ACC Tournament live updates: No. 1 Duke survives late UNC rally, will face No. 2 Louisville
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2025 ACC Men’s Tournament
Follow all the action from the 2025 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament in Charlotte, NC, with updated scores, standings, game recaps and analysis from the team of writers from the News & Observer, Charlotte Observer and The State.
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News & Observer writers Chip Alexander and Luke DeCock, as well as Charlotte Observer writers Alex Zietlow and Scott Fowler, will be sending along notes and analysis from the UNC-Duke ACC Tournament semifinal in Charlotte. See those updates below. Refresh this link for updates.
Live updates in Duke-North Carolina semifinal
Second half
:00: Ven-Allen Lubin had a chance to give UNC the lead with 4.1 seconds left with a pair of free throws after being fouled shooting a 2. Lubin missed the first, appeared to make the second to tie, but Jae’Lyn Withers was whistled for a lane violation and it didn’t count. Ball back to Duke.
On the ensuing inbound play, Duke got it in to Kon Knueppel with 3.2 seconds to play. Knueppel was immediately fouled. A 92% free throw shooter, Knueppel made both. UNC then inbounded the ball all the way to the halfcourt line and immediately called a timeout, with 2.9 to play. Faced with a three-point deficit, the Heels had to draw up a play for a 3.
After barely getting the ball in, the Heels misfired on their shot. Game over.
:17.6: Tyrese Proctor misses the front end of a 1-and-1 and UNC rebounds, crosses half court and calls timeout. Shot clock off, UNC trails 72-71.
:32.0: A missed drive from Knueppel and a missed offensive board from Duke, along with a foul to Khaman Maluach allows UNC to close to within one on two made FTs from Seth Trimble. Duke leads 72-71.
:50.8 Khaman Maluach with a huge rebound off a Drake Powell miss on a deep 3 keeps Duke in front by three ar 72-69. The Blue Devils crossed into the frontcourt and called timeout. UNC has made 7 of its past 9 FGs.
1:52: UNC trailed by as many as 24 in this half, but now has it to one possession. Elliott Cadeau, Seth Trimble leading the charge for the Tar Heels. Duke leads by three, 72-69.
6:12: 66-56, Duke. Jon Scheyer burns a timeout as half of Spectrum Center erupts after a Ven-Allen Lubin free throw cuts the game’s score to 10 — the closest it’s been since 3:56 remaining in the first half.
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7:41: Duke 65, North Carolina 51. The Tar Heels won’t give up — we’ll re-enter the under-8 timeout with Drake Powell at the line to cut the game to 13 — but Duke is simply ... better. For as many white-knuckled buckets UNC finds, Duke’s Jon Scheyer draws up a set that frees up Khaman Maluach or Patrick Ngongba for a dunk. The intensity has kicked up a bit this half, however, a refreshing change of pace in comparison to the first half’s sleepy conclusion.
11:35: Duke up, 56-43. Don’t look now, but the Tar Heels have some life. After an atrocious end to the first half, North Carolina is on a 15-4 run, with Seth Trimble at the line readying to polish off an and-one (which he does once play resumes).
18:34: North Carolina breaks the ice to begin the half (again) thanks to Ven-Allen Lubin (again). And we’re underway in Charlotte.
HALFTIME: Duke 45, UNC 24. North Carolina didn’t score for the final 4:42 of the first half — and a lot of that had to do with Duke’s inspired defense. The Blue Devils are first to every loose ball. On one particular play, with Kon Knueppel diving on the floor and forcing a jump ball, the expressive Charlotte native and Duke freshman guard Isaiah Evans did his Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn impression — as if he was putting a seatbelt over his lap. Duke ended the half on a 13-0 run.
Some stats: Knueppel leads all scorers with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from the 3-point line. Behind him: Tyrese Proctor (7) and Sion James (7). As for the Tar Heels: Ven-Allen Lubin has 8, and Elliot Cadeau (3 fouls), RJ Davis and Drake Powell all have 4. North Carolina is 1-for-10 from 3 — courtesy of Cadeau.
For those expecting a sequel to the remarkable 2019 ACC Tournament semifinal matchup, when a Zion Williamson-led Duke defeated North Carolina by 1 by virtue of the then-freshman phenom’s offensive rebound and put-back with 31 seconds left ... well... don’t hold your breath.
First half
3:56: Duke leads 32-24 but with Caleb Foster heading to the line after Eliot Cadeau picks up his third foul of the period. The Tar Heel point guard is probably done for the half. This game in four words for Duke: No Flagg? No problem. Duke’s leading scorers: Kon Knueppel (9 points), Sion James (7), Tyrese Proctor (6). The Tar Heels are led by Ven-Allen Lubin with 8.
7:10: Duke’s lead has extended into double-digits thanks to a Kon Knueppel 3 before the third media timeout. 27-17. The Tar Heels are 0-7 from 3; RJ Davis is 1-for-5 from the field with 2 points and three missed 3s.
12:15: A chippy start to this one. Duke leads at the second media timeout, 14-9 ... and the officials are reviewing another incident between Patrick Ngongba and Jalen Washington. This time, Hubert Davis insists the refs take a look at an incident near the free-throw line where Washington gets popped in the nose on a rip-through. Update: No violation.
13:00: Officials met to sort out an incident on a Duke possession. The result: Patrick Ngongba is assessed a common foul, and Jalen Washington is assessed a dead-ball foul and technical foul.
15:55: It’s 5-4, Tar Heels, come the game’s first media timeout. All field goals for North Carolina have come via Ven-Allen Lubin dunks (with assists from point guard Elliot Cadeau). A Cadeau free throw rounds out the rest of UNC’s scoring. Duke guards Isaiah Evans and Tyrese Proctor have two apiece. Lubin and Duke big man Khaman Maluach each take a seat on the bench as play picks back up — Lubin following Maluach after Lubin picks up an early foul.
18:30: The Tar Heels win the tip but both teams are scoreless through their first possessions. North Carolina strikes first blood with a Ven-Allen Lubin dunk courtesy of an Elliot Cadeau assist.
Tip-off, 7:04 p.m.: And we’re underway.
Pregame: Catching you up quickly: No Cooper Flagg or Maliq Brown for Duke. RJ Davis looks fine after rolling his ankle (but finishing the game) against Wake. Also, a nice touch: The ACC set aside a ceremonial seat for John Feinstein, a Duke grad and best-selling author who chronicled the ACC and college basketball’s glory days.
Catching up on today’s story lines
With apologies to Wake Forest — which gave UNC all it could handle Thursday in the Tar Heels’ 68-59 ACC quarterfinal victory — the ACC semifinals, for the first time in a while, will feature the four teams that, at the beginning of the week, were the favorites to be here.
And how fitting it is that, in a game that may determine whether North Carolina makes the NCAA Tournament, the foil in that endeavor is — Duke.
And not just “Duke,” but “No. 1-seed Duke playing without ACC Player of the Year Cooper Flagg while trying to secure the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.”
Aside from that, though ... nothing to see here.
But let’s start with UNC, which started the week on the outside of the NCAA Tournament bubble looking in, according to top bracketologists. This, of course, after a loss to Duke in the teams’ regular-season final snapped a dominant five-game ACC winning streak.
Despite that loss, the Heels picked up in the ACC Tournament where they’d left off before it, earning a 76-56 win over Notre Dame, and then a tough, 78-70 win over even-more-desperate Big Four counterpart Wake Forest. Those wins, while neither of the critical “Quad 1” variety, moved UNC into the March Madness brackets, according to the same aforementioned bracketologists.
North Carolina could put an exclamation point on its case with a win Friday night.
But wait. What about Duke?
All-everything Flagg is out for tonight’s contest. Head coach Jon Scheyer told reporters Thursday that he was “a long shot,” agreeing with the consensus that the Blue Devils would be foolish to entertain the thought of him playing at all this weekend, after his injury scare on Thursday. Duke, after all, has aspirations much grander than the ACC title. One of the team’s best defenders, Maliq Brown, is out, too.
But the Blue Devils, showing grit and resilience and depth, rallied from double digits down against Georgia Tech without their two best defenders to post a 78-70 quarterfinal win. Survive and advance, indeed.
What remains to be seen is how the team will play when it trots out a starting lineup that, for the first time all season, won’t include Flagg, nor will it have Brown as an option off the bench.
Offensively, the Blue Devils should be fine. Tyrese Proctor, Kon Knueppel, Khaman Maluach, Sion James, Isaiah Evans ... the list of offensive contributors if plentiful. And remember, the Blue Devils did beat UNC a week ago with Flagg in foul trouble for most of the game.
Where Flagg, Brown and former top assistant Jai Lucas — who is now in Miami — will be missed is on defense. In two meetings against UNC this season, Duke held the Tar Heels to 69.5 points per game, about 12 below their season average.
In their first game since Lucas’ departure, while playing most of the game without Flagg and Brown, Duke allowed Georgia Tech to score 70 — 14 more than in their previous meeting, and nine more than their season average.
Something will have to give Friday, with a berth in Saturday’s ACC final at stake.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the bracket, second-seeded Louisville is in its first ACC semifinal since joining the league from the Big East after a buzzer-beater jumper from Chuck Hepburn helped the Cardinals dispatch ACC newcomer Stanford in a Thursday quarterfinal.
Terrence Edwards scored 25 points and Hepburn added 20 for Louisville (26-6), which has now won 10 straight. Noah Waterman and James Scott each had 12. The Cardinals are firmly entrenched in the NCAA Tournament conversation, and continue their remarkable turnaround after wallowing in last place in the ACC a year ago.
Louisville will face No. 3 Clemson, which had its own thrilling finish late Thursday. Veteran guard Chase Hunter scored a game-high 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting and had a number of clutch late buckets as the Tigers outlasted a feisty SMU squad.
In the Tigers’ lone meeting against Louisville this season, the Cardinals won by 10, with J’Vonne Hadley hitting for 32 points.
Follow along here throughout the evening for updates from the Spectrum Center.
ACC tournament schedule
At Spectrum Center, Charlotte
Game 1: No. 12 Notre Dame 55, No. 13 Pittsburgh 54
Game 2: No. 15 California 82, No. 10 Virginia Tech 73, 2OT
Game 3: No. 14 Syracuse 66, No. 11 Florida State 62
Wednesday’s games
Game 4: No. 8 Georgia Tech 66, No. 9 Virginia 60
Game 5: No. 5 UNC 76, No. 12 Notre Dame 56
Game 6: No. 7 Stanford 78, No. 15 Cal 73
Game 7: No. 6 SMU 73, No. 14 Syracuse 53
Thursday’s games
Game 8: No. 1 Duke 78, No. 8 Georgia Tech 70
Game 9: No. 5 North Carolina 68, No. 4 Wake Forest 59
Game 10: No. 2 Louisville 75, No. 7 Stanford 73
Game 11: No. 3 Clemson 57, No. 6 SMU 54
Friday’s games
Game 12: No. 1 Duke (29-3) vs. No. 5 North Carolina (22-12), 7 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)
Game 13: No. 2 Louisville (26-6) vs. No. 3 Clemson (27-5), 9:30 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)
Saturday’s game
Championship, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
This story was originally published March 14, 2025 at 4:00 PM with the headline "ACC Tournament live updates: No. 1 Duke survives late UNC rally, will face No. 2 Louisville."
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