Down Goes Duke! Reece Beekman’s Late Three-Pointer Gives Virginia a Wild 69-68 Victory over No. 7 Duke
Never count out Tony Bennett.
Reece Beekman hit a clutch three-pointer with one second remaining and Virginia picked up a massive upset victory over No. 7 Duke, 69-68, at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Monday night.
After playing perhaps their best game of the season in a 71-58 win over Miami on Saturday, the Cavaliers turned in another strong performance and led the Blue Devils for over 30 minutes of Monday night’s game, including a brief 12-point lead towards the end of the first half.
Jayden Gardner led UVA with 17 points and eight rebounds and Kadin Shedrick added a career-high 16 points on a perfect 8/8 shooting from the floor. Virginia was dominant in the paint, scoring 52 paint points as compared to 28 for Duke. The Cavaliers also turned the ball over just five times in the entire game, while scoring 20 points off of 15 Duke turnovers.
Despite the impressive play on both ends of the floor, Virginia was in danger of letting this golden opportunity slip away as the Cavaliers trailed the Blue Devils late in the game. UVA led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but Duke went on a run to close the gap to just five points at halftime. Duke stayed closeby throughout the second half and eventually overtook UVA with four minutes remaining.
The Blue Devils worked themselves back in the game by consistently earning trips to the free throw line. Duke made 18 free throws on 22 attempts, including 13/16 in the second half. Duke was whistled for just six fouls in the second half as compared to 11 fouls called on Virginia. The Cavaliers attempted only nine free throws in the contest, including just four in the second half.
Mark Williams and Trevor Keels sparked the comeback for the Blue Devils. After missing large chunks of the first half with foul trouble, Williams scored 12 of his team-high 16 points in the second half. Keels scored all 12 of his points in the second half. Paolo Banchero added nine points and nine rebounds and Wendell Moore Jr. had nine points and seven rebounds.
Kihei Clark was instrumental in the second half, even as the Cavaliers lost the lead. Clark had eight points and nine assists, frequently working his way inside before dropping passes to UVA’s bigs for easy layups and dunks.
READ MORE: Breaking Down Virginia’s Season-Changing Win at No. 7 Duke
With less than 90 seconds remaining and Virginia trailing by two, Reece Beekman had his layup attempt blocked and Duke got the ball back for just a moment. Beekman came back inbounds and stole the ball from Jeremy Roach under the Duke basket and scored a layup to tie the game at 66-66. Duke regained the lead on the next possession as Keels earned a trip to the free throw line and made both.
After an empty trip for Virginia on a missed Clark three-pointer, UVA got a crucial stop and got the ball back with 30 seconds remaining. Armaan Franklin missed a floater and Theo John grabbed the rebound. Kihei Clark made a heads-up play and grabbed the ball in John’s arms, forcing a jump ball and giving the ball back to Virginia with 7.2 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing play, Clark passed to an open Beekman in the corner and he released the three-point attempt, getting hit on the arm by Banchero in the process. There was no foul, but it didn’t matter. The ball touched all net and the packed crowd at Cameron Indoor went silent as Beekman gave Virginia the 69-68 lead with just 1.1 left on the clock. It was only UVA’s second three-pointer of the game, as the Cavaliers had gone 1/11 up until that point.
Bates Jones threw a full-court pass down to Banchero, who chucked up a fadeaway shot at the buzzer, but the shot went off the top of the backboard and the UVA bench emptied onto the floor to celebrate the team’s first win at Duke since 2018 and Virginia’s second win in Cameron Indoor since 1995.
Tony Bennett has the Hoos playing their best basketball of the season at the right time. Virginia has won three games in a row, including back-to-back wins over two of the best teams in the ACC in Miami and Duke. The Cavaliers improve to 15-9 overall and 9-5 in ACC play. UVA returns home to host Georgia Tech on Saturday at 4pm.
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