Duke Faces North Carolina In The Semifinals Of The Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament With Zion Williamson Back On The Court

On Friday night Duke who is a third seed and North Carolina who is a second seed will meet for the third time this season in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament in Charlotte. This time however Duke will have the services of Zion Williamson.

When Duke and North Carolina met during the regular season in the first meeting in Durham Zion Williamson was injured in the opening seconds and during the rematch in Chapel Hill he was on the sideline recovering from a knee sprain.

Duke comes into the Atlantic Coast Conference semifinal with a record of 27-5 while they were 14-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference during the regular season. Like Duke, North Carolina comes into the game with the same overall record at 27-5 while they were 16-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference during the regular season.

As for the first regular season meeting, North Carolina won in Durham.

Eighth-ranked North Carolina (21-5, 11-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) got 30 points and 15 rebounds from Luke Maye and 26 points and seven boards from Cameron Johnson and beat top-ranked Duke (23-3, 11-2), 88-72, on Wednesday at Cameron Indoor Stadium.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/20/mens-basketball-at-duke.aspx
 
Carolina has 14 wins over AP No. 1-ranked teams, most all-time. Eight of those 14 wins have come against Duke.  Head coach Roy Williams has eight wins over AP No. 1 teams, most of any coach in NCAA history.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/20/mens-basketball-at-duke.aspx
 
Maye hit 14 of 24 shots from the floor and finished with 30 points and 15 boards for his 10th double-double of the season. Johnson hit 11 of 17 shots, grabbed seven rebounds and had four assists with no turnovers. Garrison Brooks finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/20/mens-basketball-at-duke.aspx

Carolina shot 50.7 percent as a team from the floor but just 2 for 20 (10.0 percent) from three-point range. UNC was 36 for 55 (65.5 percent) ob two-point attempts.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/20/mens-basketball-at-duke.aspx

The Tar Heels held Duke to 34.7 percent shooting from the floor, including 8 for 39 (20.5 percent) from three-point range. R.J. Barrett had 33 points and 13 rebounds and Cam Reddish scored 27 for Duke. Fellow freshman Zion Williamson was limited to less than one minute of action due to a knee injury suffered on Duke's first possession of the game.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/20/mens-basketball-at-duke.aspx

Carolina scored 62 points in the paint, its ACC high this season, while allowing only 28 Duke points in the paint.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/20/mens-basketball-at-duke.aspx

UNC is 7-0 on the road in ACC play this season, its best start in league play since going 8-0 on the road in 2008.  Three of those wins have come against ranked ACC foes (No. 15 N.C. State, No. 15 Louisville and No. 1 Duke).”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/20/mens-basketball-at-duke.aspx
 
UNC led by as many as 13 points in the first half and took a 42-32 lead into the locker room.  The two teams shot a combined 3 for 34 from three-point range in the opening half (1 for 14 by UNC and 2 for 20 by Duke). Carolina missed its first 12 from long range before Maye hit one with under 3:00 to go before the break.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/20/mens-basketball-at-duke.aspx
 
The Tar Heels still shot 45 percent overall from the floor (17 for 26 from two-point range for 65.3 percent) Maye (18 points) and Johnson (12) accounted for 30 of Carolina's 42 first-half points. Duke shot 32.5 percent from the floor in the first half.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/20/mens-basketball-at-duke.aspx
 
The Tar Heel lead grew to as many as 22 points in the second half, and Duke couldn't get within single digits in the final 18:10 of the game.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/20/mens-basketball-at-duke.aspx

As for the rematch during the regular season. North Carolina earned the sweep of Duke in Chapel Hill.

Third-ranked North Carolina handled every push fourth-ranked Duke could manage, both in building a big lead and then hanging onto what was left of its edge in the final minutes.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/3/9/mens-basketball-vs-duke-recap.aspx

When it was over, the Tar Heels were ready to cut down nets, too.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/3/9/mens-basketball-vs-duke-recap.aspx

Freshman Coby White scored 21 points and UNC took down its biggest rival again, beating the short-handed Blue Devils 79-70 to earn a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/3/9/mens-basketball-vs-duke-recap.aspx

The win also gave the Tar Heels their first regular-season sweep of the Blue Devils in a decade, this one with Duke freshman star Zion Williamson sidelined yet again by the knee sprain suffered in the first meeting.
  Afterward, as fans lingered for farewell speeches from upperclassmen playing their final home game, the Tar Heels started working on the net to celebrate.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/3/9/mens-basketball-vs-duke-recap.aspx

"It's OK if you need to go, it's all right," UNC coach Roy Williams told the crowd as arena staff brought ladders onto the court. "Because we're going to have fun ourselves. We're going to cut down that frickin' net as ACC champions."“according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/3/9/mens-basketball-vs-duke-recap.aspx

Senior Kenny Williams scored a season-high 18 points for the Tar Heels (26-5, 16-2), who led by 15 with about 6½ minutes left but had to hold off a rally by the Blue Devils, who also lost starting big man Marques Bolden early in this one to his own knee injury.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/3/9/mens-basketball-vs-duke-recap.aspx

The Tar Heels bumbled their way to the finish after building their big lead, letting the Blue Devils (26-5, 14-4) get within five late. Ultimately UNC held on to finish tied alongside second-ranked Virginia atop the final league standings.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/3/9/mens-basketball-vs-duke-recap.aspx

Virginia secured the No. 1 seed for the league tournament by beating Louisville earlier Saturday. The Cavaliers owned the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Tar Heels by winning in Chapel Hill last month.

The Tar Heels had last swept the two-game set with Duke on Tyler Hansbrough's Senior Day in 2009 for a team that went on to win the NCAA title. And it didn't matter to them that Williamson — a candidate for national player of the year and a possible No. 1 overall NBA draft pick — barely saw the court in the first game and not at all in the second.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/3/9/mens-basketball-vs-duke-recap.aspx

"No, because at the end of the day we both had to go out there and play the game," said graduate student Cameron Johnson, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds. "In their case, they knew he wasn't going to play. They've got guys who are highly touted guys, talented guys, it's a basketball game, you've got to play it."“according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/3/9/mens-basketball-vs-duke-recap.aspx

Freshman RJ Barrett scored 26 points as the no-doubt lead weapon for Duke's offense with Williamson out. But Duke shot just 23 percent after halftime, even as it got as close as 75-70 on Barrett's 3-pointer with 2:19 left.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/3/9/mens-basketball-vs-duke-recap.aspx

"We were down by 15 and we put ourselves in a position where we had a chance," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I'm proud of the fact that our guys put us in that position. ... We'll be OK if we keep doing that."“according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/3/9/mens-basketball-vs-duke-recap.aspx

As for how Duke got to the semifinals they defeated Syracuse as Zion Williamson returned to the court.

.Zion Williamson made all 13 of his shots, five on high-flying dunks, and scored 29 points in his return to lead No. 5 Duke to an 84-72 victory over Syracuse on Thursday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinals. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211795609

RJ Barrett added 23 points and six rebounds to help Duke (27-5) set up a semifinal showdown with No. 3 North Carolina. The Tar Heels swept both games from the Blue Devils in the regular season, with Williamson injured in the first minute of the first meeting.”according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211795609

Williamson got off to a rousing start two minutes into the game when he stole a pass and drove the length of the floor before cocking his right hand back and throwing down a highlight-reel dunk that brought the crowd to its feet. He added three more soaring dunks in the first half -- including one off an alley-oop pass from Barrett -- and finished the first half with 21 points on 9-of-9 shooting and nine rebounds as Duke built a 34-28 lead.”according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211795609

It was Williamson's first game since his left Nike Paul George shoe broke during a Feb. 20 game against the Tar Heels, causing him to miss nearly six full games with a sprained right knee. Williamson wore modified Nike Kyrie 4's this time specifically designed to lend extra support to his 6-foot-7, 285-pound frame.”according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211795609

He showed no signs of any lingering knee issue and cracked a smile several times throughout the game.”according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211795609

Frank Howard scored 28 points, and Buddy Boeheim had 15 for Syracuse (20-13).”according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211795609

Despite Williamson's highlight-reel display, the Orange battled until the end without leading scorer Tyus Battle, who missed his second straight game with a back injury.”according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211795609

Syracuse tied it with 13 minutes remaining on back-to-back 3-pointers from Boeheim.”according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211795609

But Duke wore down Syracuse down the stretch between the inside game of Williamson and the shooting of Barrett, who punctuated the win with a windmill dunk with 1:14 remaining.”according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211795609

Tre Jones added 15 points and eight assists for Duke.”according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211795609

Like Duke , North Carolina won their quarterfinal game to get to the semifinals as they defeated Louisville.

Luke Maye and Coby White both scored 19 points as second-seeded North Carolina defeated seventh-seeded Louisville, 83-70, in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night at the Spectrum Center “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/3/14/mens-basketball-acc-tournament-vs-louisville.aspx
 
Maye hit 7 of 12 shots and grabbed nine rebounds.  White tallied 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Cameron Johnson also added 14 points for UNC, which held a 27-15 edge in fast break points in the game.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/3/14/mens-basketball-acc-tournament-vs-louisville.aspx
 
With the win, Carolina improved to 27-5 this season and advanced to Friday's second ACC semifinal against the winner of Thursday's late game between No. 3 seed Duke and No. 6 seed Syracuse.  Louisville fell to 19-13. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/3/14/mens-basketball-acc-tournament-vs-louisville.aspx
 
The Tar Heels improved to 46-13 in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals and 22-7 in ACC Tournament action in Charlotte.  UNC is 101-46 overall and Roy Williams is 26-12 in the ACC Tournament.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/3/14/mens-basketball-acc-tournament-vs-louisville.aspx
 
UNC used a 13-2 run in the first half to take an eight-point lead at 21-13, forcing a Louisville timeout. The Tar Heels led by as many as 13 before a 12-0 Cardinal run cut the lead to 34-33.  Carolina closed the half on another spurt and led, 45-35, at the break.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/3/14/mens-basketball-acc-tournament-vs-louisville.aspx
 
The Tar Heels maintained control throughout the second half, stretching the lead to as many as 18 in the closing minutes.”according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/3/14/mens-basketball-acc-tournament-vs-louisville.aspx

Tip-off is set for 9:00pm from the Spectrum Center in Charlotte that is home to the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA. The game will be televised on Raycom Sports and ESPN.