to lead a team to the conference championship.
It’s the same two schools that met for the ACC football championship in Charlotte slightly more than three months ago. Duke won that game in overtime.
–Bob Sutton, Field Level Media
