NEW YORK — Aiming to deliver coach Mike Krzyzewski one final ACC championship before retirement, No. 7 Duke was instead tripped up in the ACC tournament final by a Virginia Tech team destined to make history of its own.
Hunter Cattoor poured in a career-high 31 points as the No. 7-seeded Hokies defeated top-seeded Duke, 82-67, Saturday night at the Barclays Center to win the school’s first ACC men’s basketball championship.
While Cattoor made seven of the nine 3-pointers he attempted, the Blue Devils (28-6) faltered there, hitting only 4 of 20 shots from beyond the arc. As a result, the Hokies (23-12) led 42-39 at halftime and never trailed again.
Senior forward Keve Aluma added 19 points for Virginia Tech, which shot 50% and hit 10 of 23 3-pointers.
Freshman Paolo Banchero led Duke with 20 points while Wendell Moore added 11 and A.J. Griffin 10.
In his final ACC tournament, Krzyzewski was denied his 16th ACC title by a Hokies team that started ACC play 2-7 but has now won 13 of its past 15 games. Virginia Tech joins Duke, in 2017 and also in Brooklyn, as the only teams to win four games in four days to win the ACC championship.
Virginia Tech led 42-39 at halftime but Cattoor’s early burst to start the second half pushed the Hokies’ lead into double-digits for the first time. Cattoor hit a pair of 3-pointers, then stole the ball from Trevor Keels and hit a layup in transition while being fouled by Mark Williams.
Cattoor’s free throw put at 55-45 with 15:44 to play.
Duke drew back within five points twice, including on Griffin’s drive and fade-away jumper with 9:11 left that sliced the Virginia Tech lead to 61-56.
But Virginia Tech guard Storm Murphy got free for a layup in a half-court set and, with the shot clock running down, found Darius Maddox for the open jumper he sank to give the Hokies a 65-57 lead with 8:07 to play.
When Cattoor drilled another 3-pointer with 6:08 left, Virginia Tech led 70-60. Duke was never closer than eight points the rest of the game.
Virginia Tech shot 56.7%, making 7 of 10 3-pointers, to lead by as many as seven points in the first half before taking a 42-39 lead to intermission.
Both teams started the game with scorching shooting as each made five of their first six shots.
Virginia Tech cooled off dramatically, going five minutes and 50 seconds without a point during a stretch in the middle of the half. But when Cattoor scored at 10:30 to end that drought, he tied the score at 16.
With Duke having missed that opportunity to build a lead, the Hokies got their offense going again behind Aluma, to move in front.
The Blue Devils led 29-27 when Griffin swished in a 3-pointer at 6:35. But the Blue Devils didn’t hit another field goal for 4:10. The Hokies unleashed an 13-4 run, with Duke’s only points coming on four free throws, to lead 40-33.
Aluma scored 11 points during that stretch, hitting hook shots, layups and even a 3-pointer.
After Justyn Mutts hit a tough fall-away shot with 2:25 to give the Hokies a 42-35 lead, Duke held them scoreless the remainder of the half. Banchero’s rebound basket and Moore’s bank shot off a drive cut the Hokies lead to three points at halftime.
