ACC Tournament 2015: Semifinals Scores, Championship Bracket and Schedule

You would be hard-pressed to find a better final four in any conference tournament than what the ACC offered on Friday. Duke and Virginia are two of the top teams in the country, ranked second and third, respectively, in the current Associated Press Top 25 poll. 

In addition to the Blue Devils and Cavaliers, North Carolina and Notre Dame are hardly slouches. Those two teams are ranked in the Top 20 and have their share of marquee wins this season. Neither of these teams is in danger of missing the NCAA tournament, but the all-important seeding is very much on the line. 

With so much star power on display at the Greensboro Coliseum, there's going to be a lot to discuss with these two games after they end. Here's a recap of the action as it happens. This page will be updated with scores and analysis as the games end. 

Semifinal Scores

Matchup	Score/Start Time (ET)
No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 5 North Carolina	North Carolina, 71-67
No. 2 Duke vs. No. 3 Notre Dame	Notre Dame, 74-64

Updated Bracket (Via Busting Brackets on Twitter)

Championship Game Schedule

Matchup	Start Time (ET)	Network
North Carolina vs. Notre Dame	8:30 p.m.	ESPN

North Carolina Beats Virginia At Its Own Game

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

This season didn't go exactly as Roy Williams drew it up, but his North Carolina team may be getting hot at the right time. The Tar Heels overwhelmed Virginia in the first ACC tournament semifinal game with a 71-67 win. 

A hallmark of any Williams team throughout history has been fast-pace offense with some defense, yet this game saw the Tar Heels slow things down at times to show Virginia it could play any style. It worked masterfully, with the Cavaliers hitting just 44.2 percent of their attempts.

Justin Jackson was the surprise star for North Carolina in this win, as the freshman went 4-of-5 from three-point range. His hot hand from deep prompted this tweet from the Tar Heels' official Twitter:

North Carolina needed that effort from Jackson, because Marcus Paige did not have a good shooting performance, going 4-of-12 from the floor. The star guard did make a critical layup with the shot clock winding down with less than one minute to play that gave the Tar Heels a 65-62 lead.

Justin Anderson and Malcolm Brogdon had opportunities to tie the game on two different possessions but couldn't get their three-point attempts to go down. 

Being a great player means making big-time plays, even when you haven't been at your best, so Paige's layup was a huge moment that prompted this tweet from Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde:

Williams has had a unique relationship with this North Carolina team that was on full display in the win against Louisville on Thursday. He told reporters after that victory his stomp-laced tirade on the sidelines wasn't a simple tactic, per Brett Friedlander of Star News Online:

“You try to do everything you can to get guys to play,” Williams said. “But at that point it wasn’t a coaching ploy. It was just that I was extremely frustrated.”

Whatever Williams did seems to have worked, because the Tar Heels have looked as good in the last two days as they have all season. 

There was a sense that this game wasn't going to go Virginia's way early in the first half when North Carolina was converting turnovers into points, as this number from ESPN Stats & Info shows:

Despite the late miss from beyond the arc, Brogdon was a one-man wrecking crew for Virginia late in the second half. He had just three points in the first half yet finished the game with 25. He was the Cavaliers offense as they tried to come back, via Adam Rowe of 247 Sports:

This loss does put Virginia in a potentially sticky spot in the quest for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. With just three total losses, the Cavaliers would seem to be in good standing with the selection committee, but a lot could depend on if the other contenders win their conference titles. 

As for North Carolina, there's never been any doubt about the raw talent on the roster. The questions have been about consistency, yet here the Tar Heels are going into the ACC Championship Game with a chance to make an emphatic statement. 

Notre Dame Takes Down the Blue Devils

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

If Duke wants to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, it did itself no favors Friday.

The Blue Devils lost for the second time this season to Notre Dame, this time to the tune of 74-64. Bonzi Colson led the way for the Fighting Irish off the bench with 17 points and five rebounds, and Demetrius Jackson and Jerian Grant combined for 28 points.

Even in defeat, big man Jahlil Okafor demonstrated why so many think he will be the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft. He finished with 28 points and eight rebounds and was virtually the entire offense for the Blue Devils down the stretch. 

It looked like Notre Dame was going to blow Duke out when it seized a 15-point lead at intermission, but the Blue Devils adjusted their second-half strategy, as Laura Keeley of the Raleigh News & Observer pointed out:

As Duke gradually chipped away behind Okafor’s monster game, the intensity level increased and the crowd got into it. After all, the ACC tournament takes place in North Carolina, and a Duke victory would have ensured a matchup between the Blue Devils and Tar Heels in the championship game. 

David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune described the scene:

Duke had a chance to bring its supporters to its feet with less than two minutes remaining, but Okafor missed two critical free throws down 68-64. Instead of trailing by two, Duke was down by four and then gave up a back-breaking shot to Pat Connaughton with 1:15 left to stretch the lead to 70-64. 

Yahoo Sports’ Pat Forde pointed out that the Fighting Irish victory certainly sat well with some folks in attendance:

Next up for Notre Dame is a showdown with North Carolina in the championship tilt. The crowd will make it seem like a Tar Heels home game, but the Fighting Irish went into Chapel Hill and beat Marcus Paige and company during the regular season.

That contest came down to the final moments, and Notre Dame won 71-70. If there is a repeat showing in the ACC championship game, the fans will be the winners.