The featured game of ESPN's Saturday college basketball slate was a 2:30 p.m. tilt between No. 6 Kansas and No. 3 Oklahoma—the rematch of January's triple-overtime game at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Big 12's full double-round robin scheduling ensures rematches of the great games in a conference filled with the parity. The ACC—now expanded to 15 teams—has no such luxury with its scheduling, which makes games like Saturday's Duke-Virginia contest immediately following the Jayhawks' four-point win against the Sooners all the more special.
Grayson Allen's scoop shot as time expired lifted the Blue Devils to a 63-62 win on head coach Mike Krzyzewski's 69th birthday, and continued a string of epic games between these two teams.
“To say that was a hard fought game would be underselling it," Krzyzewski said. "It’s one play. They could have won—we did. But I thought we earned it. If they would’ve won, they would’ve earned it. I thought both teams were deserving of winning, and that’s what makes a great game, when that happens. That was so good.”
The last five regular-season games between the Blue Devils and Cavaliers have been decided by a total of 19 points, with Duke claiming the last three in dramatic fashion.
Tyus Jones authored last year's comeback in Charlottesville, Va., helping the Blue Devils storm back from an eight-point deficit to claim a 69-63 win and draining a game-sealing 3-pointer with 10 seconds to play.
Jones and former teammate Jahlil Okafor were on hand Saturday, seated underneath Duke's second basket watching their classmate, Allen, come through in the clutch.
"He’s very crafty at getting to the rim. [I] thought it was a foul, but late-game situations they kind of let that stuff go," said Jones, now a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves. "He had to find a way to get it to the rim and find a way to finish. It was a tough play.... Now that it’s his time to show what he has, no one’s surprised around here."
The ACC released opponents for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 campaigns Friday afternoon, and the Blue Devils and Cavaliers will play just once in both seasons.
But they could still meet up again in the ACC tournament in Washington March 8-12 or later next month in the NCAA tournament.
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