It was beginning to be a familiar feel for the Blue Devils against the Hurricanes. Miami came out hot against Duke building an 11 point lead. Duke was down 18-7 at the 13:56 mark but the Blue Devils battled back to tie the game at 22. The Hurricanes just methodically went to work hitting hit shots and regained their advantage, this time by 8 at the 4:19 mark. The Blue Devils were able to weather the storm battling back to tie the game at the the half 36-36 on a nifty last second Jeremy Roach layup.
The issues for Duke were some of the same issues that plagued them in their first meeting with the Hurricanes. The first half saw the Blue Devils turn the ball over 7 times, they gave up 7 offensive rebounds.
Coming off of arguably a sub par game, freshman forward Paolo Banchero was much more confident and aggressive against the Hurricanes. Banchero scored 11 of his 18 points in the first half where he went 5-6 from the floor. Finishing the game shooting 8-10, Banchero also added 11 rebounds and 4 assists. AJ Griffin led the Blue Devils in scoring hitting timely 3’s to help keep the Blue Devils afloat. Griffin was 4-6 from beyond the arc, 7-12 overall and added 7 rebounds. Wendell Moore Jr. turned it on in the second half when the Blue Devils were struggling – hitting a mid-range jumper, followed by a chase down blocked shot, then a layup in transition all in one sequence. Moore finished the game with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Mark Williams just missed a double double, grabbing 10 rebounds and scoring 9 points.
The second half was a slugfest with neither team able to pull away. The Blue Devils gained a short-lived working margin of 7 at the midway point of the second half but a driving layup from Jordan Miller and a pull-up jumper from Kameron Mcgusty brought the Canes to within 6 at the 8:27 mark. The Canes would take a 1 point lead at the 6:05 mark on a pull-up 3 point shot from the hot shooting Mcgusty. The teams would volley shot after shot in the last 4 minutes. The Blue Devils would hit 10 free throws in the final 1:22 to get the win and move to the ACC Championship game against Virginia Tech who beat the North Carolina Tar Heels in the second semi-final game 72-59.
