No. 4 Duke rallies, hands No. 2 Virginia its first loss

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Analyzing No. 4 Duke's 69-63 victory Saturday against No. 2 Virginia:

THE BIG PICTURE: And then there was one.

Kentucky is college basketball's lone remaining unbeaten team after Duke's late comeback stunned No. 2 Virginia on the Cavaliers' home court. Duke finished the game on a 22-7 run over the final 5:08, and shot nearly lights-out from beyond the arc (making five of their last six threes).

The Blue Devils are now 5-3 in ACC play, keeping their hopes alive for at least a share of the ACC regular-season crown. This win helped Duke avoid its fourth loss in five games. The impressive comeback comes two days after coach Mike Krzyzewski booted junior guard Rasheed Sulaimon from the team.

"Coach kept confidence in us, and as a player that's very helpful," Duke senior guard Quinn Cook said. "We believed in each other as teammates and stayed together"

THE TURNING POINT: With just under five minutes to play, Cook drained a three-pointer to pull within five points. The Blue Devils guards (Cook, Matt Jones and Tyus Jones) then hit four of their last five threes attempted to pull ahead and secure victory.​ Jones hit the dagger with 11 seconds left.

STAR WATCH: Oddly enough, Duke center Jahlil Okafor — the likely No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft — didn't attempt a shot until fewer than three minutes remained in the first half. And how's this for crazy — at one point early in the second half, Okafor had more traveling violations than shot attempts (three). To be fair, Okafor was doubled on nearly every possession (so nothing came easy) and he got going in the second half; he finished with 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting.

AND-1: Duke scored 22 points in the paint in the first half, which means it was an incredibly uncharacteristic half for the Virginia defense (which righted itself a bit after the break). Duke's other four first-half points came on free throws.