No. 21 Duke holds off No. 14 Miami 85-78 in ACC semifinals
MIAMI - Kyle Filipowski had 17 points and 11 rebounds, Jeremy Roach hit a huge 3-pointer at the 1:32 mark and No. 21 Duke held off No. 14 Miami 85-78 in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals on Friday night.
Roach's 3 from the left wing over Isaiah Wong with the shot clock going down proved to be the biggest shot, giving Duke a 78-71 lead that Miami couldn't overcome in a well-played matchup that often resembled a second-weekend NCAA Tournament game.
The fourth-seeded Blue Devils (25-8) did enough late to stay in control, closing out their eighth straight win and earning their 17th trip to the title game in the past 25 tournaments.
This one comes in the debut run of first-year coach Jon Scheyer, who replaced retired Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski and has Duke within a win of another title.
Tyrese Proctor hit two free throws with 9.8 seconds left, and Filipowski rebounded Wong's last-ditch 3-pointer to start Duke's celebration. Proctor raised his arms and motioned to the home-state crowd for more noise.
Wong had 22 points to lead the top-seeded Hurricanes (25-7), who suffered an immediate blow by losing starting forward Norchad Omier to an ankle injury just 66 seconds into the game.
Miami shot 46.8% for the game, with Wong and Jordan Miller (17 points) leading the attack.
Both teams had five players in double figures, with Duke getting 16 points from Dariq Whitehead and 15 from Proctor. The Blue Devils shot 54.9% a day after a season-best offensive output in a quarterfinal rout of Pittsburgh, including 8 of 16 from 3-point range.
BIG PICTURE
Duke: The Blue Devils hadn't allowed an opponent to reach 70 points during their winning streak. That run ended and Miami spent the game hovering around 50% shooting, yet the Blue Devils won because they played with composure and toughness.
Miami: The Hurricanes had lost just once since late January, falling at home to Florida State after blowing a 25-point lead on Feb. 25. The Hurricanes arrived in Greensboro as the tournament's No. 1 seed for only the second time in program history, the other coming a decade earlier when Miami completed a three-day run to the program's lone ACC Tournament championship.
OMIER'S EXIT
Omier, a 6-foot-7 third-year sophomore, came in averaging 14 points and a team-high 9.8 rebounds. He was an All-ACC second-team pick by The Associated Press earlier this week.
He went down when he rebounded a missed free throw, landing on the foot of Duke's Dereck Lively II and rolling his right ankle. That sent him falling to the court and banging his hands on the hardwood in pain.
Omier was helped to the bench, then needed help just to get on his feet before being assisted to the tunnel toward the locker room. The team later tweeted he was out for the game but break any bones.
UP NEXT
Duke: Will play in Saturday night's championship game against the Clemson-Virginia winner.
Miami: Awaits its NCAA Tournament seeding.
