CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It hadn’t been Cameron Boozer’s night up until then, but still, with 27.4 seconds left and the game on the line, one of the best young coaches in the game commanded the ball — and the game’s fate — to be in Boozer’s hands.

Boozer delivered.

Not how you thought he might — but he did nonetheless.

Up two, the freshman and leading candidate for national player of the year drove right, crossed over, leaned his shoulder into Virginia’s Ugonna Onyenso, missed his layup but collected his own board — resetting the shot clock. He then kicked it to Isaiah Evans, who was fouled and proceeded to hit both free throws.

There were a few thrills thereafter, but Duke never relinquished its lead. And as a result, the Jon Scheyer-coached No. 1-seeded Blue Devils defeated Virginia, 74-70, and earned their second consecutive ACC Tournament championship. It marks the first time that Duke has won back-to-back tournament titles since Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils won three in a row from 2009 to 2011.

It also might have just cemented Duke as the nation’s No. 1 overall seed for the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

The Blue Devils were led by Evans, who finished with 20 points, and helped by Cayden Boozer (16 points) and Cam Boozer (13). Cam Boozer also added a game-high eight assists and eight rebounds.

Virginia finished with two scorers in double-figures: Malik Thomas (18 points) and Sam Lewis (17).

The game started about as evenly as it could. And with plenty of nerves. Both teams — which came into the championship with shooting reputations that preceded them — took a while to get comfortable. Duke shot 3 of 11 from 3 in the opening half; Virginia went 4 of 14. They each had six turnovers. Each had five fast-break points.

The only discernible edges belonged to Duke. The first: Duke led in the rebounding department, 19 to 12. The second: Cayden Boozer. Full stop. The guard who stood tall all tournament for injured point guard Caleb Foster rose to the moment again Saturday. He finished with 14 points in the first half — two away from his career high — finishing through traffic, mending broken plays, even chasing down a loose ball and flushing away a fast-break dunk in front of his courtside-sitting father, Carlos, who leapt from his seat on that play and others.

The game was symmetrical for most of the second half, too. By the under-8 media timeout, each team was 4 of 9 from 3. Lewis was 3 of 4 from deep by himself. Cam Boozer was only 1 of 3 behind the arc, but the one make was massive; it came right after a possession in which he was rejected at the rim and cut the game from down four to down one — stifling a Virginia run that was beginning to brew.

With 3:10 left, the score was 66-65, Duke clinging to the lead. The Blue Devils white-knuckled a win the rest of the way, pulling all sorts of rabbits from the program’s hat, including an in-unison floor-slap. The game ended with Cayden Boozer — who might’ve been known more as Cam’s brother before this week, but Saturday was Duke’s saving grace — dribbling out the clock to a chorus of Blue Devils in Charlotte celebrating the fact that they’d crested yet another mountain, staring at one more proverbial peak.

As Scheyer said on a stage postgame, doused in confetti: “We’re not done yet.”

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