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NEW YORK – For the second time in seven days, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski has been denied a defining moment in the midst of his coaching career.
After the North Carolina rival spoiled their final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium last Saturday, it was the Virginia Tech rookie that knocked out the Blue Devils in Coach K’s final ACC appearance on Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Seventh-seeded hockey (23-12) played his fourth game in four days, earning a berth in the NCAA Championships next week with a stunning 82-67 victory over the top seed Duke behind a grueling offensive performance from Hunter Cator.
The young goalkeeper fired his first six 3-point shots en route to a career high of 31 points as hockey returned to Blacksburg with the ACC title on their first appearance in the tournament. Virginia Tech becomes the lowest-ranked seeded to win the championship.
“I think they were the team they thought they were going to be,” coach K said. “We couldn’t stop them. He (Cator) had a Klay Thompson kind of night.”
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Duke’s loss adds an unfortunate marginal note in a long chapter of dominance in the ACC for Krzyzewski, who missed out on his 16th title before retiring at the end of this season.
Krzyzewski finished 15-7 in the ACC Championship games – he netted 1-1 in the Brooklyn Finals with a win in 2017 – surpassing legendary UNC coach Dean Smith (21) for the most championship game in league history.
“I’m proud of the way we played this week,” coach K said. “Obviously we are disappointed that we lost in the tournament but that doesn’t determine how well we played this week.”
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Duke (28-6), who defeated Syracuse and Miami en route to the final, entered the evening with an outside shot at the top seed in the NCAA Championship but is likely to gain the second or third seed after the loss.
The Hokies started their impressive run across the ACC field on Wednesday with a last-second victory over No. 10 Clemson. They upset second place at Notre Dame on Wednesday before dominating for third place at UNC in the semi-finals on Friday.
“These guys got it right,” said Coach K, referring to his team. “And the team we played wasn’t sure if it qualified for the tournament because of all the predictors. They hit their card hard tonight, and God bless them, they deserve it.”
The Virginia Tech took a 42-39 first-half lead—the Hokies also had a slight advantage in their first and only game against Duke on Dec. 22—17 behind Cattoor’s 3-point barrage giving the Hokies a seven-point lead. in the first half.
They made 7 out of 10 from post arc with Cattoor hitting all four of his attempts. Duke led 10 points from Paulo Banchero but failed to use a notable size advantage at the post. The Blue Devils finished the game with one offensive bounce but managed to convert 7 of their 8 free throw attempts.
Banchero finished the night with 20 points, the team’s highest, while Virginia Tech’s Cave Aluma added 19 points.
Coach K managed to make the start with 1:14 left in the game, allowing his grandson, Michael Savarino, to take the field with the other Duke reserves and overcome the loss.
We move on to the next stage,” Duke’s Wendell Moore said after the loss. “Tomorrow we will see where we are ranked and then move on from there. We get two days of good practice in order to prepare for who we have. We have to forget about this. The game is already over.”
David Thompson is an award-winning reporter for USA Today covering North Carolina and Duke athletics. He can be reached at [email protected], at 828-231-1747, or on Twitter at @daveth89.
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