Carolina likely to play during evening session Wednesday at ACC men’s tournament

By R.L. Bynum

Carolina could be seeded 6th, 7th or 8th next week at the ACC men’s basketball tournament. That won’t get settled until Saturday, but it looks likely that the Tar Heels will play during the evening session of the second round at the Greensboro Coliseum on Wednesday.

With a win at Duke, UNC (19–11, 11–8 ACC) would be the No. 6 seed and play at 9:30 (against the winner of Tuesday’s first-round game between the No. 11 seed and the No. 14 seed Notre Dame) or the No. 7 seed and play at 7 p.m. (against the winner of Tuesday’s game between the No. 10-seed Boston College and No. 15-seed Louisville).

A victory makes the Tar Heels the No. 6 seed if:

— No. 13-ranked Virginia (22–6, 14–5) beats Louisville (4–26, 2–17) or
— No. 25 Pittsburgh (21–9, 14–5) tops No. 16 Miami (23–6, 14–5).

As the No. 6 seed, a UNC win would move the Heels into a 9:30 quarterfinal matchup on Thursday against the No. 3 seed.

The Tar Heels would be the No. 7 seed with a win, a Cavaliers loss and a Panthers loss.

If UNC loses to Duke, it will be the No. 7 seed if:

— Wake Forest (18–12, 10–9) loses at Syracuse (16–14, 9–10) or
— The Deacons win, the Cavaliers lose, the Panthers win and Clemson (21–9, 13–6) wins against Notre Dame (11–19, 3–16).

With a Wednesday win as the No. 7 seed, UNC would face the No. 2 seed at 7 p.m. in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

If Carolina fell to a No. 8 seed, it would play at noon Wednesday against the No. 9 seed. That can only happen if UNC loses to Duke and:

— Wake Forest wins and Virginia loses or
— Pittsburgh and Clemson lose.

As the No. 8 seed, the Tar Heels would face the No. 1 seed in a noon quarterfinal matchup on Thursday.

ACC Tournament schedule

Greensboro Coliseum
Tuesday’s first round (all games on ACCN)
2:00 p.m.No. 12 vs. No. 13 Georgia Tech
4:30 p.m.No. 10 vs. No. 15 Louisville
7:00 p.m.No. 11 vs. No. 14 Notre Dame
Wednesday’s second round
NoonNo. 8 vs. No. 9, ESPN
2:30 p.m.No. 5 vs. 2 p.m. Tuesday winner, ESPN2
7:00 p.m.No. 7 vs. 4:30 Tuesday winner, ESPN2
9:30 p.m.No. 6 vs. 7 p.m. Tuesday winner, ESPNU
Thursday’s quarterfinals
NoonNo. 1 vs. noon Wednesday winner, ESPN
2:30 p.m.No. 4 vs. 2:30 Wednesday winner, ESPN2
7:00 p.m.No. 2 vs. 7 p.m. Wednesday winner, ESPN
9:30 p.m.No. 3 vs. 9:30 Wednesday winner, ESPN2
Friday’s semifinals
7:00 p.m.Thursday afternoon winner, ESPN
9:30 p.m.Thursday night winners, ESPN2
Saturday’s championship
8:30 p.m.Semifinal winners, ESPN

ACC standings

ACC standings

TeamLeagueOverall
No. 4 North Carolina17–325–6
No. 11 Duke15–524–7
Virginia13–722–9
Pittsburgh12–821–10
Clemson11–921–10
Syracuse11–920–11
Wake Forest11–919–12
Virginia Tech10–1018–13
Florida State10–1016–15
N.C. State9–1117–13
Boston College8–1217–14
Georgia Tech7–1214–17
Notre Dame7–1312–19
Miami6–1415–16
Louisville3–178–22

Saturday’s games
No. 4 North Carolina 84, No. 11 Duke 79
Virginia Tech 82, Notre Dame 76
Florida State 83, Miami 75
Boston College 67, Louisville 61
Wake Forest 81, Clemson 76
Pittsburgh 81, N.C. State 73
Virginia 72, Georgia Tech 57
ACC tournament
March 12–16, Capitol One Arena, Washington


DateMonth/dayTime/scoreOpponent/event
(current ranking)
LocationRecord
October
28FridayW, 101–40Johnson C. Smith HomeExhibition
November
7MondayW, 69–56UNCWHome1–0
11FridayW, 102–86College of CharlestonHome2–0
15TuesdayW, 72–66Gardner-WebbHome3–0
20SundayW, 80–64James MadisonHome4–0
Phil Knight Invitational
24ThursdayW, 89–81First round: PortlandPortland5–0
25FridayL, 70–65Semifinals:
Iowa State
Portland5–1
27SundayL, 103–101,
4 OTs
Consolation:
No. 1 Alabama
Portland5–2
ACC/Big Ten Challenge
30WednesdayL, 77–65 No. 21 IndianaBloomington, Ind.5–3
December
4SundayL, 80–72 Virginia TechBlacksburg, Va.5–4,
0–1 ACC
10SaturdayW, 75–59Georgia TechHome6–4,
1–1 ACC
13TuesdayW, 100–67The CitadelHome7–4
CBS Sports Classic
17SaturdayW, 89–84, OTOhio StateNew York8–4
Jumpman Invitational
21WednesdayW, 80–76MichiganCharlotte9–4
30 Friday L, 76–74PittsburghPittsburgh9–5,
1–2 ACC
January
4WednesdayW, 88–79Wake ForestHome10–5,
2–2 ACC
7SaturdayW, 81–64Notre DameHome11–5,
3–2 ACC
10TuesdayL, 65–58No. 14 VirginiaCharlottesville11–6,
3–3 ACC
14SaturdayW, 80–59LouisvilleLouisville, Ky.12–6,
4–3 ACC
17TuesdayW, 72–64Boston CollegeHome13–6,
5–3 ACC
21SaturdayW, 80–69N.C. StateHome14–6,
6–3 ACC
24TuesdayW, 72–68SyracuseSyracuse, N.Y.15–6,
7–3 ACC
February
1WednesdayL, 65–64PittsburghHome15–7,
7–4 ACC
4SaturdayL, 63–57No. 12 DukeDurham15–8,
7–5 ACC
7TuesdayL, 92–85Wake ForestWinston-Salem15–9,
7–6 ACC
11SaturdayW, 91–71ClemsonHome 16–9,
8–6 ACC
13MondayL, 80–72No. 16 MiamiHome16–10,
8–7 ACC
19SundayL, 77–69N.C. StateRaleigh16–11,
8–8 ACC
22WednesdayW, 63–59Notre DameSouth Bend, Ind.17–11,
9–8 ACC
25SaturdayW, 71–63No. 14 VirginiaHome18–11,
10–8 ACC
27MondayW, 77–66Florida StateTallahassee, Fla.19–11,
11–8 ACC
March
4SaturdayL, 62–57No. 12 DukeHome19–12,
11–9 ACC
ACC tournament
8WednesdayW, 85–61Boston CollegeGreensboro20–12
9ThursdayL, 68–59No. 14 Virginia Greensboro20–13

Photo via @UNC_Basketball

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