ACC tournament quarterfinal live updates: Clemson beats NC State for third time
N.C. State’s cold-shooting in the second half left it unable to keep up Thursday night as Clemson ran away for an 80-54 ACC tournament quarterfinal win at Greensboro Coliseum.
The No. 6 seed Wolfpack (23-10) missed all 10 of their 3-pointers and shot 25% in the second half when the Tigers, after leading 39-36 at halftime, turned the game lopsided.
The No. 3-seeded Tigers (23-9), who have never won an ACC tournament championship. advance to Friday night’s semifinals to play No. 2 seed Virginia.
PJ Hall and Ian Schieffelin each scored 15 points to lead Clemson, which shot 50% for the game. Chase Hunter added 11 points and Hunter Tyson 10 points.
Having already lost to Clemson twice during the regular season, the Wolfpack shot 35%, making just 5 of 20 3-pointers (25%) on Thursday night.
One night after scoring 30 points in a win over Virginia Tech, N.C. State guard Terquavion Smith made just five of 18 shots to score 11 points. Jarkel Joiner scored 10 points on 3 of 12 shooting.
Virginia 68, UNC 59
Ranked No. 1 in the nation when the season started, North Carolina ran out of chances to avoid missing the NCAA tournament Thursday night when No. 13 Virginia beat the Tar Heels in the ACC tournament quarterfinals at Greensboro Coliseum.
The Tar Heels (20-13) shot 35.8% overall, including a dismal 33% in the second half allowing the second-seeded Cavaliers (24-6) to advance to Friday night’s semifinals.
While R.J. Davis scored 24 points for UNC, Caleb Love made just 3 of 15 shots to score 11 points. Hobbled by a sprained ankle he suffered in Wednesday’s second-round win over Boston College, all-ACC center Armando Bacot scored four points with three rebounds in just 21 minutes of play.
Jayden Gardner scored 17 points for Virginia while Reece Beekman added 15.
Duke 96, Pitt 69
Duke jumped on Pitt early and never let up in running to a 96-69 victory in the ACC tournament quarterfinals on Thursday. The Blue Devils (24-8) advanced to meet No. 1 seed Miami Friday at 7 p.m. in the semifinal round.
In winning their seventh straight game, their 96 points marked a season-high, besting the 92 points they scored on Delaware on Nov. 18.
Freshman center Kyle Filipowski led the way with 22 points for Duke -- including four 3-pointers -- on 8 of 10 shooting from the field. Filipowski only played 15 minutes in the game due to an ankle injury he suffered three minutes into the game.
Pitt (22-11) was limited to just 5-for-18 shooting from 3-point range after making 7-for-18 attempts in its second round win over Georgia Tech.
Duke, which led by as many as 36 points, was able to rest its starters as none of them played more than 27 minutes.
Photos: Duke blows out Pittsburgh in quarterfinals of 2023 ACC Tournament
Duke’s Kyle Filipowski deals with ankle injury
Duke’s 7-foot center Kyle Filipowski turned his left ankle just three minutes into the ACC tournament quarterfinal game against Pitt. Fortunately for the Blue Devils, it wasn’t bad enough to keep him out of the lineup.
Filipowski had to be helped off the court with 17:27 on the clock and sat with his left leg up on row of chairs as athletic trainers worked on his ankle and appeared to re-tape it. He ran the hallway by the team locker room, which is beginning to be a trend at the ACC tournament. Florida State’s Matt Cleveland and North Carolina’s Armando Bacot had the same routine after both dealt with ankle problems.
And just like Cleveland and Bacot, Filipowski returned to the game. He checked back in with Duke leading 16-6 with 11:16 remaining in the first half.
Filipowski, the ACC’s Freshman of the Year, had already made two 3-pointers to open the game for the Blue Devils as they jumped out to an 8-0 lead. He turned his ankle while trying to dribble past Pitt’s Blake Hinson.
Duke turned to a smaller lineup with him out of the game, inserting Dariq Whitehead in his place.
Filipowski, along with freshman Mark Mitchell, are the only two Duke players to start in every game this season. He entered the game averaging 15.0 points and 9.2 rebounds for this season.
Miami 74, Wake Forest 72
This time, Davien Williamson’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer was off-line and top-seeded Miami survived.
After Wake Forest mounted a furious comeback from 18 points down in the final 10 minutes, Williamson’s half-court heave didn’t fall to complete it didn’t fall and Miami beat Wake Forest, 74-72, in the ACC tournament quarterfinals Thursday at Greensboro Coliseum.
Just one day earlier, Williamson’s 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds left delivered Wake Forest a 77-74 win over Syracuse.
Instead, No. 9 seed Wake Forest (19-14) saw its tournament run end while No. 14-ranked Miami (25-6) advanced to Friday night’s semifinals to play either Duke or Pittsburgh.
Miami hit 10 of its first 12 shots of the second half, a blitz that helped it build a 61-43 lead with 9:51 to play.
But Tyree Appleby (24 points, five assists), Cam Hildreth (17 points) and Williamson (14 points) helped Wake Forest chip away at the deficit. Alas, the Demon Deacons never caught up. Hildreth’s halfcourt heave at the end of the first half would have helped, but was a fraction of a second late.
Jordan Miller led Miami with 18 points, while Isaiah Wong scored 17 for the Hurricanes, who shot 52.5%. Norchad Omier added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Virginia loses Vander Plas
Virginia announced before Thursday night’s game against North Carolina that forward Ben Vander Plas is out for the season after breaking his right hand in practice on Wednesday. The 6-foot-8 forward, a transfer from Ohio, averaged 7.4 points and 4.6 rebounds for the Cavaliers, starting 15 games.
Vander Plas had 17 points in Virginia’s win over North Carolina in Charlottesville and eight points in the Tar Heels’ win in the return game in Chapel Hill.
State’s stat stuffer
At least one of N.C. State’s standout statistical performances in Wednesday’s 97-77 win over Virginia Tech brought back some bad memories.
Terquavion Smith was the first player to score 30 or more points in the ACC tournament while shooting better than 80 percent from the floor since Maryland’s John Gilchrist did it ... to eliminate the Wolfpack in the 2004 semifinals, also in Greensboro.
Maryland went on to beat Duke in the title game for its last ACC championship before leaving the league in 2014. That was also the most recent year, until this one, where the four North Carolina teams were all in separate quarterfinals, creating the possibility of a Big Four Final Four.
Smith, who was 11-for-13 shooting, wasn’t the only one posting numbers. Jarkel Joiner had his second double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 assists ... and it was no accident.
“I knew I had nine assists in the game,” Joiner said. “I was trying to get that 10th assist.”
To which his coach, Kevin Keatts, responded: “I don’t have a problem with a player chasing stats when it’s assists.”
NC State does its part to secure an old-school ACC eight at tournament in Greensboro
Still here
Josh Pastner stuck around for the Wednesday evening games after his Georgia Tech team was eliminated Wednesday afternoon, and he was back on the baseline at the Greensboro Coliseum for the opening game Thursday.
Pastner, a hoops junkie, also stuck around Brooklyn last year to watch basketball after the Yellow Jackets lost.
ACC Now podcast: Josh Pastner on coaching in transfer-portal era, his plan to save ACC
Tuesday’s results
No. 13 Georgia Tech 61, No. 12 Florida State 60
No. 10 Boston College 80, No. 15 Louisville 62
No. 11 Virginia Tech 67, No. 14 Notre Dame 64
An ode to Tuesdays in Greensboro, and the ACC tournament’s weirdest, quirkiest day
Wednesday’s results
No. 9 Wake Forest 77, No. 8 Syracuse 74
No. 5 Pitt 89, No. 13 Georgia Tech 81
No. 7 North Carolina 85, No. 10 Boston College 61
No. 6 NC State 97, No. 11 Virginia Tech 77
UNC basketball downs Boston College in ACC tournament, will face Virginia in quarterfinals
Thursday’s results
No. 1 Miami 74, No. 9 Wake Forest 72
No. 4 Duke 96, No. 5 Pittsburgh 69
No. 2 Virginia 68, No. 7 North Carolina 59
No. 3 Clemson 80, No. 6 N.C. State 54
ACC tournament’s strangest night comes full circle for many, exactly three years later
Friday’s schedule
7 p.m. No. 1 Miami vs. No. 4 Duke (ESPN)
9:30 p.m. No. 2 Virginia vs. No. 3 Clemson (ESPN)
Saturday’s schedule
8:30 p.m. Championship (ESPN)
Jim Phillips tie report
The ACC commissioner is famous for his enormous collection of ties in alternating ACC (and neutral) colored and white stripes, a personal fashion trademark.
Tuesday: burnt orange
Wednesday: silver
Thursday: olive green
