Duke Repeats as Men’s Basketball ACC Champions

Saturday, March 14

Charlotte, N.C.

8:30 p.m.

Duke University

32-2,17-1ACC

Virginia

29-5,15-3ACC

Virginia

Duke

Duke Repeats as Men’s Basketball ACC Champions

3/14/2026 10:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – No. 1 Duke took home its 24th ACC Tournament title by holding off No. 10 Virginia, 74-70, at the Spectrum Center. The title is the second consecutive for the Blue Devils and the third in four seasons under head coach Jon Scheyer.

In a seesaw battle that featured 12 ties and 16 lead changes, Duke took the lead for the final time with 2:49 remaining thanks to an offensive rebound and layup by Cayden Boozer.

Cayden got another one! pic.twitter.com/4gjzjHJpgp
— Duke Men's Basketball (@DukeMBB) March 15, 2026

Isaiah Evans finished with a team-high 20 points, including the final two on free throws with 12 seconds remaining. Cameron Boozer tallied 13 points, eight assists and eight rebounds, while Cayden Boozer finished with 16 points, four assists and five rebounds.

With the victory, Duke became the first ACC school to capture a football, men's basketball and women's basketball championship in the same academic year. The Blue Devils join Ohio State (2009-10) and Georgia (1982-83) as the last three Power Four schools to accomplish the feat.

The Blue Devils have won five of the last nine ACC Tournaments that have been completed, becoming the first team to win four games in four days to capture the 2017 crown in Brooklyn, winning in 2019 in Charlotte, earning the 2023 title in Greensboro in Scheyer's first year as head coach, claiming Scheyer's second crown in 2025 in Charlotte and taking home a third title for Scheyer in Charlotte in 2026.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Dame Sarr got Duke started early, with an acrobatic put-back layup on Duke's first possession. After the Blue Devils went up by four, 6-2, the Cavaliers scored seven unanswered to take the lead, 9-6, at the first media timeout.
The Virginia scoring run reached 10 straight before Cayden Boozer drilled a corner triple to pull Duke back within three, 12-9, with 14:10 on the clock. Boozer then moved into double-figures with his 10th point of the night, to push Duke back in front, 18-16.
Boozer continued his strong play with a layup through traffic and a fast-break assist to Sarr following a loose-ball scramble at midcourt. Isaiah Evans scored five quick points out of the under-four timeout and Boozer slammed home a fast-break bucket to build Duke's lead to seven, 36-29.
Virginia responded quickly, putting up seven of the final nine points in the first half, sending Duke into the break with a two-point edge, 38-36.
Evans started the second half with a triple, giving the sophomore 10 points.
The Cavaliers posted the next seven points, taking a two-point lead, 43-41. Virginia made its third triple of the second half and held a four-point advantage at the under-16 break, 49-45.
Cameron Boozer connected on his first make from deep, bringing the Blue Devils within one, 49-48, and Nikolas Khamenia followed with two free throws to flip the margin. A three-point play from Darren Harris made it a 53-51 Duke lead with 12:09 remaining.
Virginia knotted the score at 58 with a three-pointer at the 8:14 mark. An offensive rebound and putback through contact by Boozer, followed by the earned extra free throw, sent Duke back in the lead by one, 61-60.
Evans sent in a deep three-pointer as the clock ticked under five minutes to play. The two teams entered the final media break separated by only one point, as Duke held onto a 66-65 lead.
The Cavaliers knotted the game at 66-66 with a free throw at the 3:10 mark.
A four-point spurt by Duke made it 70-66 Blue Devils with 1:59 to play as Cayden Boozer tossed in a layup on an offensive rebound and Evans drilled two free throws.
Leading 70-68 with 28 seconds left, Cameron Boozer missed a shot, but got the offensive rebound. With Virginia forced to foul, Evans stepped to the line and sank two free throws for a 72-68 lead with 12 seconds to play.
Virginia did not go without a fight as a Cavalier layup with five seconds to play made it a 72-70 affair.
Cameron Boozer hit the final two free throws to ice the game as Cayden Boozer intercepted Virginia's final inbounds pass.

NOTES

Duke secured its third ACC Tournament title under four-year head coach Jon Scheyer and 24th in program history.
- The Blue Devils hold a record of 24-13 in the ACC Tournament title game.
- The 24 total ACC Tournament crowns are the most by any team in the history of the event.
With the three wins in the 2026 event, Duke improved its all-time ACC Tournament ledger to 116-47 (.712).
- The 116 total wins are the most by any team in ACC Tournament history.
- When the ACC Tournament is played in Charlotte, Duke is 27-8 (.771).
- Seven of Duke's 24 championships have come when playing in Charlotte – including in each of the last two seasons.
Across his eight ACC Tournament appearances as a player and head coach, Scheyer has won five championships.
Duke is the first school to win the ACC football, men's and women's basketball championships in the same academic year.
Duke has won 42 of its last 44 games against conference opponents.
Across the last two seasons, Duke owns the best record in Division I college basketball, at 67-6 (.918).
- Since Thanksgiving 2024, the Blue Devils have achieved a record of 63-4 (.940).
Saturday's win over No. 10 Virginia was Duke's 12th over a top-25 team this season. The Blue Devils had already secured wins over No. 1 Michigan, No. 7 Michigan State, No. 11 Virginia, No. 15 Florida, No. 17 North Carolina, No. 20 Louisville (twice), No. 20 Clemson, No. 22 Arkansas, No. 24 SMU and No. 25 Kansas.
- The victory was also Scheyer's 24th win over a ranked opponent, more than any other Division I head coach in their first four seasons.
Duke increased its current winning streak to 11 games, matching its longest stretch without a loss this season.
- The Blue Devils have registered double-digit winning streaks three times this season.
When playing Virginia, Duke is 128-54 in the all-time series.
- The Blue Devils have won 12 of the last 16 meetings, including a 59-49 victory in the 2023 ACC Tournament championship game.
The Blue Devils are 16-4 all-time when playing on March 14.
Duke has won all seven games played on this date in Charlotte.
Duke is a combined 110-36 (.753) all-time in 13 current NBA venues.
- The Blue Devils have won 40 of their last 50 at NBA venues, including a 7-1 record this season and 4-1 mark last season.
- Duke has a 19-7 (.731) record in NBA facilities under Scheyer, including a 16-4 (.800) ledger in the past three seasons.
- The Blue Devils are 17-1 all-time at Spectrum Center, home of the Charlotte Hornets.
Saturday's game was Duke's 299th played when ranked No. 1 in the country, ahead of UCLA's 257 for the best total all-time (since 1949).
- Duke is 257-42 when ranked No. 1 in the country.
- Since 1998, the Blue Devils have played 197 games as the top-ranked team, more than twice as many as the next best tally (84 by North Carolina), with a record of 167-30 in those contests.
The Cavaliers entered Friday's game averaging 81.0 points per game, but were held to 70, 11.0 points below their season average.
- Duke's defense has held all but two of their 34 opponents below their scoring average this season.
Entering Saturday's championship game, Duke topped the conference and ranked sixth nationally for rebounding margin (+10.9).
- The Blue Devils outrebounded the Cavaliers by 10 (41-31) and have finished with a positive margin on the glass in 30 games this season.
Virginia began Saturday's game leading the league in total rebounds (40.5) and offensive rebounds (13.3), but were held below both averages, finishing the contest with just 31 total rebounds and only 10 offensive boards.
Cameron Boozer was named ACC Tournament MVP and was joined on the First Team All-Tournament Team by Isaiah Evans.
Cayden Boozer earned Second Team All-Tournament team honors.
Cayden Boozer played all 40 minutes, scoring 16 points for the second consecutive game. The freshman poured in 14 of his points in the first half and added five rebounds, four assists and one steal.
- Boozer is the first Duke player to play all 40 minutes in a game since Jared McCain on March 31, 2024.
Isaiah Evans led all scorers with 20 points, including a 4-of-8 showing from beyond the arc and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
- When Evans makes at least three 3-pointers, Duke is 18-0 this season and 29-0 in his career.
Cameron Boozer rounded out Duke's double-digit scoring with 13 points, while leading all players in assists with eight. The freshman also reeled in eight boards, with five coming on the offensive glass – highlighted by a key offensive rebound with less than 20 seconds remaining.
- Boozer shot 6-of-9 from the charity stripe, including two makes with less than five seconds remaining to put Duke ahead by two possessions.
- Boozer became the 20th player in ACC history to be named the ACC Player of the Year and ACC Men's Basketball Tournament Most Valuable Player. The feat was most recently accomplished by Duke's Zion Williamson in 2019.
Nikolas Khamenia scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds, while playing a career-high 32 minutes.
Dame Sarr led the team with a pair of steals and added nine points with four rebounds.
Darren Harris tallied a pivotal three-point play in the second half and finished the game with a team-high plus-minus of +12.

QUOTES

"I literally could not be more proud of these three guys next to me, our team, Virginia. I think you guys probably know how good Virginia is. I don't think nationally that's quite clear just how good they are. That was a big-time battle. That's what we expected it to be. They're terrific. They're well-coached. They've got all the pieces, man. Congrats to them on an incredible season. For these guys, just to step up, game after game, the response from Florida State, coming back yesterday. And I think we're going to learn so much from this. But the season these guys have had, the will to win." - Duke head coach
Jon Scheyer
"I always want to be known as a winner. Being able to come out here, find a way to win. It was a great team effort. Obviously Cayden, Slim stepped up big time. Our whole team stepped up big time getting stops. Virginia is great team and it's hard to beat a great team twice. So proud of my guys. We worked so hard to be here to have an opportunity to be in a championship game and win a championship, so it was a great team win." - Duke freshman forward and ACC Tournament MVP Cameron Boozer

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