North Carolina’s Coby White (2) shows his disappointment after missing a shot in the final seconds of a 74-73 loss to Duke in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament in Charlotte.
Photos by Andrew Dye/Journal
Duke’s Zion Williamson goes in for a dunk during Friday’s ACC Tournament semifinal at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte. Williamson made 13 of 19 shots from the field and scored 31 points to propel the Blue Devils into tonight’s championship game against Florida State.
Andrew Dye/Journal
Duke’s Zion Williamson celebrates a dunk against rival North Carolina.
CHARLOTTE — Down to the wire, two heavyweights put on a show — finally in this state.
In the end, Zion Williamson was the difference — who could’ve seen that coming, right?
Williamson’s put-back with 30 seconds left delivered Duke a 74-73 win over North Carolina in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament on Friday night at Spectrum Center. After this treat of a game was played in the past two years in Brooklyn, it was finally in the state of North Carolina.
Duke (28-5) will play fourth-seeded Florida State tonight for the ACC championship after the Seminoles got ahead and stayed ahead of ACC juggernaut Virginia for a 69-59 win in the first game. It’s only Virginia’s fourth loss to an ACC team in the past two seasons.
In an instant classic with four lead changes in the final four minutes, Williamson — the Duke freshman who missed nearly all of the first two matchups — provided the final punch. It was the cherry atop his 31-point, 11-rebound performance.
And it was the final lead change over the last four minutes in a game that finally delivered the hype surrounding Williamson and Duke’s freshman against the Tar Heels.
Duke scored the first four points and didn’t lead for the rest of the first half. But when the Blue Devils scored the first six points of the second half and led 52-46, it was their largest lead of the game.
That’s also the most separation this game saw for the entire second half. It didn’t remain the shootout it was in the first half, but it delivered on every other level.
Things shifted when North Carolina’s Garrison Brooks — the only size the Tar Heels (27-6) used against Williamson — picked up his third and fourth fouls in a five-second span with more than seven minutes left. In his absence, Williamson scored on two of the next three possessions in half-court sets and Duke’s two-point deficit became a two-point lead.
Nothing was determined for the first 20 minutes — other than this game was much better with Williamson playing a full minute, and then beyond.
Cameron Johnson had the hot hand early, with North Carolina’s first eight points in less than three minutes.
Duke scored the first four points, and then Johnson drained a 3-pointer and long 2, and the Tar Heels never trailed for the rest of the first half.
North Carolina’s offense never entered a lull in the first half.
The Tar Heels’ longest drought between scoring was only about two minutes, and they only committed three turnovers.
Duke’s offense to bring this thing to a 44-44 tie at halftime came in more of a burst.
The Blue Devils’ deficit was 33-20 with 6:23 left, as the Tar Heels were on an 11-3 run.
Williamson scored seven points in a 45-second span — microwavable for most, but maybe only ordinary for him — and it propelled Duke into an efficient close to the first half.
Starting with that eruption, Duke scored on 10 of 11 possessions.
It included two Williamson 3s — he only had one game in the regular season, at Wake Forest, with multiple 3-pointers.
North Carolina’s Coby White (2) shows his disappointment after missing a shot in the final seconds of a 74-73 loss to Duke in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament in Charlotte.
Duke’s Zion Williamson goes in for a dunk during Friday’s ACC Tournament semifinal at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte. Williamson made 13 of 19 shots from the field and scored 31 points to propel the Blue Devils into tonight’s championship game against Florida State.