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

UNC jumped out early and never looked back in dominating Notre Dame 76-56 in its ACC tournament opener Wednesday.

The Tar Heels (21-12) got 21 points and nine rebounds from Jae'Lyn Withers. Van Allen Lubin added 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Withers scored all his points on 3-pointers - making 7-of-10 overall. North Carolina made nine of 17 3-pointers in the first half, highlighted by Withers, who made five of six. His first three 3-pointers, all in a row, helped the Tar Heels build a 17-5 lead in the opening five minutes. Later, he made two more in a 12-0 run that gave the Tar Heels a 37-17 lead. North Carolina led 43-29 at halftime.

• Box Score

Five players scored for the Tar Heels in the first 7 1/2 minutes of the second half as they extended their lead to 58-38. The largest lead was 24 points on two occasions, the second time when Withers made his career-high seventh 3-pointer.

RJ Davis added 13 points, and Elliot Cadeau had 10 assists. The Tar Heels shot 48% and made 13 of 28 3-pointers.

Markus Burton was held to 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting plus 5 of 7 from the free-throw line for Notre Dame (15-18).

The Tar Heels won six of their last seven games to close the regular season, reaching 20 wins for the 55th time in 72 seasons in the ACC.

North Carolina finished in a tie for fourth place in the regular season and was seeded fifth in the tournament. The Tar Heels will play No. 4 seed Wake Forest (21-10) on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

The Associated Press contributed.

North Carolina's ACC title quest begins Wednesday in Charlotte.

The Tar Heels (20-12) take on a Notre Dame (15-17) team they beat by a single point earlier this season.

Earlier in the day, Georgia Tech started things off by beating Virginia 66-60.

In the night session, less traditional ACC matchups take place. West Coast rivals Cal (14-18) and Stanford (19-12) clash at 7 p.m. and Syracuse (14-18) meets SMU (22-9).

Duke and Wake Forest received a double bye and will hit the court Thursday.

J.J. Starling scored 27 points, and Syracuse went 4 for 4 from the free-throw line in the final five seconds to hold on for a 66-62 victory over Florida State in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament on Tuesday at the Spectrum Center.

The 14th-seeded Orange (14-18) advance to play No. 6 seed SMU in the second round on Wednesday.

Starling made 12 of 23 shots with three 3-pointers and five rebounds for Syracuse. Eddie Lampkin Jr. had 14 points and nine rebounds and Jyare Davis scored 14 with six boards.

Jamir Watkins had 16 points and 11 rebounds to pace the 11th-seeded Seminoles (17-15). Reserves Daquan Davis and Jerry Deng both scored 10.

Syracuse turned the ball over and Malique Ewin scored to get Florida State within a point with nine seconds left. Ewin fouled Kyle Cuffe Jr., who made both free throws for a three-point lead.

The Orange fouled Daquan Davis with two seconds left to prevent the Seminoles from taking a 3-pointer. Davis made the first, missed the second and Jyare Davis grabbed the rebound and was fouled before hitting two foul shots to seal it.

Lampkin scored 12 and grabbed six rebounds to help Syracuse take a 30-26 lead into halftime. Jyare Davis followed his layup with a 3 to give the Orange an 8-4 lead and they never trailed over the final 17 minutes.

Starling and Davis had the first two baskets of the second half to stretch the Syracuse lead to eight. Naheem McLeod's dunk gave the Orange their largest lead at 50-34 with 13:15 remaining.

Florida State whittled away until Watkins was fouled on a 3-pointer and made three free throws to get the Seminoles within 62-59 with 48 seconds remaining.

The Associated Press contributed.

Andrej Stojakovic scored 29, Mady Sissoko and Rytis Petraitis each posted double-doubles and California rallied to beat Virginia Tech 82-73 in double overtime in Tuesday's first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

The 15th-seeded Golden Bears (14-18) will play No. 7 seed Stanford on Wednesday in a second-round matchup between former Pac-12 rivals. Cal was coming off a 112-110 four-overtime loss at Notre Dame in Saturday's regular-season finale.

Sissoko scored the first two baskets in the second overtime and Stojakovic polished off an 8-0 run to give the Golden Bears the lead for good.

Stojakovic made 11 of 20 shots with three 3-pointers for the Golden Bears. Petraitis finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Sissoko scored 12 with 10 boards. DJ Campbell didn't have a basket but made 10 of 12 free throws.

Brandon Rechsteiner scored 19 off the bench to pace the 10th-seeded Hokies (13-19). Tobi Lawal totaled 17 points and 12 rebounds. Jaydon Young missed all 11 of his 3-point attempts and scored 12.

Rechsteiner buried a 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining in regulation after Virginia Tech had missed eight straight from beyond the arc to give the Hokies their first lead of the second half at 60-59. Campbell was fouled with five seconds left and he made the second one to send it to OT.

Virginia Tech took a four-point lead in the first OT, but Petraitis followed two free throws and a layup to pull Cal even at 65 with 1:40 left. Stojakovic sent it to a second OT tied at 67 with two late free throws.

It was the first double-overtime game in the first round of the tournament since Wake Forest beat Georgia Tech 114-112 in 2007.

The Associated Press contributed.