NEW YORK — For the second time in seven days, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski was denied a seminal moment in the twilight of his coaching career.
After rival North Carolina spoiled his final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium last Saturday, it was upstart Virginia Tech that knocked off the Blue Devils in Coach K’s final appearance in the ACC Tournament in the final Saturday at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
Playing their fourth game in four days, the seventh-seeded Hokies (23-12) clinched a berth in next week’s NCAA Tournament with a stunning 82-67 win over top-seeded Duke behind a blistering offensive performance from Hunter Cattoor.
The junior guard hit his first six 3-point shots on the way to a career-high 31 points as the Hokies return to Blacksburg with an ACC Tournament title in their first championship appearance. Virginia Tech becomes the lowest seed to win the tournament.
“I think they’re the team they thought they were going to be,” Coach K said postgame. “We couldn’t stop them. He (Cattoor) had a Klay Thompson kind of night.”
MARCH MADNESS BRACKET GAME:Create a pool and invite your friends!
The loss for Duke adds an unfortunate footnote in a long chapter of dominance in the ACC Tournament for Krzyzewski, who fell short of his 16th title ahead of his retirement at the conclusion of this season.
Krzyzewski finishes with a 15-7 record in ACC title games — he went 1-1 in Brooklyn finals with a win in 2017— passing legendary UNC coach Dean Smith (21) for the most…