Duke wins 2023 Men's ACC Championship beating Virginia 59-49; Coach Jon Scheyer makes history

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Duke wins the 2023 Men's ACC Championship beating Virginia 59-49 at Greensboro Coliseum, giving Jon Scheyer his first ACC title as head coach.

Jeremy Roach scored 23 points and No. 21 Duke locked down defensively to beat No. 13 Virginia 59-49 in Saturday night's Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship, securing a title in Jon Scheyer's debut season as the successor to Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Freshman Kyle Filipowski added 20 points and 10 rebounds as the tournament's most valuable player for the fourth-seeded Blue Devils (26-8), who completed a final-month surge to the top of the ACC to claim a league-record 22nd championship

The Blue Devils never trailed, leading by as many as 14 points and keeping the Cavaliers - playing a methodical pace and their own defensive-minded style - working to inch closer all night.

Scheyer is the first to win an ACC Tournament title as both a player and a coach in league history, and only the third first-year coach ever to claim the title.

Print or Download ACC Tournament Bracket Here

FRIDAY'S ACTION

No. 4 seed Duke used a balanced attack on Friday to knock off top-seed Miami 85-78 and advance to the ACC Tournament championship game.

The Blue Devils will face Virginia who beat Clemson in the late game on Friday.

Kyle Filipowski had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Jeremy Roach hit a huge 3-pointer at the 1:32 mark to lift Duke into the championship game.

Roach's 3 from the left wing over Isaiah Wong with the shot clock going down proved to be the biggest shot, giving Duke a 78-71 lead that Miami couldn't overcome in a well-played matchup.

The Blue Devils (25-8) did enough late to stay in control, closing out their eighth straight win and earning their 17th trip to the title game in the past 25 tournaments.

This one comes in the debut run of first-year coach Jon Scheyer, who replaced retired Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski and has Duke within a win of another ACC title.

Tyrese Proctor hit two free throws with 9.8 seconds left, and Filipowski rebounded Wong's last-ditch 3-pointer to start Duke's celebration. Proctor raised his arms and motioned to the home-state crowd for more noise.

Wong had 22 points to lead the Hurricanes (25-7), who suffered an immediate blow by losing starting forward Norchad Omier to an ankle injury just 66 seconds into the game.

Miami shot 46.8% for the game, with Wong and Jordan Miller (17 points) leading the attack.

Both teams had five players in double figures, with Duke getting 16 points from Dariq Whitehead and 15 from Proctor. The Blue Devils shot 54.9% a day after a season-best offensive output in a quarterfinal rout of Pittsburgh, including 8 of 16 from 3-point range.

THURSDAY'S ACTION

Ian Schieffelin and PJ Hall each scored 15 points and Clemson ran away from North Carolina State in the second half to earn an 80-54 victory in a quarterfinal game at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

Clemson will face Virginia on Friday night.

NC State got off to a strong start and held a nine-point lead midway through the first half, 20-11. The Tigers roared back to take a 39-36 lead at intermission. Chase Hunter hit three straight jumpers to get Clemson started in the second half and the Tigers outscored the Wolfpack 41-18 over the final 20 minutes.

From the midway point of the first half, Clemson scored two points for every point its defense allowed, outscoring the Wolfpack 69-34.

D.J. Burns Jr. paced NC State (23-10) with 12 points. Terquavion Smith scored 11 points and Jack Clark and Jarkel Joiner each added 10.

North Carolina's NCAA Tournament hopes took a significant blow when the Tar Heels came up short 68-59 against No. 2 seed Virginia in the first of two Thursday evening quarterfinals matchups.

The No. 7 seed Tar Heels fought back after trailing by double-digits at times but missed key shots down the stretch.

R.J. Davis scored 24 points to lead North Carolina, which shot poorly making just 19 of its 53 shots (35.8%) and only 8 of 27 3-point attempts (29.6%). The Tar Heels also turned the ball over 11 times to just six for the Cavaliers, who shot nearly 50% from the floor (24-of-49). Caleb Love was the only other Tar Heel in double figures with 11 points.

Jayden Gardner, who transferred to Virginia after a standout year at East Carolina, led the Wahoos with 17 points and added 10 rebounds.

UNC (20-13) must wait until Sunday to see whether it will scrape into the NCAA tournament. If the Tar Heels miss out, they'll make dubious history as the first preseason No. 1-ranked team to not make the field since the tournament field expanded to 64 or more teams.

"Regardless of our record, I think we've shown throughout the entire year we can compete and beat anyone in the country," Davis said after the game.

Virginia (24-6) will face Clemson who trounced NC State in the late game.

It was Duke's first ACC Tournament game under first-year head coach Jon Scheyer -- and what a debut it was.

The Blue Devils (24-8) came out hot from the opening tip and never looked back in thrashing the Panthers 96-69

"The start we got off to was incredibly important to us," Scheyer said.

Nearly everything was working for No. 21 Duke, which moves on to play Miami. The only glitch was a first-half fright when freshman sensation Kyle Filipowski went down briefly with a rolled ankle less than three minutes in, drawing gasps from the Duke fans in attendance.

He returned about six minutes later after getting tapes and finished with 22 points on 8-10 shooting, including 4-of-6 3-pointers in just 15 minutes of action.

"We're coming," Filipowski said. "We're coming for whoever's in our way. People don't respect us still. We have that chip on our shoulder. No matter who we're facing, we still have something to prove to them."

Tyrese Proctor added 11 points and 10 assists, Dereck Lively II had 13 points and Mark Mitchell added 12 for the Blue Devils, who shot a season-high 62% from the floor and built a 48-32 halftime lead.

Duke win its seventh straight game, the longest active streak of any ACC team. The Blue Devils beat the Panthers for the second time this season, winning a regular-season matchup 77-69.

Pitt coach Jeff Capel said Duke has the potential to turn some heads in March.

"I do think they can make a run," Capel said. "They have size, they have athleticism. They have really gotten better defensively and if they shoot the ball the way they did today, especially from three, that makes them even more difficult to guard."

Nike Sibande had 17 points and Guillermo Diaz Graham had 14 for Pitt.

Duke moves on to face top-seeded and 14th-ranked Miami in Friday's semifinals. The Blue Devils and Hurricanes split the season series with Duke winning 68-66 on Jan. 21 at Cameron Indoor Stadium and losing 81-59 at Miami on Feb. 6.

Pitt (22-11) now waits until Sunday to receive a likely NCAA tournament bid.

The Demon Deacons (19-14) battled back valiantly from an 18-point second-half deficit but came up just short, falling to the Hurricanes 74-72. A half-court shot that would have won it for Wake banged harmlessly off the backboard at the buzzer.

Jordan Miller had 18 points and nine rebounds for No. 14 Miami. ACC player of the year Isaiah Wong had 17 points and five assists.

For the Deacons, Tyree Appleby had 24 points behind five 3s. Cameron Hildreth added 17 points.

Daivien Williamson, whose buzzer-beater beat Syracuse and effectively ended coach Jim Boeheim's 47-year coaching career on Wednesday, missed the half-court heave at the buzzer that would have won the game.

Wake Forest will now sit and wait for a possible bid to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Miami (25-6) moves on to play the winner of Duke and Pitt

WEDNESDAY'S ACTION

Three North Carolina-based teams hit the hardwood Wednesday. UNC, N.C. State and Wake Forest all advanced. Duke will see its first action on Thursday.

The 9th-seeded Demon Deacons had the noon game on Wednesday, beating Syracuse 77-74. Syracuse's coach and college basketball legend Jim Boeheim announced his retirement shortly after the loss.

The Tar Heels, seeded seventh, tipped off at 7 p.m. and cruised past Boston College 85-61.

Caleb Love scored 22 points, RJ Davis hit four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points and North Carolina kept alive its NCAA tournament hopes.

Armando Bacot had 10 points, six rebounds and three assists in 18 minutes for North Carolina (20-12). The 6-foot-11 senior left the game with about five minutes left in the first half with an apparent ankle injury. He started the second half before returning to the bench for good with 14:27 to play and the Tar Heels leading 58-31.

The No. 6 seed Wolfpack came out smoking in the nightcap and overwhelmed defending ACC champion Virginia Tech 97-77.

Terquavion Smith scored 30 points on 11-for-13 shooting and Jarkel Joiner had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Smith finished four points shy of tying his career high and finished one field goal short of tying his career high of most field goals made in a game. Jack Clark and Ebenezer Dowuona each scored 11 for the Wolfpack (23-9).

Not everything went well for the Pack. Starting forward Greg Gantt sustained a knee injury right before halftime. He came out of the tunnel on crutches and did not return to action.

Bracket

-- The Associated Press contributed