Virginia's Sammy Zeglinski (13) and Tom Jonke walk off the court after losing 57-46 to Duke on Friday.

JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Virginia's Mike Scott scores on a layup during Friday's ACC Tournament quarterfinal game against Duke.

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Virginia didn't end the men's basketball season with 10 consecutive losses. That was the Cavaliers' primary objective going to the Greensboro Coliseum for the ACC Tournament.

However, they did miss their last 10 shots.

Ninth-seeded Virginia went 0-for-10 from the field during the final 5:39 Friday and saw its chances for a landmark upset unravel in a 57-46 loss to top-seeded Duke.

A No. 1 seed has lost its first game only twice in the 56-year history of the ACC Tournament, but the Blue Devils (27-5) clung to a 46-44 lead after a 3-pointer by UVa's Mustapha Farrakhan with 6:24 left.

"I think our kids battled as hard as I've seen 'em battle," first-year UVa coach Tony Bennett said. "It looked like we ran out of a little gas in the last five minutes, [but] I think we had Duke nervous for a little while.

"When it came time for them to make some plays, they certainly made some."

Virginia (15-16) went exactly six minutes without scoring before Jeff Jones converted a one-and-one opportunity with 24 seconds left. The 46 points represented a season-low scoring output for the Cavaliers, who failed to score 50 points on four occasions this year, including both meetings with Duke.

UVa became the first team to hold the Blue Devils under 60 points in 2009-10.

"We touched on, defensively, what we need to become to compete with a team like Duke," Bennett said.

The Cavaliers, who ranked last in the ACC in field-goal percentage defense, held the Blue Devils to 38.2 percent shooting from the field.

First-team All-ACC selection Jon Scheyer made only five of 17 shots from the field but scored seven points during a late 11-0 run that lifted the Blue Devils out of danger.

Another first-team All-ACC pick, junior Kyle Singler, led the Blue Devils with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

The Cavaliers' only representative on the All-ACC teams, second-team choice Sylven Landesberg, was suspended for missing class and did not play in the last three games of the season.

Five Virginia players scored double figures Thursday in a 68-62 victory over Boston College. There were only four UVa scorers Friday.

Sammy Zeglinski, who scored a season-high 21 points against the Eagles, went 0-for-9 from the field and committed five turnovers Friday. It was the second-worst shooting day in ACC Tournament history, next to an 0-for-15 afternoon by Clemson's Devin Gray in the 1993 semifinals.

"I think Duke did a good job defensively of switching off and not giving me any shots in rhythm," Zeglinski said. "They put together a good scouting report."

Zeglinski contributed four steals, the last with 1:44 remaining, when he took a tipped the ball away from Scheyer and raced downcourt on a breakaway. He missed a contested layup but then got the rebound, only to miss the putback.

The Cavaliers came up empty on another steal that freshman Jontel Evans couldn't convert into a layup.

"When you're playing a team like Duke, you've definitely got to be able to capitalize in the open court," Zeglinski said.

"When you have numbers, you want to take advantage of it. We could have been a lot better in transition, but we hung in there."

The Cavaliers trailed by as many as eight points in the first half at 14-6 but took the lead twice in the late stages of the first half before the game was tied 27-27 at the break. Duke built its lead to 46-35 with 9:59 left in the game, only to see the Cavaliers respond with a 9-0 run.

"I don't think it was the best game we've ever played," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said, "but I think Virginia had a lot to do with that."

Jones led the Cavaliers with 15 points, including a rare four-point play in the first half, and fellow junior Mike Scott contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Jones scored in double figures in both of Virginia's tournament games and Scott had two double-doubles.

"I think [Scott] needed to become more consistent," Bennett said, "and I think he did that. He responded to the challenge. I think the guys knew, without Sylven, that they needed to band together. And, that's what I'm most pleased about."

VIRGINIA (15-16)

Farrakhan 3-9 2-2 9, Zeglinski 0-9 0-0 0, Jones 5-10 3-3 15, Scott 6-11 2-4 14, Meyinsse 3-9 2-2 8, Evans 0-2 0-0 0, Sene 0-1 0-0 0, Jonke 0-0 0-0 0, Sherrill 0-2 0-0 0, Tat 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-53 9-11 46.

DUKE (27-5)

Smith 6-12 2-3 15, Singler 7-14 2-3 18, Scheyer 5-17 4-4 15, Thomas 0-1 2-5 2, Zoubek 1-5 0-0 2, Ma.Plumlee 1-2 1-2 3, Dawkins 0-2 0-0 0, Mi.Plumlee 1-2 0-0 2, Kelly 0-0 0-0 0, Davidson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-55 11-17 57.

Halftime--Tied 27-27. 3-Point Goals--Virginia 3-14 (Jones 2-4, Farrakhan 1-5, Sherrill 0-1, Zeglinski 0-4), Duke 4-14 (Singler 2-3, Smith 1-4, Scheyer 1-6, Dawkins 0-1). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Virginia 37 (Scott 11), Duke 39 (Singler 11). Assists--Virginia 10 (Farrakhan 4), Duke 6 (Scheyer 3). Total Fouls--Virginia 17, Duke 15. A--NA.