ACC Tournament basketball live updates: Virginia, Duke roll into title game
A fun Friday night left two lopsided games at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center in the ACC Tournament semifinal round.
The ACC’s top seeds survived, so Duke and Virginia will play for the ACC championship at 8:30 p.m. Saturday night.
While Duke is the reigning tournament champion, Virginia hasn’t won the league title since 2018. The Blue Devils and Cavaliers played for the championship in 2023, with Duke winning, 59-49, at Greensboro Coliseum.
Duke throttles Clemson to reach final
Duke built a 19-point halftime lead, using its defense to suffocate Clemson, and beat the Tigers, 73-61 in Friday’s second semifinal.
Cameron Boozer turned in his usually strong performance, with 24 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, and got help from his twin brother, Cayden, and fellow freshman Nik Khamenia. Cayden Boozer scored a season high 16 points while Khamenia matched his season high with 14 points.
Clemson (24-10) shot 32.7% and allowed Duke to grab a commanding 41-27 rebounding edge. The loss means Clemson remains the only school of the league’s original seven members not to have claimed an ACC Tournament men’s basketball title.
Clemson led Duke 16-15 midway through the first half. Right after that, the Blue Devils ripped off an 11-2 run to go up by double digits.
A balanced Duke scoring attack was responsible for the critical run: Dame Sarr had four points, Darren Harris added a triple from the top of the key, and Isaiah Evans and Cayden Boozer combined for five in the sequence.
On the other end, Clemson struggled mightily from the floor against Duke’s top-ranked defense (per KenPom). The Tigers recorded one of the worst first half performances of a Blue Devil conference opponent this season, mustering 22 points before the break.
Duke entered halftime on an 8-0 run while the Tigers made one field goal in the final 12 minutes.
The Blue Devils led 41-22 at halftime.
Virginia routs Miami in first semifinal
For the second time in four years, and the first time under coach Ryan Odom, the Virginia Cavaliers will play for the ACC Tournament championship.
Behind 17 points from Ugonna Onyenso and 16 points each from Thijs De Ridder and Sam Lewis, No. 2 seed Virginia blew out No. 3 seed Miami, 84-62, in the ACC semifinals on Friday night.
The Cavaliers (29-4), seeking their first league title since 2018, will play either Clemson or Duke in Saturday night’s title game. Virginia faced Duke in the 2023 title game, which the Blue Devils won, 59-49.
Virginia unleashed a 13-2 run late in the first half to build a 38-23 lead at intermission. The Cavaliers shot 52.5% overall, including 60.7% in the second half to prevent Miami (25-8) from forging a comeback.
Pitt retains Capel
The biggest ACC basketball news outside of Charlotte came from Pittsburgh, where the school announced that head coach Jeff Capel would return for a ninth season on the job next season.
A former Duke player who was an assistant on Mike Krzyzewski’s staff until leaving for Pitt in 2018, Capel has a 127-127 record with one NCAA Tournament appearance at Pitt. The Panthers went 13-20 this season, earning the 15th and final seed for the ACC Tournament before being eliminated in the second round on Wednesday.
That led to chatter that Capel’s time at the school would end. But Pitt athletics director Allen Greene announced Friday a change is not needed. Capel is under contract through the 2029-30 season.
“I believe our best path forward is leadership continuity paired with clear expectations and a willingness to evolve,” Greene said in a statement.
The Panthers upset No. 10 seed Stanford 64-63, in Tuesday’s ACC Tournament opener before N.C. State beat them, 98-88, on Wednesday. After that game, Capel admitted he didn’t do a good enough job this season but he was confident he could make Pitt a winner again.
Greene cited Pitt’s play in the latter portion of the season as a sign of that.
“They fought until the end and represented this university with toughness,” Greene said. “Effort alone is not enough. We must be better going forward. I know it. Jeff knows it.”
ACC Tournament schedule
At Spectrum Center, Charlotte
Tuesday’s results
Pittsburgh 64, Stanford 63
SMU 86, Syracuse 69
Wake Forest 95, Virginia Tech 89
Wednesday’s results
N.C. State 98, Pittsburgh 88
Louisville 62, SMU 58
Florida State 95, California 89
Clemson 71, Wake Forest 62
Thursday’s quarterfinals
Virginia 81, N.C. State 74
Miami 78, Louisville 73
Duke 80, Florida State 79
Clemson 80, North Carolina 79
Friday’s semifinals
Virginia 84, Miami 62
Duke 73, Clemson 61
Saturday’s championship
No. 2 Virginia (29-4) vs. No. 1 Duke (31-2), 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
This story was originally published March 13, 2026 at 6:46 PM.