‘A surreal sensation’: Scheyer’s Blue Devils win ACC

GREENSBORO, N.C.– Jon Scheyer based on the stage, cleaning his eyebrow as he scanned the bubbly crowd while his Duke players danced around the ACC competition championship trophy.That’s when Kyle Filipowski walked up behind his coach and wrapped an arm around him.The youthful Blue Devils– from their freshmen

to their 35-year-old novice head coach– might relish a moment that felt oh so familiar for the blue-blood program.Filipowski had 20 points and 10 rebounds as the tournament’s MVP and No. 21 Duke locked down defensively to beat No. 13 Virginia 59-49 in Saturday night’s ACC tournament championship game, protecting a title in Scheyer’s launching season as the follower to Hall of Popularity coach Mike Krzyzewski.”Being available in, everybody was speaking about,’We’re too young, Scheyer’s very first year, ‘”freshman guard Tyrese Proctor said while standing in the middle of confetti scattered about the court.”We just stuck together all year and simply didn’t quit.”Jeremy Roach scored 19 of his career-high 23 points after halftime for the fourth-seeded Blue Devils(26-8 ), who completed a final-month surge to the top of the ACC to claim a league-record 22nd championship.Editor’s Picks 2 Associated Just now, it’s with the previous Blue Devils player and assistant coach in charge.Scheyer invested in 2015 as the coach-in-waiting for Krzyzewski’s last Final 4 run, put together

the nation’s top-ranked recruiting

class and then masterfully led that group through youthful ups and downs to enter the NCAA tournament on a nine-game winning streak.Yes, he said, the brand-new players who arrived this season or returned from last year wanted to belong to Duke’s tradition. However it was also a leap of faith at a turning point of change for the program too.”They believed in us and in me, “Scheyer stated,”and certainly I felt that way about each of them.”Everything had Scheyer soaking up the scene of celebrating fans from his midcourt-stage perch and basking in “a surreal feeling.”That consists of becoming the

very first to win an ACC tournament title as both a player and a coach and just the third first-year coach to claim the title.Duke’s winning streak started after an overtime loss at Virginia in which a league-acknowledged officiating mistake cost the Blue Devils an opportunity to win in regulation. This time, Duke grinded its way through to the horn by leaning on a defense-first method that Scheyer has pushed all season.The Blue Devils held the second-seeded Cavaliers(25-7) to 33%shooting, with Virginia missing out on both contested and tidy appearances while dedicating almost as numerous turnovers(12 )as made shots(16 ).”Their length and athleticism was real, and I think sometimes it sped us up,”Virginia coach Tony Bennett said.

“And we were at times a bit uncharacteristic or a bit rushed. I think they took a seat and protected. We sat down and attempted to secure hard, and there just wasn’t a whole lot there. “The Blue Devils never tracked, leading by as numerous as 14 points and keeping the Cavaliers– playing a systematic rate and their own defensive-minded style– working to inch closer all night.Reece Beekman scored 12 points for Virginia, which drew to within 6 on Isaac McKneely’s 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 5 seconds remaining and within 5 on Kihei Clark’s layup off a scramble with 1:07 left. Lastly, Beekman pulled Virginia to within 53-49 on a driving layup around Filipowski with 44 seconds left.But heaven Devils didn’t wobble, striking 6 straight totally free tosses to clinch the win

. Roach, a junior, struck four of those, turning in a veteran’s composure on a freshman-laden group reminiscent of some of his huge postseason minutes during in 2015’s Last 4 run.Scheyer finally began to wave an arm to the Duke fans behind the bench for sound with freshman Mark Mitchell preparing to go to the line for the last free tosses with 22.1 seconds left.Moments later, Scheyer started exchanging handshakes and high-fives with his staff as Proctor dribbled out the clock. The horn sounded and Proctor flung the ball skyward, yelling as the players started to mob each other for the first title in Duke’s new period

.