WASHINGTON–Day 3 of the 2016 Atlantic Coastal Conference Tournament held at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. wrapped up late Friday night after the completion of the two semifinal matchups. The Verizon Centerfeatured two overwhelming fan bases, with the arenacovered in “Carolina Blue” for the early matchup of North Carolina and Notre Dame, and the late matchup’s crowd favoring the Virginia Cavaliers. The two semifinal games set up a highly-anticipated championship game between top-10 teams. No. 7 North Carolina runs away from Notre Dame in 78-47 rout After the #4 seed in the ACC Tournament Notre Dame Fighting Irish stuck close with the first-seeded Tar Heels for the majority of the first half, senior guard Marcus Paige anchored a North Carolina 24-0 run that would prove to be too much to overcome. The 78-47 blowout loss for Mike Brey’s team was a surprise considering the Fighting Irish defeated the Tar Heels in the two’s only regular season matchup in South Bend.
Brey was not happy with the way his team finished out the first half, stating, “We could make our travel plans at halftime, let me put it that way”.
Marcus Paige led all scorers with 16 points in the ballgame, and Tar Heel fans are hoping to see the preseason First Team All-American continue to return to form. Paige shot 4-for-7 from deep while also staying extremely efficient with 7 assists and 0 turnovers in the win.
No. 4 UVa hangs on to knock off No. 11 Miami
The second-seeded Cavaliers eliminated ACC Coach of the Year Jim Larranaga and the #3 seed Miami Hurricanes from the ACC Tournament in Friday night’s second semifinal game. Although the game remained close throughout, starting with Malcolm Brogdon’s three-pointer 48 seconds after tipoff, UVa never trailed.
While Brogdon led the team in scoring yet again, Tony Bennett got 24 points from his bench players, with Marial Shayok scoring 10 points on just 5 shots from the field, and Darius Thompson and Mike Tobey each adding 6 of their own.
Virginia will look to avenge their loss over the Tar Heels from last year’s matchup in the ACC Tournament, while the Tar Heels reach their second straight ACC Championship game. The ESPN College Gameday crew will be stationed at the Verizon Center for the day leading up to the 63rd ACC Tournament Championship, featuring the ACC’s top two seeds and two potential NCAA Tournament one-seeds.
