### Duke Completes the Double: Blue Devils Crush Virginia 81-65 to Claim 23rd ACC Tournament Title, First Regular-Season + Tournament Sweep Since 2018
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The coronation is complete.
No. 1 Duke left zero doubt Saturday night at Spectrum Center, routing Virginia 81-65 in the ACC Tournament championship game to claim the program’s 23rd conference tournament title and become the first team since Virginia in 2018 to sweep both the ACC regular-season and tournament crowns in the same season.
Behind another superstar performance from consensus National Player of the Year Cooper Flagg (27 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 blocks) and a suffocating defensive effort that held the Cavaliers to 35% shooting and just 24 second-half points, Jon Scheyer’s Blue Devils (32-3) cut down the nets for the first time since 2019 and stamped themselves as the undisputed kings of the ACC once again.
“This one feels different,” Scheyer said on the championship podium, the net already draped around his neck. “To go wire-to-wire as regular-season champs and then run the table here in Charlotte — that’s the standard we talk about every day. These guys lived it.”
The victory marked Duke’s first ACC regular-season/tournament double since the 2017 team led by Jayson Tatum, Luke Kennard, and Grayson Allen — and only the 21st time in the league’s 72-year history that a team has pulled it off. Virginia (2018), North Carolina (2016, 2008, 2001), and Duke itself (multiple times under Coach K) are the only programs to do it in the last 25 years.
For Flagg, the 18-year-old phenom who reclassified and turned down millions overseas to chase this exact moment, the hardware felt like validation.
“People kept saying ‘one-and-done, why not just go pro?’” Flagg said, hoisting the tournament MVP trophy. “This is why. Cutting down nets with your brothers, in front of the Cameron Crazies who traveled here — there’s nothing like it.”
The game itself was over early in the second half. After a competitive first 20 minutes that saw Virginia hang around behind Reece Beekman’s 17 points and trail just 39-36 at the break, Duke opened the second half on a 21-6 blitz. Flagg scored or assisted on 17 of those 21 points, including back-to-back transition dunks and a corner three that pushed the lead to 60-42 with 13:11 remaining.
Virginia never got closer than 14 the rest of the way.
Tyrese Proctor added 18 points on 6-of-9 from three, Kon Knueppel chipped in 15 with four triples of his own, and transfer big man Maliq Brown dominated the glass (13 rebounds) while making life miserable for Virginia’s frontcourt. The Blue Devils finished with 48 points in the paint, 15 second-chance points, and shot 52% for the game.
“We just turned it up a notch defensively,” said graduate guard Sion James, who drew the primary assignment on Beekman and helped hold him scoreless after halftime. “That’s Duke basketball. When we lock in like that, nobody in the country is beating us.”
The win capped a flawless week for the Blue Devils, who rolled through the tournament with an average margin of victory of 17.8 points:
– Second round: 88-67 over Miami
– Quarterfinal: 79-62 over Florida State
– Semifinal: 84-79 over North Carolina (Flagg’s 31-point masterpiece)
– Final: 81-65 over Virginia
Only the Tar Heels pushed them to single digits.
With the automatic bid secured and the resume bullet-proof, Duke is now the overwhelming favorite to earn the No. 1 overall seed when the NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed Sunday night. KenPom, Evan Miya, and Bart Torvik all have the Blue Devils ranked No. 1 nationally entering Selection Sunday, and oddsmakers have shortened Duke to +400 to win the national championship — the clear favorite over Auburn (+600), Houston (+750), and Alabama (+900).
The double also silences — at least temporarily — any remaining doubters about Scheyer’s third season. After back-to-back years of early ACC Tournament exits and questions about whether he could win the big one without Mike Krzyzewski on the sideline, Scheyer now owns the same regular-season + tournament sweep that his mentor achieved six times.
“Coach K texted me right after the game,” Scheyer revealed. “‘Proud of you, proud of the guys. That’s Duke.’ That means everything.”
As Flagg climbed the ladder last, snipping the final strand of net and waving it triumphantly to a sea of royal blue in the stands, the message was unmistakable.
The Blue Devils are whole. They are hungry. And they believe the biggest nets are still waiting in San Antonio.
“ACC champs — check,” Flagg said, grinning ear-to-ear. “Now let’s go get six more.”
In a season that began with the heaviest expectations any freshman has ever faced, Cooper Flagg and Duke just delivered the first chapter exactly as scripted.
The rest of college basketball has officially been warned.
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