Duke Basketball: 3 keys to beating Virginia and staying alive for ACC title

Jan 31, 2023; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Jeremy Roach (3) center Dereck Lively (1) center Kyle Filipowski(30) guard Tyrese Proctor(5) and forward Mark Mitchell (25) take the floor after a timeout during the second half against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils won 75-73. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports /

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Reece Beekman #2 celebrares with Kihei Clark #0 of the Virginia Cavaliers (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

2. Win the backcourt battle

One of, if not the biggest strengths of the Cavaliers is the steady play of veteran guards, Kihei Clark and Reece Beekman. Both are double-digit scorers and have at least five assists each on average on the season. They won’t blow you away with their stats but are not only capable scorers, they’re quality defenders as well.

It’s going to be a tough task on Saturday for the Blue Devils’ backcourt, which has had its ups and downs overall. The good news is that they’ve had more ups as of late, as a healthy Jeremy Roach is coming off of back-to-back 20+ point games. His offense has been good, while Tyrese Proctor has been getting more and more comfortable as a freshman ball-handler.

The one thing that’s key for Duke is staying patient on both ends. Virginia runs the slowest pace in college basketball and it can be absolutely frustrating for younger teams, which Duke qualifies as. If Roach and Proctor make bad decisions due to impatience, that plays right into the Cavaliers’ hands.

Roach has enough experience against this team to where he should be able to remain poised. And the 5’9 Clark will have to guard one of these bigger playmakers, giving them an opportunity to score. Duke Basketball doesn’t need the guards to have big games, just enough to offset the duo of Clark and Beekman.

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