Armaan Franklin scored 23 points, including a clutch 3-pointer in overtime, as No. 8 Virginia held off Duke 69-62 in Atlantic Coast Conference action on Saturday in Charlottesville, Va.
The Cavaliers (19-4, 11-3 ACC) improved to 12-1 at home and held on to a share of first place in the conference with Pittsburgh. Virginia survived an awful day at the free-throw line to win for the ninth time in 10 games.
Kihei Clark added 16 points and Ben Vander Plas had 13 for the Cavaliers, who shot 51.9 percent from the field but only 40.9 percent (9 of 22) from the charity stripe.
The Blue Devils (17-8, 8-6) fell to 2-6 on the road and suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season.
Jeremy Roach scored 16 points to lead Duke, with Tyrese Proctor adding 14 and Jacob Grandison 11. After missing four games with a leg injury, Dariq Whitehead returned with 10 points.
The Blue Devils nearly pulled off the upset in spite of a dreadful contest for leading scorer Kyle Filipowski, who was held scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting with five turnovers in 30 minutes.
Duke finished with a season-high 22 turnovers.
After Virginia scored the first five points of the extra period, Proctor answered with a couple of layups to pull Duke within 63-62 with 1:11 left.
Franklin’s corner 3-pointer made it 66-62 with 40 seconds remaining and the Blue Devils couldn’t answer.
Virginia pulled ahead 35-30 early in the second half with consecutive 3-pointers by Franklin and Clark.
Whitehead buried back-to-back triples to put Duke back in front 47-42.
The Cavaliers used an 8-0 run, including two layups by Clark, to retake the lead at 54-51 with 4:51 remaining.
Franklin’s layup extended the Virginia lead to 58-53 with 1:43 to play.
Grandison’s 3-pointer tied the game at 58-58 with 51 seconds left.
Duke had a chance to win it in regulation when Filipowski drove hard to the basket in the final seconds. He was fouled on the play but officials ruled that the clock had expired.
The Cavaliers have held 39 consecutive conference opponents below 70 points at John Paul Jones Arena.
Duke led 27-25 at the break despite 11 first-half turnovers. Roach scored 12 of the Blue Devils’ first 14 points in the game.
–Field Level Media
