DURHAM, N.C. — R.J. Barrett and Zion Williamson embraced as the buzzer sounded at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday.

The two freshmen had just combined to score 57 points to lead Duke past previously unbeaten Virginia, 72-70.

And they did it coming off a heart-wrenching loss to Syracuse on Monday, and without the team’s leader, Tre Jones.

In that moment inside the Virginia lane, all of the emotions from the week came pouring out. They had just accomplished something most believed would not happen - they beat a team widely regarded as the best defensive unit in the nation and they did it down a man.

“Zion is my brother and we’re such great competitors and when we get a win like that, it’s big,” Barrett said. “We have to hug it out.”

Williamson took a more philosophical approach when describing the moment. He spoke of the doubters and expectations that come with being a Blue Devil.

He considered the moment between he and Barrett as a representation of family and what this team is truly fighting for - each other.

“So, me and R.J., we’re roommates,” Williamson said. “We’ve been talking about it the whole week, not even just this game but in the future. Go out there, handle our business and just play for the brotherhood. When we play for each other, we play with heart and we just leave it all out there.

“I feel like when you have a brother, your bond becomes stronger when you go through battles together. Virginia is a great team. To beat a great team like that, you have to give respect when it’s due. We just play for each other.”

To that note, it was clear that Mike Krzyzewski’s team was playing for one another right from the start.

The emotion inside Cameron Indoor was at a level not yet seen this season, and the Blue Devils put everything they had on the floor for the entire 40 minutes.

Offensively, Duke attacked right from the jump. And it only took a few possessions to understand what the Blue Devils’ game plan was when it possessed the ball - get to into the paint and attack the basket.

Every one in the building knew that was what Duke wanted to do. Tony Bennett and Virginia were certainly aware, yet there was not much they could do about it.

“We were able to move their defense just enough, not every time, to get some driving lanes,” Krzyzewski said.

Barrett, Williamson and Cam Reddish relentlessly drove to the basket and despite help-side defense and Cavalier defenders rotating over, the Blue Devils jump-stopped, spun and leapt through contact. For the most part, Duke either finished at the basket or drew fouls.

That’s not to say Virginia did not win some battles, but in the end, Duke just put intense pressure on the Cavaliers to protect the basket.

The result was 46 points in the paint.

“It was just about being patient,” Reddish said. “You can’t rush against them. They’re patient, so we felt like if we were patient, our talent would take care of it.

“They started to plug the lane a little bit, but we have strong guys and got through it. They’re a really good defensive team. They’re tough to score on.”

Despite Virginia’s attempts to disrupt Duke’s ability to get inside the paint, Bennett’s squad was just not able to keep Williamson and Barrett from attacking.

Duke’s ability to get to the rim led to 21 of its 31 free throw attempts. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, they connected on just 58-percent of their tries. The missed freebies nearly cost the home team the game.

Had Duke been more efficient from the line, the late push from the Cavaliers might not have created such high stress moments.

The Blue Devils attempted 10 free throws in the final 1:08, connecting on seven of them. Williamson missed his two attempts, but Marques Bolden, who had not attempted a shot all night when he stepped to the line, made his two, while Barrett made four straight and Reddish made one of two.

It was a true sign of poise from the Blue Devils, particularly Barrett, who was 3-of-7 when he stepped to the line in the final seconds.

The two Williamson misses prevented Duke from taking a two possession lead. Consequently, Barrett and Reddish were faced with pressure moments. Both responded.

“As poorly as we shot free throws, down the stretch our kids hit big shots,” Krzyzewski said. “Marques’s two free throws are huge.

“(Williamson’s misses) put R.J. and Cam in position to hit high pressure free throws. Instead of having a two possession lead, they go to the line with a one possession lead. And they hit them.”

The Blue Devils ability to hand Virginia its first loss was not all about Duke’s offense and its ability to break down the Cavaliers elite defense.

It was also about Duke’s ability to limit Virginia’s offense. While the Cavaliers are not known for putting up big offensive numbers, they certainly have skilled players that can put points on the board.

De’Andre Hunger was strong, scoring 18 points. Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy also contributed 14 apiece.

But their points came inside the 3-point stripe. Virginia made just 3-of-17 shots from beyond the arc, and that was a direct product of Duke’s defensive effort.

Without Jones to pressure the ball and disrupt the Cavaliers, Krzyzewski and his coaching staff switched things up defensively.

The Blue Devils switched everything. One through five, they switched. And it worked.

“We haven’t done that,” Krzyzewski said of switching across the board. “That’s something the last couple days that we did. We felt that we could not defend the baseline, floppy curls. They’re so good. Guy is the closest that I’ve seen to J.J. (Redick) in the league - I’m not saying he’s J.J.

“A lot of people can shoot turning, he can hit turning. We said, ‘look, we’re going to try to limit their open threes’ and we did a really good job of that by switching. You can get beat on the handle sometimes, but they’re two-points. Overall it worked better than if we did the other stuff. You have to do a little something different.”

Virginia’s ability to convert some of the two-point opportunities led to nearly a 53-percent shooting effort. But in the end, the 17-percent showing from long range did them in.

Duke chose to stop the three, and though the Cavaliers did score, it ultimately proved to be a key move for the Blue Devils.

“Every possession was good. If you scored, you beat good defense. If you didn’t, good defense beat you. Every possession was high level.”