CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Championship game is set, and in less than 24 hours, a new ACC Tournament champion will be crowned.
Two teams survived second half comebacks from their opponents to secure their spot in the conference championship game. One team has been there before, winning 22 ACC Tournament titles in its history and is destined for a deep tournament run.
The other makes their very first appearance in the title game, continuing to prove college basketball fans wrong.
Take a look at some of the most important takeaways from the ACC Tournament semifinals round.
Game 12: No. 1 Duke 72, No. 5 UNC 71
For the first time since the 2001-02 season, Duke has gone 3-0 against North Carolina.
These two programs have played 24 times in the ACC Tournament, with all but one game coming in the semifinals or championship game. And despite the Blue Devils relinquishing a 23-point lead in the second half, the game-tying free throw for the Tar Heels was waived off due to a lane violation by Jae’Lyn Withers.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before, especially up one,” Kon Knueppel said postgame. “That was very interesting. But yeah, we were obviously pretty happy. They didn’t even get a shot at tying it.”
In all, five Blue Devils reached double figures. Knueppel led Duke’s offense with 17 points, with Khaman Maluach scoring 13 points and nine rebounds before fouling out. Sion James and Patrick Ngongba both had 12 points and Tyrese Proctor had 11.
Duke ended the first half with a 15-0 run, holding North Carolina scoreless for the final five minutes of the half. Neither team made a field goal in the final three minutes of regulation.
North Carolina’s Ven-Allen Lubin scored a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds, recording his fourth double-double in the last five games. Elliot Cadeau, who played most of the second half with four fouls, scored 15 points and had five assists. Seth Trimble scored 14 points and Drake Powell scored 10.
The Tar Heels outscored the Blue Devils by 18 points in the second half, leading to seven different lead changes and three ties before the end of the game.
“In the second half I felt like we were more physical,” North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis said. “Our competitive fight, we were defending without fouling, we were getting loose balls, we were getting rebounds, we were contesting shots, we were making second and third efforts.”
North Carolina was on the bubble to make the NCAA Tournament heading into the conference tournament, needing at least one win to stay in the hunt for a play-in game. If the Tar Heels miss the 64-team field, it will automatically receive a bit to the NIT, along with Wake Forest.
Takeaway: Playing without Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown
Though two players don’t make an entire basketball team, losing Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown in the same game just before the NCAA Tournament was a big loss for Duke. Still, the Blue Devils found their groove without two go-to options.
Knueppel has scored 45 points in the last two games. He’s been Duke’s leading scorer in both of the Blue Devils’ tournament games. Flagg has taken most of the attention in this particular freshmen class, but Knueppel’s ability to adapt to a larger role in the wake of Flagg’s injury can be important for Duke’s future.
“It’s awesome for us to have this type of adversity,” Knueppel said. “To be honest, we haven’t had a bunch of it this season, so it’s great. We don’t want the injuries; that sucks. But having the close games, close battles down the stretch are big.”
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer confirmed postgame that both Flagg and Brown won’t play in the ACC Championship game Saturday night. He added that the Blue Devils are hoping to have Flagg back in time for the start of March Madness, but didn’t provide any timeline on Brown.
So Duke will have to do it all again if it wants to take home the crown.
Game 13: No. 2 Louisville 76, No. 3 Clemson 73
For the first time since joining the ACC, Louisville will play for a conference championship.
After escaping the quarterfinals round with a buzzer-beating put-back jump shot from Chucky Hepburn, the Cardinals had a rematch against Clemson. The last time the two squads faced off was in early January, when Louisville beat the Tigers by 10 on home court. At the time, it was Clemson’s first conference loss of the season.
The Tigers came back from a 15 point deficit to fall short yet again to the Cardinals.
“Obviously, a very difficult ending for us,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. “…We had a chance to win the game there at the end, had a couple things maybe not go our way, but man, we just — these guys just kept fighting.”
Clemson cut the lead to just two points during the final 90 seconds of the game, but a block by Aboubacar Traore negated any chance the Tigers had of sinking a game-tying shot.
The Cardinals scored 32 points in the paint and only five bench points against the Tigers. Clemson also held Louisville to just six made triple in the semifinals game — one of its worst long-range shooting numbers of the year. The Cardinals have made six or less triples just seven times this season.
Chase Hunter scored a game-high 23 points, followed up by Terrence Edwards Jr.’s 21 points and eight rebounds. Eight players scored at leas 10 points between the two teams, and Ian Schieffelin recorded his eighth double-double of the season (14 points and 12 rebounds).
“We sure as heck don’t make any excuses, and we don’t give any explanations, but our guys were low on fumes there at the end of the game,” Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey said. “At the end of the day, they gritted out a tough win, and fortunate to advance, and we’re in those situations tomorrow, we’ll handle it better.”
Takeaway: How much can change in a year
It took Kelsey one year to take the Cardinals from one of the worst programs in Power 5 basketball to the best.
The new ACC Coach of the Year revived a basketball program, and its fanbase, after compiling a veteran group of transfers and Cardinal veterans over one offseason.
“Gosh, it’s been a whirlwind of a year,” Kelsey said. “It’s coming up on 12 months since (Director of Athletics) Josh Heird made that call to me and offered me the job to be head coach University of Louisville, and when I still say those words, I still can’t believe it’s real sometimes, and I get goosebumps on my arm.”
Kelsey’s work bringing the Louisville basketball brand back into the national spotlight has become one of the biggest stories of the college basketball season. With players like Hepburn, Edwards and Hadley putting on a show every game, the Cardinals are quickly becoming a legitimate threat come time for the bracket reveal Sunday afternoon.
Now, in an opportunity to make history, the Cardinals will have another shot at top-ranked duke.
Louisville’s proven what can change in 365 days. Will they show much much they’ve changed since their regular season loss to the Blue Devils in December?
All will be revealed at 8:30 p.m. EST Saturday night.