ACC tournament 2017: Live scores, bracket updates, and TV schedule

No team ever won four straight games to win the ACC tournament. Not before Duke completed their gauntlet on Saturday night, that is.

Duke beat Notre Dame 75-69 in the championship game on Saturday after both survived tough tests in the semifinals. Duke came back from a 13-point deficit to beat North Carolina, while the Irish outlasted Florida State.

This was the first conference tournament championship for Duke since 2011, and it’s 20th ACC tournament title overall.

This is something of a Cinderella run in Brooklyn for Duke, even though that term would never otherwise be associated with the program. The top four seeds in the ACC tournament gets byes, but Duke was the fifth seed. That means they had to play an extra game to here. It’s also a sign that the Blue Devils are playing their best ball at the right time.

Duke and Louisville played down to the wire in the quarterfinals, and the Blue Devils in the end prevailed over the higher seeded Cardinals, 80-77. That win set up Mike Krzyzewski’s club to meet with arch-foe and tournament top seed North Carolina on Friday night in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. These teams played each other not six days ago, when the Tar Heels beat Duke 90-83 in Chapel Hill. Friday night will be the teams’ third meeting this season.

The 2017 ACC tournament tipped off on Tuesday. This has been the top conference in America all season. Some preseason projections felt that as many as 11 teams could qualify for this year’s NCAA tournament. While that may not be the case now, virtually every potential matchup in the second round and beyond will constitute appointment viewing.

No. 1 seed North Carolina already locked up this year’s top spot prior to last Saturday’s Tobacco Road season finale, a decisive win over Duke. The Tar Heels have continued to impress this year after the heartbreak of last season, losing on a buzzer-beater in the national title game to Villanova. Roy Williams has his club back in fine form at season’s end with a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance likely coming on Selection Sunday.

Notre Dame is also playing impressive ball after making a run to the Elite Eight the last two seasons. At 23-8 (12-6 ACC), Mike Brey has the firepower to make waves again this year. This might be the best defensive team the Irish have put together under Brey, and the offense has still ranked among the top 20 in efficiency all season.

After starting as the top-ranked team in the preseason, the Duke Blue Devils find themselves in something of a funk right now. Though they’ve lost just eight games — including the season finale in Chapel Hill — seven of those have come in conference play. Grayson Allen has had an up and down year, fading from last season’s more consistently great play. When he’s on, he’s on; but he’s had some bad nights over the last month, averaging just 6.8 points per game in his last five, which is well below his 14.5 season average.

Harry Giles’ preseason injury contributed to Duke’s identity struggles, but Luke Kennard’s emergence has saved the Blue Devils’ season. Kennard is one of the country’s most efficient scorers, and he’s been the team’s lone constant amid an otherwise dervish of a season.

The upper-middle tier of the conference is holding firm, with Virginia Tech, Louisville, and Virginia all appearing to be tournament-bound. Virginia’s defense remains stout, if its ability to score has become something of a liability. The Cavaliers own the conference’s second-to-last scoring average with just 66.6 points per outing.

Louisville was again a team to watch heading into the ACC tourney after Rick Pitino’s club churned out early-season wins over Purdue, Kentucky, and Indiana. Breakout star Donovan Mitchell has been stellar this year, averaging 15.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. He’s long and athletic, and if the Cardinals make a deep push into the Dance this year, Mitchell will be there, pulling off impressive acrobatics.

Still, the Cardinals couldn’t hold the line against Duke in Thursday’s quarterfinal round action, and they’ll have to wait to see where they’re seeded on Selection Sunday.

The ACC tournament will be a standard 15-team bracket Tuesday through Saturday this week. The top four seeds receive byes into the quarterfinal round, and the bottom six seeds duke it out in the opening round. The championship final is Saturday night at 9 p.m.

You can view the entire ACC tournament bracket here:

Tuesday, March 7 (First Round)

Game 1: No. 12 Clemson 75, No. 13 NC State 61
Game 2: No. 10 Wake Forest 92, No. 15 Boston College 78
Game 3: No. 11 Pitt 61, No. 14 Georgia Tech 59

Wednesday, March 8 (Second Round)

Game 4: No. 9 Miami 62, No. 8 Syracuse 57
Game 5: No. 5 Duke 79, No. 12 Clemson 72
Game 6: No. 7 Virginia Tech 99, No. 10 Wake Forest 90
Game 7: No. 6 Virginia 75, No. No. 11 Pitt 63

Thursday, March 9 (Quarterfinals)

Game 8: No. 1 North Carolina 78 No. 9 Miami 53
Game 9: No. 5 Duke 81, No. 4 Louisville 77
Game 10: No. 2 Florida State 74, No. 7 Virginia Tech 68
Game 11: No. 3 Notre Dame 71, No. 6 Virginia 58

Friday, March 10 (Semifinals)

Game 12: No. 5 Duke 93, No. 1 North Carolina 83
Game 13: No. 3 Notre Dame 77, No. 2 Florida State 73

Saturday, March 11 (Finals)

Game 14: No. 5 Duke 75, No. 3 Notre Dame 69