– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA — The most-anticipated match of the ACC Tournament won’t happen this time around, and it was a whisker away from both parties of one of the most heralded rivalries being kicked to the curb.
Duke and North Carolina were one win away from a semifinal matchup at the 2026 ACC Tournament, but only the Blue Devils came away with a victory — and only just — an 80-79 win over ninth-seeded Florida State, and only after the Seminoles missed a three-pointer on the game’s final play. North Carolina, on the other hand, fell behind as much as 18 points before a furious rally came up short in its 80-79 defeat against No. 5 Clemson in Thursday’s nightcap.
The Blue Devils are more than in the running for the No. 1 overall seed, and probably are in the driver’s seat as conference tournament season started. But their mounting health issues — point guard Caleb Foster (fractured foot) and Patrick Ngonba II (right foot) are out and will miss all of the ACC Tournament — are a concern, and that was before Florida State mounted a furious rally that saw it have the ball with 10 seconds to go after Cameron Boozer missed a jumper late in the shot clock. The Seminoles raced down the court before Robert McCray V launched a three from the right wing that rimmed out at the buzzer.
The Tar Heels came in with their injury issues, as star freshman guard Caleb Wilson broke his right thumb in a practice late in the season and is set to miss the rest of the season. Agaist the Tigers, the Tar Heels did not get much production outside of the 28 points and 17 rebounds from big man Henri Veesaar.
Duke will take on Clemson in the second semifinal on Friday, preceded by No. 2 Virginia squaring off against No. 3 Miami in the first semifinal.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Thursday’s ACC Tournament quarterfinal games, with photos taken by North Carolina-based photographer William Anthony. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 14 pictures in total.
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