Third-seeded Duke improved to 24-5 overall with its 76-69 victory over seventh-seeded N.C. State on Saturday afternoon. It will face fifth-seeded Georgia Tech (19-10) at approximately 1:00 PM on Sunday. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN and regionally by RJ Sports.
With its victory over N.C. State on Saturday, Duke has now advanced in eight consecutive ACC Championship game. The eight consecutive championship games are a league record, ahead of three teams with five apiece -- Duke (1963-67, 3-2 record), North Carolina (1991-95, 2-3) and Wake Forest (1960-64, 2-3). Duke has won five of the previous six ACC Championship games and holds a 5-2 record in the final game since 1998.
Duke advanced to the ACC title game for the 26th time overall. The Blue Devils are 14-11 in their previous 25 league tournament championship games.
Duke and Georgia Tech will meet in the finals of the ACC Tournament for the second time on Saturday. Duke won the 1986 ACC Championship over the Yellow Jackets, 68-67, behind 20 points from current associate coach Johnny Dawkins. Overall, Duke is 4-3 vs. Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament, including a 85-71 victory in last year's semifinal.
Duke improved to 11-6 at the ACC Tournament as the No. 3 seed and 13-0 against the No. 7 seed. Duke is 13-3 against the No. 5 seed and has never seen a No. 5 seed in the Championship game
Duke and Georgia Tech met just twice during the regular season, with the Blue Devils coming away with an 82-65 triumph in Durham on Feb. 5. J.J. Redick had 26 points and hit six three-pointers in the game and Shelden Williams added 15 points and 12 rebounds while Daniel Ewing added 16 points. Duke then escaped from Atlanta with a 60-56 win on Feb. 23. Lee Melchionni hit a three with 3:15 left to break a 49-49 tie and hit another three with 1:26 left to propel the Blue Devils. Redick had 21 points, Ewing 14 and Williams added another double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Duke leads the all-time series with the Yellow Jackets, 55-21, including four straight, and a 40-16 record under Mike Krzyzewski.
Duke senior Daniel Ewing has a league-best 10 ACC Tournament victories to his credit. The next-closest players are Duke's J.J. Redick, and Shelden Williams with seven wins apiece.
J.J. Redick scored 35 points and hit 7-of-12 three-pointers against N.C. State in Saturday's semifinal game ...
His 35 points tied the Duke ACC Tournament record (35 by Bob Verga vs. Virginia on 3/9/67 in the quarterfinal game)
It marks the second-highest point total of his career behind a 38-point performance against Wake Forest on 2/20/05
He ties Georgia Tech's Will Bynum for fourth place for most points scored in an ACC Semifinal contest
He became the first Duke player to score 30 or more points twice in ACC Tournament action (30 vs. N.C. State, 3/16/03 in the Championship Game)
His seven three pointers is the third most in an ACC Tournament game and the most ever in a semifinal contest
His seven three pointers is a new Duke record for the ACC Tournament, topping Phil Henderson's 6-of-11 performance over Georgia
Tech in the 1990 semifinal
His seven three pointers is one off his career high of eight (vs. Wake Forest, 2/2/05)
His seven three pointers is ranked tied for seventh with eight other occurances for the most in Duke history
Redick has scored in double figures in 28 games this season, including 17 straight, and 83 in his career
Redick has scored 20 or more points in 20 games this season and 41 times in his career
Redick has scored 30 or more points in four games this season and six times in his career
Redick has now played in eight ACC Tournament contests. In two games vs. N.C. State, he has scored 65 points and averaged 32.5 points per game. In the other six games, he has scored 63 points and averaged 10.5 points per game.
Redick also recorded six assists, tied for the second-highest total in his career, against N.C. State.
Duke was outrebounded by 10 (20-10) in the first half vs. N.C. State on Saturday. Duke ended the game with a 35-34 rebounding advantage for the game. All nine of Shelden Williams' boards came in the second half.
The Blue Devils have won five of the last six ACC Tournament championships. Overall, Duke has posted a 76-37 record (.673) in the ACC Tournament. Duke has won 14 league championships, the second-highest championship total by any team in the league. Duke's league tournament titles came in 1960, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1980, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003
Under head coach Mike Krzyzewski, Duke is 38-15 (.717) in the ACC Tournament. Coach K's Blue Devils have won eight ACC Tournament titles (1986, 1988, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003). Entering the 2005 ACC Tournament, Coach K is the only one of the 11 ACC head coaches to have earned two or more league championships.
Since the 1998 ACC Tournament, Duke has separated itself from the rest of the league with five tournament crowns in those seven seasons and a league-best 21 victories, 12 more than the next-closest team. Duke is followed by North Carolina (9-7), Maryland (9-7), N.C. State (9-8), Florida State (4-8), Georgia Tech (4-7), Wake Forest (3-8), Clemson (3-8), Virginia (2-8), Miami (0-1) and Virginia Tech (0-1).
Duke's defense has allowed its last six opponents to average 61.8 points per game.
Senior Daniel Ewing has distributed the basketball well his last four games -- he has 30 dishes in that stretch (7.5 per game). With 16 and 14 points in the first two games, Ewing now has 25 double-figure scoring games this season and a team-best 84 in his career.
Duke has been forced to work around injuries all season as four of its 10 scholarship players -- Reggie Love (12 games - broken foot), David McClure (seven - left knee), Sean Dockery (five - right knee) and Shavlik Randolph (four - mono) -- have missed a combined 28 games. Dockery suffered a torn MCL in his right knee on Feb. 23 at Georgia Tech and is out indefinitely for the Blue Devils.
Duke has allowed just one opponent to shoot better than .500 from the field this season (No. 5 Wake Forest on Feb. 20). In 15 of 29 games, opponents have shot less than .400 from the floor against the Blue Devils' defense.
Since failing to make a three-pointer at N.C. State on Jan. 13, Redick has made 77 treys in his last 17 games (4.5 per game).
Redick has a better field goal percentage from three-point range (.417, 113-of-271) than he does from inside the arc (.409, 72-of-176) this season.
In his last 14 contests, Shelden Williams has blocked 53 shots (3.8 per game). Williams has moved into 10th place on the ACC's all-time blocked shots list with 270 career rejections.
Senior forward Reggie Love was named a team captain on Feb. 19. Love joins Daniel Ewing and J.J. Redick as Blue Devil captains for the remainder of the 2004-05 season.
Mike Krzyzewski has 38 ACC Tournament victories to his credit, 24 more than the next closest coach in the league (Gary Williams). The 38 victories are the second-most by a coach in league history (Dean Smith had 58 ACC Tournament wins).
Coach K is one of only two active coaches in the ACC to have won the league tournament. Krzyzewski has won eight ACC Tournament crowns, seven more than the next-closest coach in the league (Gary Williams of Maryland has one).