No. 4 Duke hands No. 2 Virginia its first loss

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. â€”  Tyus Jones scored 17 points and hit a clinching 3-pointer with about 10 seconds remaining Saturday night as No. 4 Duke ended No. 2 Virginia’s 21-game home winning streak, 69-63.

Jones’ 3-pointer was the fourth in the last four minutes for the Blue Devils (18-3, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who had missed 11 of 13 before hitting the critical long-range shots they needed.

Virginia (19-1, 7-1) started the second half with a 16-4 burst and led by 11 with just under 11 minutes to play before some ill-advised shots, turnovers and Duke’s blistering shooting turned the tables.

Malcolm Brogdon led Virginia with 17 points and Justin Anderson had 11.

Quinn Cook, who scored 15, hit three 3-pointers in the last 4:38, including the one to give Duke the lead at 66-63 with 1:16 remaining. After Mike Tobey missed a free throw for Virginia, Tyus Jones hit the finisher with 9.9 seconds left, capping a game-ending 16-5 run for the Blue Devils.

Duke finished 28 for 55 (50.9 percent) and became the first team to shot above 50 percent against the Cavaliers this season. Justise Winslow also scored 15 and Jahlil Okafor had 10 points and nine rebounds.

Duke twice had to close big margins in the closing minutes. The Blue Devils pulled within 49-47 after getting two baskets by Okafor and an assist by the big man for a layup by Matt Jones, but then saw Virginia score the next points to go back ahead 56-47.

A three-point play by Tyus Jones ended the Cavaliers’ run, and after a layup by London Perrantes for Virginia, the Blue Devils started connecting from the outside and the Cavaliers’ lead evaporated.

The meeting was the first of teams in the top five in Charlottesville since No. 3 Virginia beat No. 2 North Carolina 74-58 at University Hall on Feb. 3, 1982, and brought out lots of Virginia royalty like Ralph Sampson and Sean Singletary.

They saw a packed house, a big lead, and then were left wanting by the Blue Devils’ strong finish.

Winslow had seven points in an 11-2 run for the Blue Devils that game them a 22-13 lead with 6 1/2 minutes to go, but Virginia closed the half on a 12-4 burst to trail 26-25 at the intermission.

Okafor had more turnovers, three, than points, two, at the half, although Winslow had 11 by halftime.

Cavaliers scoring leaders Anderson, Brogdon and Anthony Gill combined for just nine points in the first half, but Atkins had nine by himself and Mike Tobey had four — a putback and a basket over Okafor.