2026 ACC Tournament: Duke wins back-to-back ACC Championships

Isaiah Evans made seven 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 32 points, Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year Cameron Boozer added 23 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 1 Duke survived a scare from Florida State to beat the Seminoles 80-79 on Thursday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

The Seminoles had a chance at an upset after Chauncey Wiggins blocked Boozer with seven seconds left, but Robert McCray V's 3 at the buzzer rimmed out.

• Box Score

Maliq Brown came up with two huge defensive plays to turn the momentum of the game for Duke, and had a 19-2 run in the second half after trailing by eight with 13 minutes left. Brown had 12 rebounds.

The Blue Devils (30-2) outrebounded Florida State 46-25 but needed to overcome 28 points from Lajae Jones and 25 from McCray for their ninth straight win. The Seminoles were 11 of 28 on 3s.

Evans, who played high school basketball at nearby North Mecklenburg High, had 28 points against the Seminoles in Duke's 91-87 victory in January. He was 11 of 20 from the field on Thursday night and 7 of 16 from beyond the arc.

Duke played without starting point guard Caleb Foster, who is out indefinitely with a broken right foot, and starting big man Patrick Ngongba II, who is sitting out this week's Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament while dealing with his own foot issue.

Florida State led 44-43 at halftime and carried the momentum into the second half, building a 59-51 lead seven minutes in behind 10 quick points from McCray.

But Boozer scored on an offensive rebound and then drilled a 3 from the top of the key on consecutive possessions to ignite a 19-2 run. Brown, the ACC's defensive player of the year and sixth man of the year, had two steals during the run leading to Duke layups.

But Florida battled back to cut the lead to 80-79 behind Jones before McCray's miss at the buzzer.

Duke will face the winner of Clemson and No. 24 North Carolina on Friday.

-- The Associated Press

Clemson said forward Carter Welling suffered a torn knee ligament in the Tigers' opening game of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

The school announced Thursday that Welling had torn the ACL in his right knee. He was hurt when he attempted to drive late in the first half of Wednesday's second-round win against Wake Forest, when he collapsed to the court.

The 6-foot-11, 240-pound junior was helped from the court and later had a brace on his right leg and crutches. He had an MRI on Thursday.

Welling has averaged 10.2 points and 5.4 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Tigers, who are headed to the NCAA tournament. The program announced Welling's diagnosis before Thursday's quarterfinal against No. 19 North Carolina.

-- The Associated Press contributed.

Malik Reneau scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half, Tru Washington added 17, and Miami beat No. 24 Louisville 78-73 on Thursday to advance to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals.

Reneau was 5 of 9 from the field and 7 of 8 from the foul line after halftime.

• Box Score

Tre Donaldson scored 14 points for Miami (25-7), which moves on to face No. 10 Virginia in Saturday's semifinals.

Ryan Conwell had 22 points and nine rebounds, and J'Vonne Hadley added 19 points for the Cardinals (24-10).

Miami avenged a 92-89 loss to Louisville just five days earlier. This time, points weren't as easy to come by.

Louisville, playing its second game in two days after failing to secure a top-four seed and a double bye despite its national ranking, led 38-37 at the break after a physical first half that saw three Cardinals players leave with bloodied faces.

The Hurricanes used a swarming defense to take control early in the second half. Dante Allen came up with a steal and fastbreak layup for a three-point play to give Miami a 49-41 lead.

Miami scored 17 points off turnovers.

The Cardinals clawed back, cutting the lead to one with 1:23 left when Hadley came up with a steal, and Issac McKneely put back Hadley's miss off a fastbreak layup.

But Reneau made a layup, and Washington came up with the play of the game when he stole the ensuing inbounds pass and was fouled. He made both free throws to push the lead to five with less than a minute to play.

Reneau added two free throws and Shelton Henderson sealed the win with a steal and a powerful two-handed dunk.

Louisville finished 6 of 24 from 3-point range.

On Friday, the Hurricanes will look to avenge an 86-63 loss to Virginia last month.

Injured Duke players Patrick Ngongba II and Caleb Foster rolled -- literally -- into the arena as the Blue Devils get ready to play Florida State on Thursday night.

Injured Duke players Patrick Ngongba II and Caleb Foster rolled -- literally -- into the arena as the Blue Devils get ready to play Florida State on Thursday night.

The top-ranked Blue Devils are seeking their second consecutive ACC championship. A win against the Seminoles could potentially set up a semifinal matchup against rival No. 19 North Carolina.

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