Jeremy Roach scores season-high 15 as Duke basketball beats Virginia to split series
Duke teammates Jeremy Roach and Trevor Keels, who won a Virginia high school state championship together two years ago, put the Blue Devils in position to win at John Paul Jones Arena on Wednesday night.
Blue Devils freshman A.J. Griffin helped them complete the job.
On a night when Roach scored a season-high 15 and Keels added 13, Griffin’s 10 points over the final four minutes allowed the No. 7 Blue Devils to outlast Virginia, 65-61, in ACC basketball.
Roach, a sophomore guard, and Keels, a freshman guard, were state champions together at northern Virginia’s Paul VI High before leaving the state to play at Duke (24-4, 14-3).
On a night when Blue Devils star freshman and leading scorer Paolo Banchero struggled with 2-of-13 shooting to score eight points, Roach came off the bench to fill the gap. The 6-2 Roach hit 6 of 7 shots, including all three of his 3-pointers.
“Just taking what the defense gives me,” Roach said. “I just stayed aggressive and confident. I think that’s the biggest key for this game. We know this is going to be a tough-nosed team. They guard. They are physical. So it was just taking what the defense gives me.”
Like Roach, Keels had just one turnover as the Blue Devils finished with just eight against Virginia’s renowned defense.
But it was Griffin (13 points) who came up big in the clutch for ACC-leading Duke. The Blue Devils’ lead was 52-51 when he scored the Blue Devils’ next eight points. With 1.8 seconds left and Duke up two points, Griffin sank two free throws to seal the win.
Kihei Clark scored a game-high 25 points for Virginia (17-11, 11-7). Jayden Gardner finished with 16 points.
Clark scored 18 in the first half, forcing Duke to adjust its defense to put Roach on him almost exclusively. Roach’s ability to slow Clark, along with his own offense, stood out to Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
“I really thought the key guy for us in the game was Jeremy,” Krzyzewski said. “Not that he stopped Clark, but he defended him and his verve on offense really lifted us. Obviously, A.J. made some big plays and we were able to do a couple of things there, but his play, Jeremy’s play, was the differentiator. ”
Duke led 30-25 at halftime and, though Virginia climbed within one point early in the second half, the Blue Devils extended their lead to 52-44 on a Roach 3-pointer with 6:46 to play.
Virginia, though, took advantage as the Blue Devils offense lagged for the next three minutes. Gardner hit a jumper, Reece Beekman made a 3-pointer and Clark sank a floater in the lane slicing Duke’s lead to 52-51 with 5:02 left.
The Cavaliers had two shots to take the lead, but Clark missed an open 3-pointer with 4:31 left and Gardner missed a short jumper at 3:57.
After a timeout where Krzyzewski put his smaller, quicker lineup in with Banchero playing center, Griffin ended Duke’s scoreless drought with a 3-pointer to put the Blue Devils ahead 55-51 with 3:39 left.
Armaan Franklin scored for Virginia, but Griffin swished another 3-pointer with 2:40 left, pushing Duke’s lead to 58-53. Griffin drove to score with 2:06 left, giving Duke a 60-55 lead.
Then came Griffin’s top defensive play of the night. Virginia trailed 60-57 and tried to force the ball inside. Griffin knocked the pass away where Keels grabbed the ball to drive for a layup with 56.4 seconds left that put Duke up 62-57.
Virginia coach Tony Bennett knew Duke had that smaller, quicker lineup plan in its arsenal. But the Cavaliers still couldn’t handle it.
“I don’t want to say I was hoping they wouldn’t go to it,” Bennett said. “I was hoping. But we thought they might and that was hard for us to stop. Again, they still have to make the baskets. And they sure did.”
Duke started the game missing six of its first seven shots and Virginia, behind Clark’s phenomenal shooting, built a 22-17 lead with 4:31 play in the half on his sixth 3-pointer.
But the Blue Devils dominated the rest of play until halftime. After Keels hit 1 of 2 free throws after a strong drive down the lane, A.J. Griffin hit his first 3-pointer of the game. Following a Virginia turnover, Roach scored in the lane giving Duke a 23-22 lead.
Beekman hit a jumper that stopped Duke’s run, but Mark Williams tipped in his own miss to give Duke a 25-24 lead.
After Gardner’s free throw tied the score again, Keels’ 3-pointer with 46 seconds left in the half put Duke ahead 28-25.
Clark attempted to tie the score, but Roach blocked his 3-point attempt and Banchero hit a layup with 4.2 seconds left to give Duke a 30-25 halftime lead.
After that struggling start from the field, Duke finished the first half at 46.4% (13 of 28) and shot 48% for the game.
This story was originally published February 23, 2022 at 9:11 PM.