Last night’s semi-final
game in the ACC Tournament was the 6th ranked matchup between Duke and UNC to
be decided by a single point. Duke has
now won all six.
The game was tied 44-44
at the end of the half. The score was
tied again at 54-54 with 12:38 left on the clock and again at 63-63 with 8:53
remaining. Big ol’ Zion tied the game at
65-65 with a jumper at the 7:05 mark and the score would see-saw back and forth
until the clock showed 31 seconds remaining.
The finale was not for
the faint of heart. Williamson went for a
lay-up, missed it, rebounded his missed shot and managed to tap it in to take
the lead for good.
The win against the
Tarheels set up the title match tonight against Florida State; the
team that shocked the No. 2 Virginia Cavaliers on Thursday night. UVA center Jack Salt dejectedly said of the
loss, “They punked us. They got us on
the glass. They got us in the lane. They just picked up apart.”
ZION STEALS AND SLAMS 💥 pic.twitter.com/AHlsuIOuPj— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 16, 2019
Six different teams have won the ACC Tournament over the last
seven years. The Noles were the champs
in 2012. That was then. This is now and only one team in the nation
has Zion Williamson. Charlotte loves
Duke so it’s like a home court advantage for the the Blue Devils.
In their only other meeting this year, the Blue Devils edged out
FSU 80-78 in Tallahassee. Former Duke
Center Christian Laettner wondered
on ESPN’s College Game Day whether Duke’s big guy would be too fatigued for
tonight’s game citing he showed signs of exhaustion on the court last night
against the Tarheels. He said he hopes
that’s not the case tonight because Duke is going to need “everything he’s got.”
I have a sneaking suspicion Zion is going to be totally stoked
for this Championship Game. Coach K
knows how to lead his team to victory. I’m
going with Duke to win it all and get a top seed in the NCAA March Madness Road
to the Final Four in Minneapolis.
