#5 UNC 71 vs. #1 Virginia 67
Roy Williams made his message clear in his post game interview when questioned about his team’s toughness: “All those guys that are talking are not playing. My team’s still playing.” The North Carolina Tar Heels stunned the Virginia Cavaliers in the first #ACCTourney Semifinal. The Cavaliers never led and trailed by as many as 13 points. It is the 6th straight loss for the Cavaliers against UNC in the #ACCTourney as well. Their head-to-head tournament record is 3-12.
The Tar Heels set the tone early, jumping out to a 12-3 lead with 12:45 left in the 1st half. Freshmen Justin Jackson had a coming out party, scoring 22 points, which is a new career high for him. Jackson was 8-10 from the field and 4-5 from the 3-pt line. The Tar Heels shot 54.8 % from the field and hung on until the end despite 18 turnovers as a team.
Malcolm Brogdon brought UVA back in the game in the 2nd half. He got it as close as 62-63 with 1:21 remaining. Brogdon scored 22 of his 25 points in 2nd half and at one point scored 12 straight points for the Cavaliers. Justin Anderson went scoreless and has struggled to find his rhythm since returning from injury. All is not lost for the Cavaliers though as they’ll get some much needed rest before the #NCAATourney.
#3 Notre Dame 74 vs. #2 Duke 64
The Luck of the Irish has paid off when they needed it most as we have another proverbial “upset” as for the first time since 2009, a 1 and 2 seed will not play in the #ACCTourney Final. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have quietly worked their way into the #ACC finale tomorrow night and things weren’t very close from the start.
Notre Dame jumped out to a 18-5 lead with 11:30 left in the 1st half and led 41-26 at halftime. Bonzie Colson was the X factor for the Irish off the bench. Colson scored 17 points (5-9, 7-8 FT) and grabbed 5 rebounds. Jerian Grant had 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists and backcourt mate Demetrius Jackson had 15 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals.
The Blue Devils just didn’t look ready to play. Well, Jahlil Okafor was a monster. Okafor scored 28 points (13-18) and grabbed 8 rebounds but Tyus Jones and Quinn Cook struggled to score all game long. Jones and Cook went a combined 2-13 from 3-pt range. The Blue Devils shot 45% from the field as a team and also went 7-14 from the free throw line. Jahlil Okafor was 2-8 from the free throw line.
So the #ACCTourney Final is set! It’s Notre Dame against UNC @ 8:30 PM on ESPN. Be sure to tune in!
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