Duke vs. Virginia Tech score: Hokies stun Blue Devils for ACC Tournament title, steal NCAA Tournament bid

Virginia Tech will go dancing after winning the program's first ACC Tournament title on Saturday night

Virginia Tech capped its magical run in the ACC Tournament on Saturday with a fairytale ending, knocking off No. 1 seed Duke 82-67 to claim its first-ever ACC Tournament title in men's basketball. The Hokies were led by a career-high 31 points from junior sharpshooter Hunter Cattoor, who drained seven of his nine 3-point attempts, and got 19 points to go with it from Keve Aluma as they cruised with ease down the stretch over a Blue Devils team that dominated the ACC regular season race.

The Hokies were featured as a bubble team lurking as a potential bid thief in Jerry Palm's Bubble Watch on Saturday, as the CBS Sports Bracketology Expert noted they were likely out of the NCAA Tournament field unless they stole a win. That's exactly what they did, earning the ACC's automatic bid in stunning fashion by becoming the first team in the conference tournament as a 7 seed or higher to win the whole thing. It marks their 13th win in the last 15 outings as they head to March Madness as one of the hottest teams in the sport.

"Holy cow!" said Virginia Tech coach Mike Young on ESPN after the game. "We capped off a really incredible six weeks, and I'm really proud of my team."

Virginia Tech's week featured four wins in four days at the ACC Tournament which had only been accomplished once in the history of the ACC Tournament -- by Duke in 2017. The Hokies have now earned their fifth straight NCAA Tournament berth.

Duke made things interesting in the second half with Paolo Banchero's 10 second-half points helping push the Blue Devils. But it never led in the second half, shot just 4 of 20 from 3 for the game as a team and struggled defensively by allowing Storm Murphy to pressure the rim and Cattoor to score at will. The loss likely cost Duke a chance, however small, at a 1 seed after entering the day as a 2 seed in Palm's bracket.

2022 ACC Tournament scores

First round -- Tuesday, March 8
Game 1: No. 13 Boston College 66, No. 12 Pittsburgh 46 | Recap
Game 2: No. 10 Clemson 70, No. 15 NC State 64 | Recap
Game 3: No. 11 Louisville 84, No. 14 Georgia Tech 74 | Recap

Second round -- Wednesday, March 9
Game 4: No. 9 Syracuse 96, No. 8 Florida State 57 | Recap
Game 5: No. 13 Boston College 82, No. 5 Wake Forest 77 (OT)  | Recap
Game 6: No. 7 Virginia Tech 76, No. 10 Clemson 75 (OT) | Recap
Game 7: No. 6 Virginia 51, No. 11 Louisville 50 | Recap

Quarterfinals -- Thursday, March 10
Game 8: No. 1 Duke 88, No. 9 Syracuse 79 | Recap
Game 9: No. 4 Miami 71, No. 13 Boston College 69 (OT) | Recap
Game 10: No. 7 Virginia Tech 87, No. 2 Notre Dame 80 | Recap
Game 11: No. 3 North Carolina 63, No. 6 Virginia 42 | Recap

Semifinals -- Friday, March 11
Game 12: No. 1 Duke 80, No. 4 Miami 76 | Recap
Game 13: No. 7 Virginia Tech 72, No. 3 North Carolina 59 | Recap

ACC Tournament Championship Game -- Saturday, March 12
Game 14: No. 7 Virginia Tech 82, No. 1 Duke 67 

[Mar 11, 2022 at 11:40 pm ET · David Cobb]

Semifinals: Virginia Tech 72, North Carolina 59

No. 7 seed Virginia Tech picked up a huge victory for its NCAA Tournament hopes by knocking off No. 2 seed North Carolina 72-59 on Friday night in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. The victory marks 12 wins in the last 14 games for the Hokies, who entered the day on the wrong side of the bubble, according to CBS Sports Bracketology Expert Jerry Palm. The Hokies will make their first-ever ACC Tournament title appearance on Saturday, taking on No. 1 seed Duke. Darius Maddox and Keve Aluma led Virginia Tech with 20 and 18, respectively, as the Hokies put an end to UNC's six-game winning streak.

The Tar Heels appear to have done enough over the past week to solidify their at-large case for the NCAA Tournament. They entered Friday's action as a projected No. 9 seed, according to Palm. Armando Bacot led the way for UNC with 19 points and 14 rebounds before fouling out with 2:12 remaining on what was ruled a flagrant foul.

[Mar 11, 2022 at 9:23 pm ET · Kyle Boone]

Semifinals: Duke 80, Miami 76

No. 1 seed Duke avenged its regular-season loss to Miami in the ACC Tournament semifinals on Friday night, sending the Hurricanes home and advancing to the title game on Saturday. The Blue Devils await the winner of Virginia Tech and North Carolina. 

Miami put up a good fight in the back-and-forth affair, leading for more than 16 minutes of game action and making a strong push down the stretch. It got 24 points from Kameron McGusty to push Duke and added eight made 3s as a team to help offset Duke's decisive advantage in the paint.

In the paint was where Duke ultimately won it, though. AJ Griffin had 21 points Paolo Banchero had 18, Wendell Moore had 17 and the team had more than half of its total points -- 44 -- inside the painted area. Between Banchero and Mark Williams adding easy points around the bucket and the team pressuring the rim off drives, Duke exploited Miami's soft defense by playing aggressively and not settling for outside shots.

Duke will play Saturday for the conference tournament's title with a chance to win its 16th ACC postseason crown under retiring head coach Mike Krzyzewski. 

[Mar 10, 2022 at 11:32 pm ET · David Cobb]

Quarterfinals: North Carolina 63, Virginia 43

No. 3 seed North Carolina picked up where it left off at the end of the regular season by opening play in the ACC Tournament with a convincing victory over No. 6 seed Virginia on Thursday night. Brady Manek led the Tar Heels with 21 points, which included 19 in the first half as UNC opened up a 33-13 lead. Just one night after a narrow victory over Louisville, the Cavaliers came out flat in a game they desperately needed.

UVA is squarely on the wrong side of the bubble, according to CBS Sports Bracketology Expert Jerry Palm. UNC will play No. 7 seed Virginia Tech in tomorrow's semifinals as the Hokies, who are on the bubble, seek revenge for two regular-season losses against UNC. If UNC and Duke both win tomorrow, we'd get a Tobacco Road special in the ACC title game for Mike Krzyzewski's last game in the ACC Tournament.

[Mar 10, 2022 at 9:12 pm ET · David Cobb]

Quarterfinals: Virginia Tech 87, Notre Dame 80

The No. 7 seed Hokies looked like a team on a mission and took down No. 2 seed Notre Dame, fending off a late surge from the Fighting Irish by shooting it well at the free-throw line. With the win, Virginia Tech advances to the semifinals, where it will play the winner of tonight's game between No. 3 seed North Carolina and No. 6 seed Virginia. Virginia Tech is on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, according to CBS Sports Bracketology Expert Jerry Palm, but the Hokies are now 11-2 over their last 13 following a 10-10. Keve Aluma led the way with 20 for the Hokies.

Notre Dame entered today as a projected No. 10 seed, according to Palm. The Fighting Irish should be fine on Selection Sunday — Palm did not have them on the bubble this morning — but they are just 3-3 over their past six entering the Big Dance.

[Mar 10, 2022 at 4:56 pm ET · David Cobb]

Quarterfinals: Miami 71, Boston College 69 (OT)

After Duke and Miami split their regular-season series, a rubber match is set for tomorrow following the No. 4 seed Hurricanes' win over No. 13 seed Boston College in the quarterfinals. It was quite the dramatic finish, as Jordan Miller layed in the game-winner as the overtime clock expired. BC was playing its third game in three days and just didn't quite have the legs to get it done vs. a 'Canes squad making its postseason debut.

While a BC trip to the semifinals would have made for a nice Cinderella story, it's likely not what the bubbly ACC needed. The Eagles already took out Wake Forest, leaving the Demon Deacons on the wrong side of the bubble in Jerry Palm's Bracketology. While Miami entered the day in the projected field as a No. 10 seed, a loss to BC would have made Selection Sunday a bit nerve-wracking.

[Mar 10, 2022 at 2:25 pm ET · Kyle Boone]

Quarterfinals: Duke 88, Syracuse 79

A surprising back-and-forth affair between top-seeded Duke and No. 9 seed Syracuse in the quarters on Thursday featured 11 lead changes and five ties. Ultimately, though, the Blue Devils advanced to the semifinals round of the ACC Tournament with an 88-79 victory. Duke, which led for the majority of the game, struggled to close out Syracuse in a flat performance and had to dig out of a seven-point deficit in the second half before closing the game on a 10-0 run.

Syracuse pushed Duke -- a projected No. 2 seed in Jerry Palm's latest bracket -- to the brink without the services of leading scorer Buddy Boeheim, who sat out with a suspension after striking a Florida State player in the second round on Wednesday. It did so behind a 28-point explosion from Buddy's brother, Jimmy, while Joe Girard III added 23. The loss moves Syracuse to 16-17 on the season, its first losing season ever in Boeheim's 46 years leading the program.

Duke, which won despite leading scorer Paolo Banchero turning in only 10 points on 3 of 9 shooting, got 26 points from junior Wendell Moore Jr. The narrow escape advances it to the semifinals to play the winner of Miami and Boston College on Friday.

[Mar 9, 2022 at 11:50 pm ET · David Cobb]

Second round: Virginia 51, Louisville 50

No. 6 seed Virginia knocked off No. 11 seed Louisville in the final game of the day at Barclays Center as the Cardinals advanced to play No. 3 seed North Carolina on Thursday behind big games from Kihei Clark and Jayden Gardner. Gardner scored 17 and Clark 15 for the Cavaliers. Reece Beekman added eight poits, including a clutch bucket with 40 seconds left that extended UVA's lead to 49-45.

The Cavaliers need a big week if they want to have a shot at reaching the NCAA Tournament, and beating UNC tomorrow will be a must. The Tar Heels won the only regular-season meeting -- 74-58 on Jan. 8. As for Louisville, the loss ended one of the more dismal seasons in program history with the Cardinals sporting a 13-19 record. All attention now turns to who the next coach will be following Chris Mack's three-and-a-half-year run.

[Mar 9, 2022 at 9:36 pm ET · David Cobb]

Second round: Virginia Tech 76, Clemson 75 (OT)

The No. 7 seed Hokies need to make some noise this week to make the NCAA Tournament, and they played with fire in their opening game of the ACC Tournament. But Darius Maddox bailed VT out in a big way by drilling a 3-pointer from the left wing at the overtime buzzer for a 76-75 win. Clemson forward PJ Hall left the door open by making just 1 of 2 free throws with six seconds left, and Maddox made the Tigers pay. Next up for Virginia Tech is a game with No. 2 seed Notre Dame in tomorrow's quarterfinals.

Clemson could be in line for an NIT bid -- we'll see -- but this will be tough to swallow for the Tigers, whch rallied from a 14 point deficit to put themselves in position to steal this one before the buzzer beater. Hall led the way with 16 for the Tigers. 

[Mar 9, 2022 at 5:06 pm ET · David Cobb]

Second round: Boston College 82, Wake Forest 77 (OT)

This is a devastating loss for No. 5 seed Wake Forest, which entered the day as one of the "First Four Out" of the projected NCAA Tournament field in Jerry Palm's Bracketology. The Demon Deacons led 65-55 with 6:05 remaining, but wilted down the stretch and will, in all likelihood, miss the NCAA Tournament. Still a great season under second-year coach Steve Forbes, but not the way the Deacs hoped March would go. Of course, an NIT bid can still be valuable for a program on the rise, and you never know what can happen on Selection Sunday. But it looks bleak as of now.

BC will go for a third straight win tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. ET against No. 4 seed Miami. The 'Canes beat BC 81-70 last Wednesday in the only regular-season meeting between the teams. Nice for the Eagles to get a couple of postseason Ws under their belt in coach Earl Grant's first season, and things will get real interesting if the Eagles pull off another upset tomorrow. Six players scored between 8 and 19 points for BC in this one, led by 19 from DeMarr Langford.

[Mar 9, 2022 at 1:55 pm ET · David Cobb]

Second round: Syracuse 96, Florida State 57

No. 9 seed Syracuse absolutely smashed No. 8 seed Florida State after they split a pair of close games in the regular season. The Seminoles have been hammered by injuries this season, but it was surprising to see them produce such a dud here after they finished the regular season on a three-game winning streak. Syracuse, by contrast, entered on a four-game losing streak.

Cole Swider led the way for the Orange with 28 points and 13 rebounds and had 20 in the first half alone. Next up for Syracuse is a game with No. 1 seed Duke, which beat Syracuse 79-59 on Jan. 22 and 97-72 on Feb. 26. It should be a motivated Blue Devils team coming off Saturday's loss to North Carolina.

Something to watch: Buddy Boeheim was caught appearing to sucker punch FSU's Wyatt Wilkes in the first half. He's the Orange's leading scorer, and if there is any disciplinary response from the league (or internally), that will only make playing Duke tomorrow more daunting.

[Mar 8, 2022 at 9:04 pm ET · David Cobb]

First round: Louisville 84, Georgia Tech 74

There will be no repeat of last season's ACC Tournament title for the No. 14 seed Yellow Jackets, who fell 84-74 to No. 11 seed Louisville in first-round action. The Cardinals had lost 11 of their last 12 entering this matchup but jumped out to a 45-28 halftime lead and led by 27 in the second half. Louisville got a season-high 20 points from Jarrod West and had five players in double figures. The Cardinals will play No. 6 seed Virginia tomorrow at 9:30 p.m. ET.

Georgia Tech did not start stars Michael Devoe and Jordan Usher. Devoe, who is GT's leading scorer, played just nine minutes in the first half. Will be curious to hear Josh Pastner's explanation for that. The Yellow Jackets end the season with a 12-20 record, and it's back to the drawing board for Pastner just one season after the program made its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010.

[Mar 8, 2022 at 6:34 pm ET · David Cobb]

First Round: Clemson 70, NC State 64

PJ Hall led No. 10 seed Clemson with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Nick Honor added 13 and Al-Amir Dawes finished with 12. The Tigers held No. 15 seed NC State to just 34.9% shooting (4 of 23 from 3-point range). The Tigers advance to face No. 7 seed Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. ET in tomorrow's second round.

A nightmare season for NC State comes to an end with the Wolfpack sporting an 11-21 record. Things were derailed in the first minute of the season when star big man Manny Bates suffered a shoulder injury that ended his season. Bates is a big-time shot blocker who was poised to be an offensive focal point. Without him, NC State never got on track. Fifth-year coach Kevin Keatts has received a vote of confidence from the administration, however, and is expected to be back next season.

As for tomorrow, the Tigers just beat Virginia Tech 63-59 on Saturday in the only regular-season meeting between the teams. The Hokies need to get on a heater this week to revitalize their moribund NCAA Tournament hopes. The winner of that game advances to face No. 2 seed Notre Dame on Thursday. 

[Mar 8, 2022 at 4:05 pm ET · David Cobb]

First Round: Boston College 66, Pittsburgh 46

The first game of the ACC Tournament is a wrap. No. 12 seed Pittsburgh's season will come to an end with an 11-21 record, while No. 13 seed Boston College will advance to play No. 5 seed Wake Forest at 2:30 p.m. ET in tomorrow's second round. The Eagles shot 53.5% from the floor and were led by 13 points from James Karnik. DeMarr Langford added 12 and Quinten Post contributed 11. John Hugley, meanwhile, led the way for Pitt with 15. 

This marks four losing seasons to begin Jeff Capel's tenure at Pitt, and this season's 11-21 mark is the worst yet, by percentage, under his direction. As for BC, the Eagles lost their only game against Wake 87-57 during the regular season. The Demon Deacons are fighting for an NCAA Tournament bid, which means BC can play the role of spoiler tomorrow as they seek revenge for the earlier blowout loss.