ACC Tournament Bracket 2012: Austin Rivers Must Shine for Duke to Thrive

If there is anyone capable of single-handedly catapulting his team to a conference tournament championship, it is Duke's Austin Rivers.

And with a tough road ahead of him, he'll likely be called upon to do just that.

Rivers has been good for 20 or more points eight times this year, and his 29 points and game-winning shot against North Carolina provided one of the better performances and iconic moments of the regular season.

Mike Krzyzewski hasn't been afraid to ride the youngster, giving him a team-leading 32.9 minutes per game.

Hell, he's already started collecting the hardware for his excellent season.

"

Austin Rivers is the 2nd-ever unanimous ACC Rookie of the Year. Also was named Freshman All-America by Sporting News.

— Duke Basketball (@dukeblueplanet) March 6, 2012"

He's even up for the John R. Wooden Award (player of the year), though that seems like a two-man race between Kentucky's Anthony Davis and Kansas' Thomas Robinson at this point.

But back to things happening on the court. It's no secret that this Duke team plays poor defense and are going to rely on a strong perimeter game to defeat opponents.

Remember, this is a team that ranks 231st in the NCAA in points allowed per game (69.1) and 206th in field-goal percentage allowed (43.7 percent).

In other words, if the high-scoring Blue Devils aren't hitting their shots on the perimeter, they certainly can't expect to beat teams with their defense.

And no player on the perimeter is more important than Rivers.

So watch Rivers closely, especially if the Blue Devils have to face teams that have already beaten them this year like Miami, Florida State and North Carolina.

Duke has the talent to win without a huge performance from Rivers, but they are nearly impossible to beat if Rivers catches fire.

Here's your ACC Tournament bracket:

Round	Game	Date	Matchup	Time	Television Schedule
First	1	Thursday, March 8th	#8 Maryland vs. #9 Wake Forest	Noon	ESPNU / ACC Network
First	2	Thursday, March 8th	#5 NC State/ vs. #12 Boston College	2 p.m.	ESPNU / ACC Network
First	3	Thursday, March 8th	#7 Clemson vs. #10 Virginia Tech	7 p.m.	ESPNU / ACC Network
First	4	Thursday, March 8th	#6 Miami vs. #11 Georgia Tech	9 p.m.	ESPNU / ACC Network
Second	5	Friday, March 9th	#1 North Carolina vs. Game 1 winner	Noon	ESPN2 / ACC Network
Second	6	Friday, March 9th	#4 Virginia vs. Game 2 winner	2 p.m.	ESPN2 / ACC Network
Second	7	Friday, March 9th	#2 Duke vs. Game 3 winner	7 p.m.	ESPN2 / ACC Network
Second	8	Friday, March 9th	#3 Florida State vs. Game 4 winner	9 p.m.	ESPN2 / ACC Network
Semifinals	9	Saturday, March 10th	ACC Semifinal 1	1 p.m.	ESPN / ACC Network
Semifinals	10	Saturday, March 10th	ACC Semifinal 2	3 p.m.	ESPN / ACC Network
Final	11	Sunday, March 11th	Championship Game	1 p.m.	ESPN / ACC Network

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