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Duke hands Virginia first loss of season

Feb 1, 2015 - 5:51 AM Charlottesville, VA (SportsNetwork.com) - No. 4 Duke missed 10 of its first 11 looks from behind the arc and trailed by nine points late in the second half.

Then the shots started falling.

Quinn Cook made three 3-pointers in the final 4:38, Tyus Jones put the game away with a deep 3 with 10 seconds left and the Blue Devils went into Charlottesville and rallied late to stun No. 2 Virginia, 69-63, handing the Cavaliers their first loss of the season.

Jones finished with 17 points while Cook and Justise Winslow netted 15 apiece for the Blue Devils (18-3, 5-3 ACC), who were primed to fall three games back in the ACC standings before closing the game on an 11-0 run.

"They are so darn good," praised Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who picked up win No. 1001. "What an amazing setting to celebrate their basketball program, which should be celebrated."

"I thought our effort was outstanding. We just won a really tough game. I'm proud of my guys."

Malcolm Brogdon paced Virginia (19-1, 7-1) with 17 points, and Justin Anderson added 11.

"I'm frustrated right now because this game was without our grasp and we couldn't finish it," said Virginia coach Tony Bennett.

The Cavaliers were four wins shy of tying a school record for best start, set in 1981. The Ralph Sampson-led Cavaliers went to the Final Four that season.

Virginia came in giving up a nation-low 49.1 points per game and looked strong on the defensive end for most of the game before the late collapse.

Duke led 26-25 at halftime despite scoring all of its points in the paint or at the free throw line. Anderson's sweeping layup early in the second half gave Virginia its first lead since it was 2-0. Jahlil Okafor's tip-slam at the other end put Duke back in front, but London Perrantes came right back down for a layup that gave the Cavaliers a lead that they would hold for the next 16-plus minutes.

Trailing by 11 near the midpoint of the second half, Tyus Jones finally hit Duke's first 3-ball. The Blue Devils kept pushing and had it down to two following Matt Jones' layup on a nifty feed from Okafor, but Perrantes brought the crowd back to life with a deep triple that sparked a 7-0 run the other way.

Winslow was assessed a flagrant-1 foul for grabbing Anderson's leg when the two got tangled under the UVA basket during the surge. Anderson hit the two free throws and Anthony Gill drove in for a layup to stretch the lead back to 56-47.

Duke scored eight of the next 10 to get within three at the final media timeout. Out of the break, Brogdon's triple and an alley-oop to Anderson from Perrantes straddled a Cook trey and gave the Cavaliers a 63-58 lead. They went scoreless the rest of the way, missing four field goal attempts and a free throw.

Matt Jones had Duke within 63-61 with his 3 from the top of the key, Winslow tied it with a layup and Cook forced a timeout with his triple at 1:19.

After empty possessions both ways, Tyus Jones showed no nerves with a hand in his face and the game on the line, beating the shot clock with the game- clinching 3.

"I thought we let them get rhythm shots," said Bennett. "We didn't really close out and try to distract the shot. That's something we have to do. There were just enough of those to hurt us."

Okafor, one of the candidates for ACC and National Player of the Year, was held to two points in the first half. Darion Atkins, who netted all nine of his points over the first 20 minutes, and timely double-teams kept Okafor in check early, but he came alive down the stretch and finished with 10 points and nine boards.

Game Notes

The first half was the only half this season that Duke did not hit a 3-pointer ... Earlier in the week, Duke dismissed guard Rasheed Sulaimon for repeated violations of team rules. It was the first player dismissed under Krzyzewski ... Krzyzewski picked up his 53rd career win against Virginia. He also has 53 wins against Georgia Tech. He has beaten Maryland the most times, 55.