ACC Tournament 2023: Day 4 Schedule, Live Stream Info and Men's Bracket Predictions

The Duke Blue Devils are playing their best basketball of the season at the right time.

Duke carries a seven-game winning streak into the ACC tournament semifinals on Friday, where they face the top-seed Miami Hurricanes.

Jon Scheyer's team annihilated the Pittsburgh Panthers in the quarterfinal round on Thursday, and that performance may be taken as a statement of intent for the team's postseason success.

The Duke-Miami semifinal clash was the rubber match of the season series that was split with wins by both teams on their home courts.

The second semifinal between the Virginia Cavaliers and Clemson Tigers means more to Clemson, as it tries to make one late push at qualifying for the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Clemson blew past the NC State Wolfpack to make itself one of the few bubble teams still alive in its conference tournament.

Virginia beat Clemson on February 28, and they have their own motivation to win to get a higher seed in the NCAA tournament.

ACC Tournament Semifinal Info

No. 4 Duke vs. No. 1 Miami (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

No. 3 Clemson vs. No. 2 Virginia (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

Games can be live-streamed on the ESPN app and ESPN.com.

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Make your picks: Play the NCAA March Madness Men's Bracket Challenge and Tournament Run.

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Prediction

Duke vs. Virginia

Nothing seems to be stopping Duke right now.

The Blue Devils delivered a 96-69 statement win on Thursday that showed they can be the class of the ACC.

Duke took a while to get things right under Scheyer, but it has found its best form when the games matter the most.

The No. 4 seed has not allowed an opponent to score over 70 points during their winning streak.

The tremendous defense exemplified in the winning streak could be what sends the Blue Devils into Saturday's ACC tournament final.

Duke held Miami to 66 points when the two sides met at Cameron Indoor Stadium on January 21. The Hurricanes earned an 81-59 win on February 6, but that was two days after the first rivalry game between Duke and the North Carolina Tar Heels (Duke winning 63-57).

Duke's result in Coral Gables, Florida is excusable because the rivalry game with UNC can take a lot out of players, especially when the team has to travel directly after the contest.

The January meeting between the Blue Devils and Canes is a better example of what we should see on Friday night inside the Greensboro Coliseum.

Defense has not been Miami's strong suit. The Canes give up 71.7 points per game, which is over seven points more than Duke's average (63.8). Miami held one team under 70 points in the last nine games, and that was Duke on short rest.

Duke's defensive consistency should be the X-factor in the first semifinal, and the same could be said about how Virginia wins the second semifinal.

The Cavaliers give up 60.5 points per game, which is over seven points lower than Clemson's defensive average (68.1).

Tony Bennett's team limited the Tigers to 57 points in their lone meeting in ACC play. That total was 18 points lower than Clemson's scoring average (75.5).

Clemson, like Duke, had its way in the quarterfinal round, as it beat NC State 80-54 to complete a three-game sweep of the Wolfpack.

The Tigers are a bubble team for a reason, though, as they entered Greensboro with a 4-5 record in their last nine games.

ESPN's Joe Lunardi has Clemson as the second team out in his updated bracket. Clemson needs to beat Virginia to get into the field of 68.

But that will not happen for the Tigers, who will likely be frustrated by the Virginia defense once again.

Virginia allowed two opponents to reach the 70-point mark in the ACC regular season, and they have recent experience of knowing to slow down Clemson's best scorers.

Duke and Virginia should use their tremendous defenses to reach Saturday's final in which the winner might be the first team to 65 points.