Duke could be the first team without a first round bye to win the ACC Tournament after beating the conference’s No. 1 seed, North Carolina, 93-83 in Friday’s semifinals matchup. The Blue Devils will play the winner of Florida State vs. Notre Dame on Saturday.
ACC Tournament 2017 results and bracket: Duke’s huge 2nd half comeback vs. North Carolina sends Blue Devils to finals
Duke was down 13 points with 14 minutes left in the second half, and ended up winning by 10.
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It took a huge second half comeback for the Blue Devils to surge back against UNC, who led 61-48 with 14 minutes left after a Kennedy Meeks layup. From that moment forward, Duke’s offense came to life, with Jayson Tatum scoring 24 points and Luke Kennard dropping 20 on just seven shots.
North Carolina built its first half lead off strong play from Meeks, Isaiah Hicks, and Justin Jackson. The Tar Heels led 49-42 at halftime, before building that lead to 13 early in the second half. After that, Duke dominated the rest of the way.
No one has ever won four straight games to take the ACC Tournament title, which Duke is poised to do with one more win. Tatum and Kennard’s late season surges have made Duke a more dangerous team than its record suggests, and it beat Clemson on Wednesday followed by No. 10 Louisville by four points on Thursday. North Carolina is also nationally ranked at No. 6 in the country, but Duke’s comeback pushed the Blue Devils past the Tar Heels.
No. 2 Florida State vs. No. 3 Notre Dame
The other game in the tournament’s semifinals will be played on ESPN immediately after this game.
Saturday, March 11 (Finals)
Duke vs. Florida State-Notre Dame winner, 9 p.m., ESPN
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