Top 10 Duke-Virginia Games Under Coach K and Tony Bennett

Looking back at some of the most entertaining games between Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils and Tony Bennett’s Cavaliers

Barring a postseason meeting in the ACC or NCAA Tournament, Wednesday night will mark the final meeting between Mike Krzyzewski and Tony Bennett.

While Coach K enjoyed a run of blowout wins over Virginia in Bennett’s first few years at UVA as he rebuilt the program, the last decade of matchups between the Blue Devils and Cavaliers have been mostly hard-fought games with several thrilling finishes. Each of the last 13 meetings have been determined by 10 points or less, with six games decided by two points or less.

Since 2012, Virginia-Duke has become a highly-competitive and entertaining rivalry filled with unforgettable finishes. Let’s take a look back at ten of the most memorable games between Tony Bennett’s Wahoos and Coach K’s Blue Devils.

February 28th, 2013: Duke 68, Virginia 73

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In front of a sellout crowd at John Paul Jones Arena, the Cavaliers delivered their first big-time win of the Tony Bennett era. Joe Harris had his coming-out party as a top player in college basketball, dropping 36 points and Akil Mitchell had a 19-point, 12-rebound double-double. UVA led wire-to-wire and fended off a late rally by the Blue Devils to take down No. 3 Duke, leading to a massive court storm as Virginia celebrated its first win over a top 5 opponent in 11 years. 

March 16th, 2014: Duke 63, Virginia 72

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Duke, the perennial powerhouse, searches for its 20th ACC Tournament title. Virginia looks to punctuate a breakout season under Tony Bennett with the program's first ACC Tournament Championship since 1976. Both teams were ranked in the top 10 (No. 6 Virginia vs. No. 7 Duke). What more could you ask for on the biggest stage in ACC basketball. In the end, Virginia outlasted Duke in front of a packed house at Greensboro Coliseum. Malcolm Brogdon scored 23 points and the tournament MVP Joe Harris had 15 points, including the iconic backbreaking three-pointer late in the game to seal the deal. UVA wins its second ACC Tournament title in program history. 

January 31st, 2015: Duke 69, Virginia 63

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ESPN's College Gameday came to Charlottesville for the first time ever and this matchup certainly deserved it. Virginia came in with a perfect 19-0 record and was ranked No. 2 in the country. Duke was No. 4 with a record of 18-2. This game featured two stacked rosters: Duke had Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow, Tyus Jones, Quinn Cook (and a freshman Grayson Allen coming off the bench); Virginia had Malcolm Brogdon, Justin Anderson, London Perrantes, Anthony Gill, and Darion Atkins. This heavyweight top five showdown delivered on the hype. A back-and-forth affair, Virginia seemed to have gained control of the game late as the Cavaliers led by nine points with five minutes remaining. An alley-oop lobbed by Perrantes and flushed by Anderson had JPJ rocking as the Hoos led by five with three minutes to play. Virginia would not score another point. Duke closed the game on an 11-0 run. Justise Winslow tied the game with a layup and then Quinn Cook gave Duke the lead on a three-pointer with 1:20 remaining. Tyus Jones hit the dagger with a pull-up three-pointer in the face of Perrantes to put Duke up by six with just 11 seconds on the clock. It was a gut-wrenching loss for the Cavaliers, who saw a 21-game home-winning streak at JPJ come to an end. 

February 13th, 2016: Duke 63, Virginia 62

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No. 7 Virginia went into Cameron looking to take down an unranked Duke team for UVA’s first win in Durham since 1995. An acrobatic layup from Malcolm Brogdon gave the Cavaliers a 62-61 lead with 11 seconds left. What happened next was stunning and controversial. Grayson Allen drove on Marial Shayok and banked in a one-handed shot as the buzzer sounded to give the Blue Devils the win. On instant replay, it appeared that Allen's foot hit the ground before he released his shot, which should have triggered a traveling violation for an up-and-down, but it was not called. 

As the teams shook hands, Coach K and Tony Bennett had a classic exchange, with Bennett saying he thought Allen traveled, and Krzyzewski saying he thought Allen was fouled by Shayok. It's pointless to debate it now. The shot went in and Duke beat Virginia in a thrilling finish. 

January 27th, 2018: Duke 63, Virginia 65

Photo courtesy of Rob Kinnan/USA TODAY Sports

In another top-five matchup between the Cavaliers and Blue Devils, No. 2 Virginia went on the road to No. 4 Duke in Cameron. UVA played a smothering defensive first half and led 32-22 at halftime. As usual, Coach’s K team refused to quit and the Blue Devils roared back in the second half to take the lead riding a 30-point performance from Marvin Bagley III. The Cavaliers maintained their composure and regained the lead behind 17 points from Kyle Guy. Ty Jerome put the nail in the coffin with one of the most clutch shots you’ll ever see, knocking down a three-pointer from well outside the arc to put Virginia up by five with less than 40 seconds left. 

Kyle Guy made some free throws to seal UVA’s first win at Cameron Indoor since 1995. The victory also preserved Virginia’s perfect record in ACC road games, as Virginia went on to go 9-0 on the road in ACC play that year and finished 17-1 in conference play. 

January 19th, 2019: Duke 72, Virginia 70

Photo courtesy of Rob Kinnan/USA TODAY Sports

No. 4 Virginia came into this game with an unblemished record of 16-0. In order to stay perfect, the Cavaliers would have to take down the No. 1 team in the country at Cameron Indoor. This game was close from start to finish, with the largest margin being a brief-eight point lead for the Blue Devils. De'Andre Hunter lead the Hoos with 18 points, but they were unable to contain RJ Barrett (30 points) and Zion Williamson (27 points). Virginia shot 3/17 from three-point range and came up just short as Duke handed the Cavaliers their first loss of the season. 

February 8th, 2019: Duke 81, Virginia 71

Photo courtesy of Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports

In round two in Charlottesville, Duke was ranked No. 2 and Virginia was ranked No. 3. LeBron James and several of his Los Angeles Lakers teammates were in attendance at a packed John Paul Jones Arena. Both teams clicked at a high-level on the offensive end, but it was Duke's three-point shooting that proved to be the difference. The Blue Devils were a 30.8% three-point shooting team that season, ranked 329th in the country in that category. Against Virginia that night, however, Duke knocked down 13 of their 21 attempts from beyond the arc, more than doubling their season three-point average. RJ Barrett hit six threes and Cam Reddish had five triples. The Cavaliers had one of their better performances and the UVA crowd at JPJ was as loud and energetic as ever, but that was not enough to overcome Duke's otherworldly three-point shooting performance as the Blue Devils won 81-71 to complete the season sweep over the eventual national champion Cavaliers. 

February 29th, 2020: Duke 50, Virginia 52

Photo courtesy of Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports

The superstars of the previous season were mostly gone with Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish, De’Andre Hunter, Kyle Guy, and Ty Jerome all having moved on to the NBA. But, the players that remained made for another thrilling installment of this rivalry. This game quickly became the Jay Huff show, as the Durham native nearly recorded a triple double with 15 points, 10 blocks, and nine rebounds. Huff rejected everything that came near the rim and had a number of highlight dunks that sent John Paul Jones Arena into a frenzy. 

Mamadi Diakite scored in the post to give Virginia the lead with less than a minute to go. The Blue Devils thought they had the go-ahead bucket as Tre Jones found Vernon Carey Jr. under the basket for a layup, but Jay Huff recovered and pinned Carey's shot against the backboard. Jones missed a deep three as the buzzer sounded and UVA took down No. 7 Duke in exhilarating fashion. 

February 20th, 2021: Duke 66, Virginia 65

Photo courtesy of the ACC

Virginia went into Cameron with an opportunity to beat the Blue Devils on their home floor without the advantage of the Cameron Crazies. Duke also had one of its worst teams in Coach K's tenure, as the Blue Devils went 13-11 and 9-9 in ACC play. Still, Duke managed to upset No. 7 Virginia behind a 22-point performance from Matthew Hurt. UVA had a couple of chances to win the game in the final minutes, but the Hoos were unable to convert. Kihei Clark attempted a heavily-contested three-pointer that fell well short of the rim as time expired. This was one of the more disappointing performances of the season for the 2020-2021 Cavaliers, who went on to capture the ACC regular season title. 

February 7th, 2022: Duke 68, Virginia 69

Photo courtesy of Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics Communications

And finally, we come to the most recent showdown between these two programs. Virginia and Duke went back-and-forth, with the Cavaliers outplaying the Blue Devils in the first half to take a five-point lead into halftime. Jayden Gardner scored 17 points and Kadin Shedrick had 16 points on a perfect 8/8 shooting from the floor. Duke rallied in the second half behind Mark Williams (16 points) and Trevor Keels (12 points). Keels made a pair of free throws to put Duke up 68-66. Just as he did against Syracuse in the 2021 ACC Tournament, Reece Beekman played the hero once again, draining a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give the Cavaliers the huge victory over No. 7 Duke, UVA’s second win in Cameron since 1995. 

One of the most competitive rivalries in college basketball is renewed on Wednesday night in John Paul Jones Arena. The Cavaliers will look to complete the rare season-sweep over the Blue Devils and pick up a much-needed signature win to bolster their NCAA Tournament resume. Duke seeks to avenge the home loss to Virginia and maintain its position atop the ACC standings as we enter the home stretch of the regular season. 

Duke at Virginia is set to tipoff at 7pm on Wednesday on ESPN. 

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