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akoiki-passport2 – by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief

GREENSBORO, N.C. — The Duke Blue Devils experienced one of their lowest points of their first season without Coach K near South Beach on a February evening against the same opponents they lined up against on Friday evening. Revenge was clearly on the minds of the Blue Devils, whose job in getting redemption for that wretched week last month is halfway done — and whose job in winning a conference championship is one step away from completion.

ACC Rookie of the Year Kyle Filipowski led five players in double players in scoring with 17 points, helping to lift the fourth-seeded Blue Devils to an 85-78 victory over the No. 1 seed Miami Hurricanes to advance to Saturday’s championship game of the ACC Tournament. Folipowski also added 11 rebounds and five assists while fellow freshman Dariq Whitehead had 16 points.

The beginning of this month has gone much better than the beginning of February for the Blue Devils, who lost by 22 points on the road against the Hurricanes of February 6 before losing to Virginia in overtime three days later, a game in which Filipowski was hammered on a drive to the basket at the end of regulation yet no whistle was blown.

After shooting almost 55 percent from the field for the game against Miami, the Blue Devils have a chance to get revenge on the second-seeded Cavaliers, who took control early of the second semifinal game and defeated No. 3 Clemson 76-56. Jayden Gardner had 23 points and 12 rebounds for Virginia, who has won four straight.

*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday’s semifinals, with the photos taken by ALOST contributing photographer Justin Cohen. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 41 pictures in total.

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Tags : ACC TournamentAtlantic Coast ConferenceClemson TigersDuke Blue DevilsMiami HurricanesVirginia Cavaliers

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