By ADAM ZAGORIA
NEW YORK — A year ago, Duke beat North Carolina in the ACC Tournament semifinals at Barclays Center.
Duke went on to win the ACC championship, while North Carolina went on to win the NCAA championship over Gonzaga and cut down the nets in Glendale, Ariz.
“Last year we lost this game that’s going to be played tomorrow,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said after his team beat Miami, 82-65, in the quarterfinals to set up the semifinal showdown with Duke, which earlier crushed Notre Dame, 88-70, thanks to Marvin Bagley III’s 33 points and 17 rebounds and Grayson Allen’s 23 points.
“I think we kept playing. My memory’s not as good as it used to be, but I think we kept playing.”
2018 ACC Championship — Friday’s semifinals
1 Virginia vs 4 Clemson — 7pm ESPN2
2 Duke vs 6 North Carolina — 9pm ESPN— #DukeMBBStats (@DukeMBBStats) March 9, 2018
No. 2-seeded Duke and No. 6 North Carolina will renew their rivalry in Brooklyn for the second straight year. The two teams split their ACC matchups this season, with each winning on its homecourt. Duke won the last matchup, 74-64, on March in a game in which Bagley went for 21 and 15.
No. 1 Virginia meets No. 4 Clemson in the first semifinal Friday.
“Game 3 is against Duke,” Carolina’s Theo Pinson said after putting up 25 points, 11 rebounds and 3 steals. “We’re excited, they’re excited too, I’m sure, and we’re going to do everything we can to win the game.”
Asked to expand on the significance of the rivalry, Pinson said everyone will be watching it. The Carolina-Duke game will be played up against the Big East Tournament semifinal between Villanova and Butler at Madison Square Garden.
“I know about the rivalry, I’ve been here four years,” Pinson said. “It’s a big-time game. Everybody and their momma going to be watching the game, everybody knows that.
“We lost the last game, that’s going to get us even more hyped up.”
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