ACC Tournament 2016: Semifinals Scores, Championship Bracket and Schedule

The 2016 ACC men's basketball tournament resumed Friday evening in Washington, D.C., with a pair of semifinal showdowns featuring the conference's top four seeds.

A clash between the No. 1-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels and No. 4-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish headlined the early proceedings, while the late contest saw the No. 2 Virginia Cavaliers and No. 3 Miami Hurricanes square off for a spot in Saturday's title game—which is slated to tip off at 9 p.m. ET. 

Here's a look at Friday's final scores: 

Matchup	Result/Start Time (ET)
No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 4 Notre Dame	UNC def. ND, 78-47
No. 2 Virginia vs. No. 3 Miami	UVA def. UM, 73-68

North Carolina Thrashes Notre Dame, 78-47

If the Tar Heels can replicate the performance they generated against the Fighting Irish on Friday night, they'll enter the NCAA tournament as one of college basketball's most feared teams. 

In their most dominant display in weeks, the Tar Heels kept the Irish at bay thanks to lockdown defense, the revival of Marcus Paige and dominance on the offensive glass. As a result of their performance, the Tar Heels secured the most lopsided semifinal victory in ACC tournament history, per the Daily Press' David Teel.

In the 78-47 win at Verizon Center, Paige dropped 16 points and doled out seven assists while shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point range to break out of a prolonged shooting slump. 

Andrew Carter of the News & Observer noted Paige was feeling it early and often: 

With Paige humming from the start, North Carolina was able to attack Notre Dame both inside and out en route to building a 19-point halftime lead thanks to an 18-0 run in the final six minutes of the opening frame.

Along with Paige, guard Joel Berry II helped pace North Carolina's offense with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while bigs Brice Johnson (12 points), Kennedy Meeks (seven points) and Isaiah Hicks (11 points) made steady contributions in the paint. 

But beyond finishing around the rim, UNC's primary frontcourt bodies did a solid job of attacking the offensive glass to secure second-chance opportunities as the Tar Heels posted a 19-7 edge in offensive rebounding.

Carolina's big story, though, was its dominance on defense.

Notre Dame entered Friday night averaging 76.6 points per game while shooting 47.6 percent from the field, which ranked 23rd in the nation, per TeamRankings.com, but UNC stymied Notre Dame by making strong rotations and forcing several contested looks in the half court. 

The News & Observer's Luke DeCock noted the Irish regressed on offense at an inopportune time: 

Notre Dame shot 30.0 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from three as Steve Vasturia went scoreless, and just two players (Bonzie Colson and V.J. Beachem) finished in double figures.

Friday night's effort should be the template for North Carolina moving forward as it seeks to lock up the conference title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. 

While the Tar Heels have struggled shooting all season long—ranking 308th nationally in three-point percentage—their length, size and experience have proved to be capable of masking the team's flaws. 

If it can repeatedly thrust that formula into action as the month progresses, North Carolina will be a threat to reach the Final Four in Houston.

Postgame Reaction

According to InsideCarolina, head coach Roy Williams pointed to the Tar Heels' past failures against Notre Dame as a way to motivate his team: 

DeCock added that both Johnson and Paige were both quite pleased with the big man's defensive effort: 

"I thought their defense, from what I watched, was a different level than I've seen all season," Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said, per DeCock. 

Virginia Outlasts Miami, 73-68

The University of Virginia secured its second ACC title game appearance in the past three years Friday night with a 73-68 win over the University of Miami.  

In what amounted to a wire-to-wire effort that included some tense moments for the Cavaliers, UVA was able to stave off the Hurricanes thanks to stability provided by Malcolm Brogdon, who looked like a player ready to be recognized for an outstanding season, according to ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman: 

Brogdon finished with 24 points on 6-of-15 shooting to lead all scorers, while London Perrantes added 11 points three assists and two steals in the win. 

And while Miami shot a superior 54.8 percent from the field and 50 percent from three—Virginia shot 52 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from distance—16 turnovers doomed the Hurricanes as they struggled to maintain consistency against the nation's top-ranked scoring defense, according to TeamRankings.com. 

Virginia controlled tempo throughout the first half and pushed its lead to as many as 11 points, but Miami did well and withstood several runs by the Cavaliers to stay within striking distance. 

Although Brogdon and Co. knocked down shots at a 54 percent clip throughout the first half, Miami's defense hunkered down and helped fuel a 6-0 run to close out the first half. 

Virginia's lead ultimately wound up oscillating between four and six points for much of the second half, as Miami found more success on offense, but Brogdon took the reins and pushed the Cavaliers over the edge, as Virginia set up an ACC title date with North Carolina. 

Not only did the win represent a nice bounce-back performance for a Virginia team that lost to Miami, 64-61, on Feb. 22, but it pushed the ACC power closer to locking up a No. 1 seed with an intriguing showdown looming, as the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore noted: 

However, any lingering doubt can be removed from the equation if the Cavaliers show up with a similar effort tomorrow against the Tar Heels—whom Virginia defeated, 79-74, in Charlottesville on Feb. 27. 

North Carolina may be coming off its best performance of the season, but Virginia proved just a couple of weeks ago that it knows how to neutralize the Tar Heels' length and size advantages for stretches. 

"It’ll be the clash of the different styles, but we’ll be ready," Perrantes said, per the Richmond Times-Dispatch's Mike Barber. 

Postgame Reaction

"I really liked how our guys fought and battled," Virginia head coach Tony Bennett said, according to the David Glenn Show on Twitter. "I asked them to have warrior-type mentality for this game. They did."

"We threw some passes that I think were 100 mph today," Miami head coach Jim Larranaga said, per the David Glenn Show. "We needed to remember what John Wooden said: Be quick, but don't hurry."

"We have the right kind of guys, and they play the right way," Bennett added, per the David Glenn Show. "We just try to do it the right way."