Duke advances to ACC championship game with 80-76 win over Miami

By Lauren Brownlow, WRALSportsFan columnist/reporter

Miami (FL) Hurricanes	76
7Duke Blue Devils	80
Final

Miami was the only ACC opponent Duke had yet to beat this year.

But top-seeded Duke (28-5) got its revenge over Miami (23-10), beating the Hurricanes 80-76 in the ACC Tournament semifinals to advance to the ACC title game.

Duke trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half as many of the same issues that plagued the Blue Devils in the first meeting with Miami — defense and turnovers — reared their collective head again.

But A.J. Griffin got hot towards the end of the half and scored 12 of Duke's final 14 points of the half to get the Blue Devils to a tie at the break.

Duke led for most of the second half, but never by more than seven points. Miami refused to go away and made the Blue Devils earn everything.

Duke did that, though, turning it over just three times in the second half after committing seven first-half turnovers.

The Blue Devils shot 50% for the game and 5 of 19 (26.3%) from the 3-point line. Miami shot 47% and 8 of 21 (38.1%) from 3.

Griffin finished with 21 points to lead Duke while Paolo Banchero added 18 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Wendell Moore Jr. had 17 points, six rebounds and two assists.

For Miami, Kameron McGusty led all scorers with 24 points while Jordan Miller had 17 and Charlie Moore had 15 points and eight assists. Miami leader Isaiah Wong had seven points but was just 1 of 11 shooting.

Duke will face the winner of the second ACC Tournament semifinal matchup between North Carolina and Virginia Tech.