ACC Tournament updates: Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, NC State advance
The ACC Tournament’s second day featured four games involving teams seeking a league championship while also preparing for the NCAA Tournament.
That is the sign of a deep and talented league, something the ACC wasn’t a year ago, but clearly is now.
No. 5 seed Clemson, No. 6 seed Louisville, No. 7 seed N.C. State and No. 8 seed Florida State all won Wednesday to advance to Day 3.
The Wolfpack, in particular, needed to handle their business against No. 15 seed Pitt in the first game of the day to bolster its NCAA resume — which it did.
Journalists from the News & Observer, Charlotte Observer and The State of Columbia, South Carolina, are on site at Spectrum Center covering the games and the surrounding festivities all week.
Clemson eliminates Wake Forest
No. 5 seed Clemson led by 18 points and halftime and as many as 20 in the second half before holding on to beat No. 13 seed Wake Forest, 71-62, in Wednesday’s final game.
Clemson (22-9) hit 50% of its shots, including 9 of 18 3-pointers, to take a 41-23 halftime lead over Wake Forest (17-16). Though Wake shot 54.4% in the second half, the Deacons were never able to draw closer than nine points.
Juke Harris scored 22 points for Wake while Nate Calmese added 20. RJ Godfrey led Clemson’s balanced attack with 11 points. He was the only Tigers player in double-figures.
Clemson loses Welling to injury
Clemson starting center Carter Welling crumpled to the court in pain late in the first half and was helped to the Tigers lockerroom with what appeared to be a right knee injury.
The 6-10 Welling, a junior who played at Utah Valley last season, suffered the injury while driving to the basket with 1:58 to play until halftime. His right knee buckled and the game was halted.
Welling averages 10.4 points and 5.5 rebounds this season for the Tigers.
Florida State topples California
No. 8 seed Florida State earned a shot at No. 1 Duke on Thursday by defeating California, 95-89, on Wednesday night.
One of the ACC’s hottest teams, Florida State (18-14) heads to the quarterfinals riding a four-game winning streak with victories in 11 of its past 14 games.
The Seminoles ran away from No. 9 seed Cal, building a 46-34 halftime lead that ballooned to as large as 22 points in the second half. Cal held FSU without a field goal over the game’s final 4:36 to make the final score appear competitive.
Rodney McCray V scored a game-high 30 points for Florida State while Lajae Jones added 15 points and Chauncey Wiggins 14.
Florida State shot 57% overall, including a blistering 63% in the second half. The Seminoles hit 13 of 28 3-point attempts (46.4%).
Cal shot 40.7% in the first half to fall behind and was unable to catch up despite shooting 59% in the second half. Dai Dai Adams scored 27 points for the Bears (21-11).
Louisville rallies past SMU
No. 6 seed Louisville moved into the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, scoring the game’s final six points to edge No. 11 seed SMU, 62-58.
The Cardinals (23-9) shot 50% in the second half to advance after the teams were tied at halftime.
SMU (20-13) led 58-56 when Jaron Pierre scored on a layup with 2:43 to play. But that would be the final points the Mustangs scored.
Vangelis Zougris started the Cardinals final push with a free throw at 2:28. Jermaine O’Neal, Jr. missed a 3-pointer for SMU before Ryan Conwell’s step-back 3-pointer with 1:17 left gave Louisville the lead for good a 60-58.
Boopie Miller attempted to regain the lead for SMU but missed a 3-point attempt with 58 seconds left. Conwell’s driving layup with 29.8 seconds left gave the Cardinals a two-possession lead and SMU missed four more shots in the final 14 seconds.
Conwell led Louisville with 16 points while Adrian Wooley added 14. Pierre scored a game-high 17 points for SMU, which shot 42.9% for the game.
At halftime, Jaden Toombs led SMU with nine points and six rebounds. Despite 1 of 8 shooting from the field, Isaac McKneely led the Cardinals with seven points.
SMU hit 40.9% of its first half shots.
N.C. State 98, Pitt 88
Early in the 2025-26 season, N.C. State was scoring almost at will, posting multiple games with 90 or more points scored in the first months of head coach Will Wade’s tenure — shades of Wade’s prophetic “Red Reckoning.”
But as the Wolfpack hit the meat of its ACC schedule, the points started drying up. The Pack struggled down the stretch and limped into the ACC Tournament, clinging to an NCAA Tournament berth.
Not that a single game Wednesday fixed all that ailed it, but N.C. State can certainly breathe a bit more easily now after pummeling Pitt, 98-88.
Quadir Copeland led the Wolfpack with 24 points, including 10 of 12 from the free throw line. Ven-Allen Lubin checked in with 18 as six players in all hit double figures for the Pack.
Cameron Corhen lad all players with 27 for Pitt in the loss.
In the first half, N.C. State opened the scoring, but Pitt scored more often for much of the opening frame. The Wolfpack recovered late in the half, though, and carried a one-point advantage into the break at 51-50.
Matt Able drained a 3-pointer with 5:21 to play in the first half to put the Pack on top, 35-34, for the first time since it was 2-0. N.C. State never led by more than four, though, and conceded a basket at the buzzer by Corhen as the Panthers hung around.
Paul McNeil Jr. led the Pack in the first half with 13 points, including 3-for-3 shoot from beyond the arc. Lubin added 12 and Copeland 11.
Corhen and Nojus Indrusaitis led Pitt with 12 points each at the break.
Coaching changes continue
Syracuse became the third ACC school to announce a men’s basketball coaching change when the school fired Adrian Autry on Wednesday. The move came a day after the SMU defeated the Orange, 86-69, in the ACC Tournament’s first round.
That left Syracuse (15-17) with a losing season for the second consecutive season. Since replacing Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim after his 2022 retirement, Autry compiled a 49-48 overall record. That included a 24-34 mark in ACC games. The Orange were seeded No. 14 in this year’s ACC Tournament.
The ACC now has coaching openings at Georgia Tech, Boston College and Syracuse.
Another change could be coming at Pitt after N.C. State eliminated the Panthers in Wednesday’s second round. Pitt went 13-20 this season, its eight in former Duke player and assistant coach Jeff Capel’s tenure as its head coach.
In a statement reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pitt athletics director Allen Greene said he and Capel would meet in the coming days to discuss the state of the program. Pitt had posted winning records in the past three seasons, including a 24-12 mark in 2022-23 when the Panthers made their lone NCAA Tournament appearance under Capel.
While saying he believes he’s a good coach while admitting he didn’t do a good job this season, Capel said he’s been given no clarity about his job status.
“I haven’t talked to Allen,” Capel said. “I’ve gotten no assurances from anyone nor do I expect any assurances from anyone.”
ACC Tournament schedule
At Spectrum Center, Charlotte
Tuesday’s results
Game 1: Pittsburgh 64, Stanford 63
Game 2: SMU 86, Syracuse 69
Game 3: Wake Forest 95, Virginia Tech 89
Wednesday’s results
Game 4: N.C. State 98, Pittsburgh 88
Game 5: Louisville 62, SMU 58
Game 6: Florida State 95, California 89
Game 7: Clemson 71, Wake Forest 62
Thursday’s quarterfinals
Game 8: No. 2 Virginia (27-4) vs. No. 7 N.C. State (20-12), noon (ESPN2)
Game 9: No. 3 Miami (24-7) vs. No. 6 Louisville (23-9), 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 10: No. 1 Duke (29-2) vs. No. 8 Florida State (18-14), 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 11: No. 4 North Carolina (24-7) vs. No. 5 Clemson (22-9), 9:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Friday’s games
Semifinals: 7 and 9:30 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)
Saturday’s game
Championship: 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
This story was originally published March 11, 2026 at 12:06 PM.
