UofL falls to Duke in ACC Tourney quarterfinals, 81-77

As the Blue Devils get prepared for the NCAA Tournament, Duke redshirt junior Lexie Brown earned some hardware over the weekend as the guard was named espnW Honorable Mention All-America. We’ve seen the Irish play a lot zone in this ACC Tournament. Our effort was not there. And then on our end, we were hesitant. No team has won back to back ACC Championships since Duke did it from 2009 to 2011. “If we ever get all four of them going-that’s who I would like to be”.

Chalk up UofL’s second straight short stay in the tourney to three shortcomings that have plagued the Cards in all of their losses this season, along with a few victories that were closer than they should have been. I can’t even remember where it was. “We’re clicking at the right time”.

On consecutive nights. In the ACC tournament.

“That was a great game…”

“I care if we get a high seed”. I’m so proud of my guys. “I was really surprised when we played North Carolina”. “They continue to tell me to be aggressive”.

“When we got down by double digits, we made a little change defensively”, Krzyzewski said.

“We did a good job of rebounding and pushing the ball”, Adel said.

“Crazy as it may sound, I think we’re still evolving because of all the injuries and interruptions that we’ve had this season”. It would certainly be an impressive feat, as Duke has already beaten Clemson, Louisville and North Carolina in consecutive days to reach the finals. Getting any shot they wanted, the Tar Heels hit on 53 percent of their field goals, led by Isaiah Hicks’ 19 and ACC Player of the Year Justin Jackson adding 12. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are allowing 33.6 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 34.2 rebounds per game. It was won because Jayson Tatum finished with 24 points, but also seven rebounds.

Two days after its airplane’s scary abandoned takeoff, MI moved into the league tournament semifinals with a 74-70 overtime upset of Purdue behind D.J. Wilson’s 26 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. The story was that Duke had somehow found itself. From that point on Duke outscored UNC 45-27.

Jackson scored all 15 of his points Friday after halftime, and his left-corner 3-pointer gave Duke its first lead at 66-65 and brought much of the arena to its feet. He will outduel Colson and lead Duke to the ACC title. Allen was first-team All-ACC last season, Kennard this. A win against Miami, whom Syracuse beat, 70-55, on January 4 at home with the help of a double-double from leading scorer Andrew White III (22 points, 10 rebounds) would go a long way in helping their chances. Four games in four nights is supposed to be a punishment for a regular-season not as well played but sometimes it’s a reward for a team that is still searching to find itself.

UNC against Duke is always entertaining, and we are usually lucky that we get to witness such great basketball squaring off twice a year. And when Kennard sank a pair of free throws with 10:21 to play it capped a 15-2 run, tying the game at 63-63. There hasn’t been one magical thing to make Duke click. Grayson Allen drove and kicked out to Luke Kennard, who buried a 3-pointer from the wing to put Duke up by five. “First half, it was 8-0, them on the offensive boards”.

Series Record: The Tar Heels lead the all-time series, 135-109. Allen hit two free throws and a trey, Kennard hit two free throws, and just like that the Blue Devils had tied the game.