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Chris Clarke's Tip-In Propels Virginia Tech to Upset Win vs. Duke, Marvin Bagley
February 27, 2018
Virginia Tech continues to be a giant killer this season, earning a 64-63 win over No. 5 Duke Monday.
Down 63-58 with two minutes, eight seconds remaining, Hokies forward Chris Clarke scored the final six points of the game, including a tip-in with 4.1 seconds remaining, to give the home team the victory.
Grayson Allen had one final shot to win it for the Blue Devils, but it fell short at the buzzer. The senior finished with a game-high 22 points but shot just 6-of-18 from the field, including 4-of-15 from three-point range.
Duke had built up a 33-27 lead at halftime and was up as many as nine points in the second half. A pair of Marvin Bagley III free throws made it 60-51 with 5:50 remaining, also helping the freshman finish his day with 12 points and seven rebounds.
However, the offense seemed to disappear from there, and Virginia Tech took over by making the key plays on each end to secure the win.
Although some will blame questionable non-calls at the end of the game, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic broke down the real issue:
Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 17 points in the win and was one of four players in double figures for the Hokies.
Virginia Tech (21-9, 10-7) now has four wins over Top 15 opponents this season and has been especially good as of late. Jeff Borzello of ESPN and Aaron Torres of The Athletic described what this could mean going forward:
The squad will close out its regular season with a road game against Miami Saturday, and a win could help earn it a top-four seed in the ACC tournament.
Meanwhile, Duke (24-6, 12-5) have been uncharacteristically bad on the road this season, especially against unranked opponents, as ESPN Stats & Info noted:
The team has just one home loss (vs. Virginia) but is now 6-5 in true road games.
A home game against rival North Carolina Saturday could be a good chance to get back on track heading into the postseason.