Cooper Flagg, No. 3 Duke take aim at improved Virginia

Coming off its highest-scoring Atlantic Coast Conference game in eight years, No. 3 Duke visits an improving Virginia squad on Monday night in Charlottesville, Va.

The Blue Devils (22-3, 14-1 ACC) have won two in a row since their Feb. 8 loss at Clemson, outscoring the conference's new California contingent of Cal and Stanford by a combined 57 points in Durham, N.C.

Tyrese Proctor scored 23 points and Cooper Flagg added 19 in Saturday's 106-70 demolition of the Cardinal.

Duke shot 62.5 percent from the field, 48.3 percent (14 of 29) from 3-point range and made 12 of 13 free throws in the wire-to-wire win. The Blue Devils outscored Stanford 42-16 in the paint and 22-3 on fast-break points.

"I thought it was just a good example of Duke basketball for us," said Flagg, the freshman forward who leads the team in scoring (19.8 per game), rebounding (7.5), assists (4.0), steals (1.6) and blocks (1.2).

"Coming out and playing to our standards, doing what we do, and letting the ball flow and playing through the right option, the right man."

The runaway win -- Duke's highest-scoring ACC effort since a 110-57 rout of Georgia Tech in 2017 -- came the same day that the NCAA Tournament's selection committee ranked the Blue Devils as a No. 1 seed (No. 3 overall) in its early bracket preview.

"I think we've got a good rhythm right now and we're starting to feel like we're playing with each other a lot better," Proctor said. "Everyone knows the few things that everyone can do to a high level, so it's just repping those and putting guys in situations where they can succeed in that."

Monday night's game at Virginia is the first of three straight games away from home for the Blue Devils, whose three losses this season include two at neutral sites (against Kentucky and Kansas) and the setback at Clemson.

The Cavaliers (13-12, 6-8) have won three straight and five of their last seven games to climb out of the conference basement.

With its 1-6 start in ACC play, Virginia was in grave danger of finishing among the bottom three teams who will not make the field for next month's ACC tournament in Charlotte, N.C. With Saturday's 73-70 win at Virginia Tech, the Cavaliers moved into a group tied for ninth place with six games remaining.

Isaac McKneely scored 22 points against the Hokies, leading Virginia in the points column for the fifth time during its current 5-2 stretch. Anthony Robinson added 15 points off the bench and Andrew Rohde dished out nine assists, increasing his totals this month to 34 assists with just two turnovers in four games.

"Rohde's a great passer," said Robinson, whose alley-oop slam off a feed from Rohde provided the final points. "He puts the ball where it needs to be, and as long as I do my job it's going to be successful."

McKneely leads the Cavaliers with 13.7 points per game and is shooting 41.7 percent from behind the arc.

Duke defeated visiting Virginia 73-48 in the most recent meeting on March 2, 2024. The Cavaliers have won two of the last three against the Blue Devils in Charlottesville.

--Field Level Media