The Confidential

ACC Basketball Recap: Third Round ACC Tournament Action

The third round of the ACC Conference Championship has concluded.  The Championship games is now set, with North Carolina facing Florida State.

Of the two semifinal games, the only one with NCAA tournament implications was the North Carolina-North Carolina State matchup.  After losing to North Carolina, 69-67, the Wolfpack are going to have to sweat it out today when the field of 68 is announced.  This was a golden opportunity for a win because the Tar Heels were forced to play without John Henson, who has a sprained wrist.  But North Carolina still had Tyler Zeller, who contributed 23 points and 9 rebounds.  Meanwhile, Harrison Barnes added 16 points and Kendall Marshall had 10 assists.  The Wolfpack were led by CJ Leslie’s 22 points and 7 rebounds, all the more impressive since he fouled out with 8 minutes to go.  The Wolfpack bench lost track of the foul totals.  North Carolina improved to 29-4, while North Carolina State fell to 22-12.

In the other semifinal matchup, Florida State defeated Duke, 62-59.  Florida State led by as many as 10 points in the second-half, but Duke had two chances to tie the game in the final seconds.  Michael Snaer led the Seminoles with 16 points.  Austin Rivers led the Blue Devils with 19 points.  With the loss, Duke drops to 27-6.  With the win, Florida State improves to 23-9.

The results of these games mean that Florida State with play North Carolina for the ACC Championship.  In their prior meeting, Florida State embarrassed North Carolina 90-57.  Naturally, the Tar Heels will be looking for revenge.