2025 ACC Tournament: No. 1 Duke beats Louisville 73-62 to win its 23rd ACC tourney

After trailing 45-24 at halftime, things looked bleak for UNC against No. 1 Duke.

But the Tar Heels never gave up and a furious rally has them within 70-64 with 3:41 left in their ACC Tournament semifinal

No. 1 Duke used a 15-0 run to blow open a tight game and take a 45-24 lead over rival North Carolina on Friday night in their ACC Tournament semifinal

Playing without star player Cooper Flagg, the Blue Devils looked disorganized and out of sorts early. The Tar Heels didn't look much better, but the game stayed virtually even much of the half.

But then the run helped Duke open a huge halftime lead. The Tar Heels did not score again after Elliot Cadeau made a 3-pointer with 5:03 left in the half. At that point, Duke led 30-24.

Kon Knueppel scored 12 points to pace Duke. UNC got eight points from Ven-Allen Lubin.

The Tar Heels made just 1-of-10 3-point tries in the half while the Blue Devils sank 4-of-15.

No. 1 Duke meets rival North Carolina on Friday night in a semifinal matchup with huge implications for the Tar Heels.

While the Blue Devils would, of course, like to win another ACC championship, UNC (22-12) can likely clinch an NCAA tournament bid with a win against Duke.

It's a tall task for UNC, which was swept in the regular season by Duke, losing on Feb. 1 in Durham in an 87-70 drubbing that was all but decided before halftime, and an 82-69 loss in Chapel Hill on March 8.

Duke (29-3) likely won't have ACC Player of the Year Cooper Flagg, who sprained his ankle on Thursday against Georgia Tech. The Blue Devils also will probably be without Maliq Brown, who suffered a shoulder injury.

Duke holds a 14-9 advantage in ACC Tournament meetings with UNC, including an 8-3 record in semifinals.

Chase Hunter scored 21 points, Jaeden Zackery added 11 points and No. 10 Clemson battled back to beat SMU 57-54 on Thursday night for its ninth straight win to reach the Atlantic Coast Conference semifinals.

Ian Schieffelin chipped in with nine points and 12 rebounds for the Tigers (27-5), who are seeking their first ACC Tournament title.

Matt Cross led SMU (23-10) with 13 points, while Boopie Miller had 10.

SMU led most of the second half, but Viktor Lakhin's lane jumper gave the Tigers a 52-51 lead with 4:50 left in the game.

SMU had a chance to tie or take the lead after Hunter missed a 3 with 17 seconds left. The Mustangs called timeout with 12.5 seconds left, but Chuck Harris missed a corner 3. There was a battle for the rebound before the ball went out of bounds. It was initially ruled the ball went off a Clemson player, but after reviewing the play officials ruled SMU touched the ball last.

Hunter was fouled on the inbounds play and made a free throw with 2.1 seconds. Cross' full-court heave at the buzzer fell short.

• Box Score

Takeaways

SMU: Cross picked up his fourth foul midway through the second half, but the Mustangs didn't waiver and stayed right with the Tigers until the end.

Clemson: Starting guard Dillon Hunter appeared to jam a finger late in the first half and did not return. Coach Brad Brownell said after the game Hunter might have broken his hand. Hunter had an ice bag on his right hand in the locker room after the game. He will have X-rays on Friday.

Key moment

Hunter drove through the lane, stopped and then hit a turnaround jumper to put Clemson up by four with less than two minutes remaining.

Key stat

SMU finished 1 of 14 from 3-point range.

Up next

Clemson moves on to face No. 13 Louisville, a 75-73 winner over Stanford, in the semifinals. SMU looks to be headed to the NIT.