Balanced Attack Paces Duke in 80-62 Victory at Virginia

Monday, February 17

Charlottesville, Va.

8 p.m.

Duke University

23-3,15-1ACC

Virginia

13-13,6-9ACC

Duke

Virginia

Balanced Attack Paces Duke in 80-62 Victory at Virginia

2/17/2025 10:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)Duke Quotes (PDF)Coach Scheyer Presser Highlights Photo Gallery

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Three different Blue Devils scored 17 points as No. 3 Duke cruised to an 80-62 victory at Virginia on Monday, Feb. 17. Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Isaiah Evans all scored a team-high 17 to lead the Blue Devils (23-3, 15-1 ACC) and Flagg posted his seventh double-double of the season with a career-high 14 rebounds. Knueppel added seven rebounds alongside his scoring effort and Evans connected on each of his first five three-pointers to help Duke seize control of the contest.

Duke won the overall rebounding battle, 41-21, the second-highest margin on the glass for Duke this season. Tyrese Proctor dished a team-high four assists, Patrick Ngongba II scored a career-high eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and Sion James shot a perfect 3-of-3 from the field en route to nine points, alongside three rebounds and three assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The two teams each got on the board with points in the paint, as Virginia slammed home the game's first points before Cooper Flagg laid in Duke's first points on the ensuing possession. The Blue Devils claimed their first lead, 7-5, courtesy of a corner three-pointer by Kon Knueppel. A put-back dunk from Maliq Brown gave Duke a three-point edge, 15-12, its largest of the game in the early going.
Tyrese Proctor sent in a step-back three-pointer shortly after, giving the junior five early points. A Cavaliers layup snapped a four-minute scoring drought for the hosts and narrowed Duke's lead to four, 18-14, with just over 11 minutes before halftime. Isaiah Evans entered the game after the under-12 timeout and immediately drained a three-pointer, giving the Blue Devils their first double-digit advantage, 24-14. Evans sent in two more triples, giving Duke a 30-16 margin with seven minutes on the clock.
The Cavaliers trimmed Duke's lead to 10, 32-22, but a quick answer by the Blue Devils, capped by a three-point-play from Sion James put Duke back in front by 15, 37-22 with five minutes before halftime. A Knueppel layup snapped a brief scoreless streak for Duke and gave the freshman 10 points, the first Blue Devil in double-figures. Flagg secured his double-double with a turnaround jumper in the waning seconds of the first half, expanding Duke's lead to 17, 43-26.
Duke began the second half with a 14-point edge, 43-29. The freshman duo of Knueppel and Flagg each found the bucket to quickly make it an 18-point margin, 47-29. Proctor drilled a long two-pointer on the next trip down the floor, giving the Blue Devils their first 20-point lead and forcing a Virginia timeout less than two minutes into the second stanza.
A Knueppel three-pointer, sandwiched between two buckets by Patrick Ngongba II, grew Duke's lead to 25, 58-33. Evans kept up the hot shooting from beyond the arc, making two more three-pointers to push his point total to 15 on 5-of-5 shooting.
Four consecutive made shots by Virginia pulled the home team within 21, 75-54, at the final media timeout of the contest. Duke's defense held the Cavaliers without a made field goal for the final 4:27 of the game but the home team made eight trips to the charity stripe in the waning minutes as Duke closed out the 80-62 victory.

NOTES

Duke improved to 126-54 all-time against Virginia, including a 44-36 edge in the series when playing in Charlottesville.
The Blue Devils have won 10 of the last 14 meetings with the Cavaliers and are 3-0 when playing against Virginia on Feb. 17.
Head coach Jon Scheyer is now 77-21 (.786) in his coaching career.
The Blue Devils picked up their 15th ACC win of the season. Duke has won at least 14 league bouts in all three seasons under Scheyer and the 15 wins match the high-water mark for Scheyer's teams, set during the 2023-24 season when the Blue Devils went 15-5 in conference action.
Duke won the rebounding battle, 41-21, and has finished with a positive margin on the glass in all but six games this season.
The +20 margin on the glass is the second-best margin for Duke this season, trailing on its +21 effort (43-22) vs. Miami on Jan. 14.
Duke's 31-of-59 (.525) shooting from the field is the best shooting performance by a Virginia opponent this season.
With the win, Duke improved to 312-93 (.770) in ACC regular-season games when ranked as a top-five team in the country.
Duke entered the game as the only team to average 80 points or more per game (81.0) and hold its opponent to fewer than 61 points per game (60.8).
The Blue Devils finished the game with 80 points and Virginia just outpaced Duke's averages, ending the contest with 62 points.
Virginia entered Monday night allowing opponents to score 64.9 points per game and shoot 44.8 percent from the floor. Duke outpaced both averages, scoring 80 on 31-of-59 (.525) shooting.
In its last five games, Virginia's offense had averaged 75.4 points per game on the offensive end of the floor, but Duke's defense limited the Cavaliers to just 62 points on Monday night.
For the 15th time this season, Duke finished with a double-digit advantage for points in the paint, outscoring the Cavaliers, 42-18, in the category.
Monday night marked the second straight game that Duke has scored 42 points in the paint, while holding its opponent to 18 or fewer.
The Blue Devils limited Virginia to just three fast-break points.
Duke scored 43 points in the first half, the highest scoring first half by any Virginia opponent this season.
Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Isaiah Evans all scored 17 points to lead Duke's offensive effort.
Flagg also reeled in 14 rebounds, setting a new career high and securing his seventh double-double of the season.
Flagg finished off his double-double in the first half, scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 caroms in the opening stanza.
The freshman also blocked two shots and swiped two steals.
Knueppel shot 3-of-6 from deep and brought in seven rebounds, second-most on the team behind Flagg's 14 boards.
Evans shot 5-of-6 from deep en route to 17 total points. The freshman finished one three-pointer shy of his career high and has now made at least three triples in seven games this season.
Evans swatted two shots, tied with Flagg for the team lead in blocks.
Patrick Ngongba II scored eight points, setting a new career high. The freshman shot 4-of-5 from the field, playing 11 total minutes.
Tyrese Proctor was Duke's leading assist man, dishing four helpers, while contributing seven points.
Sion James shot a perfect 3-for-3 from the field, finishing the game with nine points, while also adding three boards and three assists.
James ended the game with a game-high +/- of +26.

QUOTES

"Really, really proud of our team tonight. Short turnaround, I think [Virginia is] a hard team to prep for on a short turnaround. The way they play offense is very different. We're probably not going to play anybody else like that the rest of the season. So, our guys have never faced that before. Their twirl offense, or whatever you want to call it, is difficult, and they run at a great speed. Proud of the preparation, their focus, what they did. To me, I think the big thing was the rebounding. That's something we've talked about. Cooper [Flagg] had 14. I mentioned to Kon [Knueppel] back in the locker room, he had seven, just a bunch of loose balls that put his body on the line to come up with. And then for me, [Isaiah Evans], I'm just really proud of him. His resiliency, throughout this season, sometimes playing more, sometimes playing a little bit less; end of the day, the belief has been there 100% and he's just worked. He comes in, and I think everybody knows the shot making, but what I'm seeing is the blocked shots, the defending, the rebounding. I couldn't be more proud of Isaiah and what he did for our team tonight, and what he's going to do going forward. And then, the job Patrick [Ngongba II] did, stepping up. Maliq [Brown], he's a big loss for us. His shoulder dislocated and we're going to get him imaging, right now, tonight, find out what the deal is, and then go from there. I don't know more than that. But for Pat to step up and be ready, proud of him and what he's done." - Duke head coach Jon Scheyer
"Just staying ready and being ready to shoot at all times. It feels great. Being able to help the team out, help us win, contribute in a big way – that's what I came here to do. We've been looking for each other and not being selfish. We're not a selfish group of guys. We want to see everybody eat. We know that when we're all passing it and we're all eating, it's fun for everybody." - Duke freshman guard/forward Isaiah Evans
"I thought we did a good job, up until the Clemson game, getting the 50/50 balls. I thought we'd been a really good team at that. We just have a strong desire to get the ball. I thought we've been really emphasizing it. We want to get the ball. It's good to see them [three-pointers] go down early, especially because it makes it hard on the defense. To know that they all have to react to us. Like you said, Cooper [Flagg], and the guys like that, can get downhill. Even us off our shot fake. Yeah, it's super nice." - Duke freshman guard/forward Kon Knueppel

UP NEXT

No. 3 Duke turns its attention to a non-conference matchup against Illinois at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Feb. 22. The Blue Devils (23-3, 15-1 ACC) and Fighting Illini (17-8, 9-6 Big Ten) will tip off at 8 p.m., on FOX.

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