Allen’s bank shot gives Duke 63-62 win over Virginia

It was a scene Grayson Allen had acted out many times in his driveway as a kid: Grayson Allen, Duke player, with the ball in his hands, seconds ticking down and sinking a game-winning shot.

Saturday afternoon in Cameron Indoor Stadium, it played out in real life. Allen’s banked-in finish off of a drive from about eight feet out just beat the final buzzer to give Duke a 63-62 victory over No. 7 Virginia.

"It's really surreal for me, this being my dream school and just a moment like that is something you dream of," Allen said. "You do it 100 times over when you're a little kid."

Naturally, in the world of DVRs and Twitter and endless video loops on Vine, there were some questions as to whether Allen’s shot should count—did his foot land before he released the ball, did he travel, was he fouled, all decisions that must be made in a split-second by the officials. These questions were debated by those that saw it in real time, too.

"I kind of joked with Coach K afterward," Virginia head coach Tony Bennett said with a bit of a smile. "I said, 'I think he traveled.' And Coach said, 'Well, I think he got fouled,’ so that was what we said as we embraced each other."

Allen waived off any interest in viewing a replay, too.

"No, it doesn't matter," he said with a good-natured smile. "If you want to see a replay, you might see a foul as well."

Allen missed two free throws with 27 seconds left to set up a go-ahead lay-up for Virginia (20-5, 9-4 ACC). Malcolm Brogdon received a late dish from Marial Shayok under the basket finished a lay-up behind his head while looking at the opposite end of the floor to give the Cavaliers a 62-61 lead with 10 seconds left. The Blue Devils (19-6, 8-4) inbounded the ball, advanced it past halfcourt and called timeout with six seconds to go.

"Free throws are something that should be automatic for me," Allen said. "So missing those, immediately after that I was pretty mad, I'm not going to lie.

"When we called that timeout, I was kind of hoping Coach would draw something up for me."

And that’s exactly what Mike Krzyzewski did.

"We just tell Grayson, you go," Krzyzewski said. "See what's there."

Allen inbounded by ball from just past midcourt with six seconds left and the Blue Devils trailing 62-61. He passed the ball to Marshall Plumlee, who handed it back to him. Plumlee’s defender, Anthony Gill, followed him to the basket off of the handoff, leaving Allen to take Shayok one-on-one.

Allen had the option to kick the ball to an open Derryck Thornton in the corner—Thornton’s defender, London Perrantes, left him to come toward Allen—but Allen opted to keep driving toward the basket.

"I felt like I had the lane, and I felt like I had my man one-on-one," Allen said. "I knew he was going to be strong and body up, so I just knew I was going to go through that and go to finish."

There was contact between Allen and Shayok, and, with with one second left, Allen let go of the ball. The red border indicating time was up lit around the backboard just before Allen’s shot banked in.

"I kind of let out a yell," Allen said. "And then saw a rush of white jerseys come sprinting at me and tackle me. It felt like I was on the bottom of that pile for like five minutes. It was just insane down there."

Once Allen’s teammates climbed off of him, there was more celebrating to do in the locker room. Allen had to attend to an ESPN interview, so his current teammates—plus a few former ones—were waiting with cups of Gatorade for him.

"We threw the Gatorade on him, mobbed him, and everything like that," said NBA rookie Tyus Jones, who was seated under the basket as Allen’s shot dropped. "It was like I was a part of the team. It was a lot of fun."

Last year, it was Jones that hit a dagger 3 at Virginia with 10 seconds left to ice a late come-from-behind, 69-63 win. Allen played 11 minutes in that game, his first time topping the 10-minute plateau in ACC play as the Blue Devils played their first game with just eight scholarship players. Allen’s roommate, Justise Winslow, and his two classmates in attendance Saturday, Jones and Jahlil Okafor, all left for the NBA after winning the national title, leaving Allen and Duke behind.

"To see him keep growing up and taking steps forward, you knew it was only a matter of time," Jones said.

And Allen and his much-rehearsed shot from his driveway days came just in time Saturday.

This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Allen’s bank shot gives Duke 63-62 win over Virginia."