By R.L. Bynum
After sweeping No. 11 Duke in the regular season, No. 22 North Carolina is a win away from taking on the Blue Devils at the ACC tournament in Greensboro for their third meeting this season.
The No. 7-seed Tar Heels (20–9, 11–7 ACC) will need to win a second-round game to make that happen. They play at the Greensboro Coliseum at 6 p.m. Thursday against the winner of Wednesday’s 3:30 first-round game between No. 15-seed Pittsburgh (10–29, 3–15) and No. 10 Clemson (16–14, 7–11).
“I know these guys are ready for March,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “We’ve been through it a little bit.”
UNC won its only meeting with both in successive road games, beating the Panthers 72–57 on Jan. 26 and the Tigers 69–58 on Jan. 29.
The Blue Devils (24–5, 14–4) came into Sunday with a chance to win the regular-season title with a win over Carolina. After UNC won 45–41, Duke still had an opportunity to share the regular-season title, but Notre Dame earned it outright with a 68–65 win at Louisville.
If UNC prevails on Thursday, it will face No. 2-seed Duke at 6 p.m. in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Banghart’s reaction to that possibility? “Awesome,” she said. “Can’t wait.”
Pittsburgh-Clemson is one of three first-round matchups on Wednesday, beginning with No. 12 seed Wake Forest (14–15) vs. No. 13 seed Virginia (15–14) at 1 p.m. In the third game, No. 14 Georgia Tech (13–15) meets No. 11 Boston College (15–16) at 6:30.

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In the other three second-round games on Thursday, No. 5 Florida State (23–8) meets the Wake Forest-Virginiah winner at 11 a.m., No. 9 Syracuse (18–11) faces No. 8 N.C. State (19–10) at 2 p.m. and No. 6 Miami (18–11) takes on the BC-Georgia Tech winner at 8:30.
In the other three quarterfinals on Friday, No. 4 Louisville (21–10) takes on Thursday’s 11 a.m. winner at 11 a.m., No. 1 Notre Dame (24–4) meets the State-Syracuse winner at 2 p.m. and No. 3 Virginia Tech (23–4) meets the 8:30 Thursday winner at 8:30.
In Saturday’s semifinals, the Friday afternoon winners play at noon and the Friday night winners play at 2:30. That means a 2:30 game for UNC if it makes the semifinals.
The championship game is at 1 p.m. Sunday on ESPN, with all other games airing on ACC Network.
ACC Tournament
Greensboro Coliseum
Final on ESPN; all other games on ACC Network
Wednesday’s first round
No. 12-seed Wake Forest 68, vs. No. 13-seed Virginia (15–15) 57
No. 10 Clemson 71, No. 15 Pittsburgh (10–20) 53
No. 11 Boston College 62, No. 14 Georgia Tech (13–16) 57
Thursday’s second round
Wake Forest 65, No. 5 Florida State (23–9) 54
No. 8 N.C. State 83, No. 9 Syracuse (18–12) 58
No. 7 North Carolina 68, vs. Clemson (17–14) 58
No. 6 Miami 84, vs. Boston College (16–16) 69
Friday’s quarterfinals
No. 4 Louisville 74, Wake Forest (16–16) 48
No. 1 Notre Dame 66, N.C. State (20–11) 60
No. 2 Duke 44, North Carolina (21–10) 40
No. 3 Virginia Tech 68, Miami (19–11) 42
Saturday’s semifinals
Louisville 64, Notre Dame (25–5) 38
Virginia Tech 58, Duke (25–6) 37
Sunday’s final
Virginia Tech (26–4) 75, Louisville (23–11) 67

ACC standings
Team | League | Overall |
---|---|---|
No. 10 Notre Dame | 15–3 | 24–4 |
No. 11 Duke | 14–4 | 24–5 |
No. 9 Virginia Tech | 14–4 | 24–4 |
No. 23 Florida State | 12–6 | 23–8 |
Louisville | 12–6 | 21–10 |
No. 22 North Carolina | 11–7 | 20–9 |
Miami | 11–7 | 18–11 |
N.C. State | 9–9 | 19–10 |
Syracuse | 9–9 | 18–11 |
Clemson | 7–11 | 16–14 |
Boston College | 5–13 | 15–16 |
Wake Forest | 5–13 | 14–15 |
Virginia | 4–14 | 15–14 |
Georgia Tech | 4–14 | 13–16 |
Pittsburgh | 3–15 | 10–19 |
Thursday’s results
No. 9 Virginia Tech 61, No. 22 North Carolina 59
No. 10 Notre Dame 76, Georgia Tech 53
No. 23 Florida State 61, Wake Forest 60
Syracuse 85, Pittsburgh 55
Louisville 71, Miami 50
Clemson 79, Virginia 69
No. 11 Duke 77, N.C. State 62
Sunday’s results
No. 22 North Carolina 45, No. 11 Duke 41
No. 10 Notre Dame 68, Louisville, noon, ESPN3
Miami 84, Virginia 75
Boston College 73, Wake Forest 63
Clemson 74, No. 23 Florida State 61
N.C. State 68, Pittsburgh at 63
No. 9 Virginia Tech 65, Georgia Tech 52
End of regular season

Date | Month/day | Time/score | Opponent/event (current ranking) | Location | Record |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
November | |||||
9 | Wednesday | W, 91–59 | Jackson State | Home | 1–0 |
12 | Saturday | W, 75–48 | TCU | Home | 2–0 |
16 | Wednesday | W, 93–25 | South Carolina State | Home | 3–0 |
20 | Sunday | W, 76–65 | James Madison | Harrisonburg, Va. | 4–0 |
Phil Knight Invitational | |||||
24 | Thursday | W, 85–79 | Oregon | Portland | 5–0 |
27 | Sunday | W, 73–64 | No. 17 Iowa State | Portland | 6–0 |
December | ACC/Big Ten Challenge | ||||
1 | Thursday | L, 87–63 | No. 2 Indiana | Bloomington, Ind. | 6–1 |
7 | Wednesday | W, 64–42 | UNCW | Home | 7–1 |
11 | Sunday | W, 99–67 | Wofford | Home | 8–1 |
16 | Friday | W, 89–47 | USC Upstate | Home | 9–1 |
Jumpman Invitational | |||||
20 | Tuesday | L, 76–68 | No. 18 Michigan | Charlotte | 9–2 |
ACC season begins | |||||
29 | Thursday | L, 78–71 | Florida State | Home | 9–3, 0–1 ACC |
January | |||||
1 | Sunday | L, 68–65 | No. 4 Virginia Tech | Blacksburg, Va. | 9–4, 0–2 ACC |
5 | Thursday | L, 62–58 | Miami | Coral Gables, Fla. | 9–5, 0–3 ACC |
8 | Sunday | W, 60–50 | No. 10 Notre Dame | Home | 10–5, 1–3 ACC |
12 | Thursday | W, 70–59 | Virginia | Charlottesville, Va. | 11–5, 2–3 ACC |
15 | Sunday | W, 56–47 | N.C. State | Home | 12–5, 3–3 ACC |
19 | Thursday | W, 61–56 | No. 13 Duke | Home | 13–5, 4–3 ACC |
22 | Sunday | W, 70–57 | Georgia Tech | Home | 14–5, 5–3 ACC |
26 | Thursday | W, 72–57 | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | 15–5, 6–3 ACC |
29 | Sunday | W, 69–58 | Clemson | Clemson | 16–5, 7–3 ACC |
February | |||||
2 | Thursday | W, 73–62 | Virginia | Home | 17–5, 8–3 ACC |
5 | Sunday | L, 62–55 | Louisville | Louisville | 17–6, 8–4 ACC |
9 | Thursday | L, 75–67 | Syracuse | Syracuse | 17–7, 8–5 ACC |
12 | Sunday | W, 73–55 | Boston College | Home | 18–7, 9–5 ACC |
16 | Thursday | L, 77–66, OT | N.C. State | Raleigh | 18–8, 9–6 ACC |
19 | Sunday | W, 71–58 | Wake Forest | Home | 19–8, 10–6 ACC |
23 | Thursday | L, 61–59 | No. 4 Virginia Tech | Home | 19–9, 10–7 ACC |
26 | Sunday | W, 45–41 | No. 13 Duke | Durham | 20–9, 10–8 ACC |
March | ACC Tournament | ||||
2 | Thursday | W, 68–58 | Clemson | Greensboro | 21–9 |
3 | Friday | L, 44–40 | No. 13 Duke | Greensboro | 21–10 |
NCAA tournament | |||||
18 | Saturday | W, 61–59 | St. John’s | Columbus, Ohio | 22–10 |
20 | Monday | L, 71–69 | No. 12 Ohio State | Columbus, Ohio | 22–11 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications