ACC Tournament 2023: Duke vs. Virginia TV Schedule, Live Stream, Predictions

The Duke Blue Devils will try to win the first title of the Jon Scheyer era on Saturday night in the ACC tournament final against the Virginia Cavaliers.

Duke ruled over the event when Mike Krzyzewski was in charge. The Blue Devils have 21 ACC tournament titles in program history, 15 of which came under Coach K.

The Blue Devils are playing their best basketball under Scheyer, as they enter on an eight-game winning streak.

Tony Bennett's Virginia team was the last team to beat Duke on February 11. The Cavaliers won that game in overtime after a controversial non-call sent the game into an extra period.

Virginia is playing some of its best basketball at the moment as well. The three-time ACC tournament champion is 8-2 in its last 10 games.

The high levels that both teams are playing at should turn Saturday's game into one of the best ACC contests of the season, and that would be a welcome finish to ACC play after a mixed bag of results in the regular season.

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ACC Tournament Final Info

Date: Saturday, March 11

Start Time: 8:30 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Live Stream: ESPN.com and ESPN app

Make your picks: Play the NCAA March Madness Men's Bracket Challenge and Tournament Run.

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Preview

The two most in-form teams in the ACC landed in the final.

Duke turned into a different team after its loss to Virginia.

The Blue Devils should have won that game in regulation, but a foul was not called in favor of Kyle Filipowski on an attempt near the rim at the buzzer.

Since that loss, Duke is 8-0 and has held seven of its eight opponents under 70 points.

The lone high concession came in Friday's ACC tournament semifinal win over the Miami Hurricanes.

Duke prefers to play a defensive type of game, which is the exact same way Virginia loves its games to go. That means we could be in for a game in the low 60s.

That is exactly how the first meeting between the Blue Devils and Cavaliers played out in Charlottesville. The game went to overtime tied at 58.

Duke played Virginia close despite Filipowski being held without a point. That will likely not be the case on Saturday, as the freshman comes in with eight straight double-digit point totals.

Filipowski and Dereck Lively could make life miserable for Virginia in the paint with their height and shot-blocking prowess. Lively averages 2.3 blocks per game.

Virginia will have to win the contest on the perimeter through Kihei Clark, Armaan Franklin and Reece Beekman. All three players average over nine points per game and shoot better than 40 percent from the field.

The only way Virginia beats Duke with a heavy frontcourt presence is if Filipowski and Lively both enter foul trouble. The UVA guards need to be creative with how they attack the paint, and they need to knock down shots from beyond the arc.

Virginia's edge is in experience. The majority of its key contributors are upperclassmen, while Duke is led by younger players.

The Cavaliers' large amount of big-game experience could prove to be vital in some key situations. Jeremy Roach is the only Duke player who can match those experience levels.

However, Duke is the hotter team, and it could control the game if it feeds Filipowski and Lively and the defensive form sticks.

The one sure thing is that the ACC tournament final does not appear to be headed for the 70s, or maybe even the high 60s, and if Duke matches UVA's defensive output, it should gain the edge down low to win Scheyer's first piece of hardware.

Prediction: Duke 63, Virginia 60