2018 ACC men's basketball tournament explained

Year:2018
Conference:ACC
Gender:Men's
Teams:15
Arena:Barclays Center
City:Brooklyn, New York
Champions:Virginia
Titlecount:3rd
Coach:Tony Bennett
Coachcount:2nd
Mvp:Kyle Guy
Mvpteam:Virginia
Attendance:82,390
Television:ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ACCN

The 2018 ACC men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Atlantic Coast Conference held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, from March 6 to 10, 2018. It was the 65th annual edition of the tournament, and the second year in a row being held at Barclays Center. The Virginia Cavaliers entered the tournament as the top seed, with a 17–1 conference record (28–2 overall) under the guidance of Tony Bennett. UVA also began the tournament unanimously ranked number 1 in the country in both major polls.

The Cavaliers defeated Louisville 75–58 and Clemson 64–58 to secure a place in the tournament championship game. They defeated North Carolina 71–63 in the championship game to become tournament champion. Sophomore guard Kyle Guy was named Tournament MVP. Games were shown on over-the-air television in local media markets by the syndicated ACCN and simulcast nationally on various ESPN cable networks.

Both the Virginia–North Carolina title game and Duke–North Carolina semifinal game set the Barclays Center attendance record for college basketball games, and conference leadership vowed to return the ACC Tournament to New York in the near future.[1] [2]

Seeds

All 15 ACC teams participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. The tournament was held over five consecutive days. Teams ranked 10–15 played on the first day; teams ranked 5–9 entered the bracket on the second day, with teams ranked 1–4 entering on the third day (quarterfinals). The semifinals were played on the fourth day, and the finals on the last day.[3]

SeedSchoolConference
Record
Tiebreaker
1Virginia17–1
2Duke13–5
3Miami11–72–1 vs Clem/NCST/UNC
4Clemson11–73–2 vs Miami/NCST/UNC
5NC State11–71–0 vs Duke
6North Carolina11–71–1 vs Duke
7Virginia Tech10–8
8Florida State9–93–3 vs Miami/Clem/NCST/UNC
9Louisville9–90–4 vs Miami/Clem/NCST/UNC
10Notre Dame8–101–0 vs Syracuse
11Syracuse8–100–1 vs ND
12Boston College7–11
13Georgia Tech6–12
14Wake Forest4–14
15Pittsburgh0–18

Schedule

All games were televised on the ACC Network within the ACC footprint and simulcast nationally on the ESPN networks denoted below.

SessionGameTimeMatchupScoreTelevisionAttendance
First round – Tuesday, March 6
Opening day112:00 pm12 Boston College vs 13 Georgia Tech87–77ESPN210,612[4]
22:00 pm10 Notre Dame vs 15 Pittsburgh67–64
37:00 pm11 Syracuse vs 14 Wake Forest73–64ESPNU
Second round – Wednesday, March 7
1412:00 pm8 Florida State vs 9 Louisville74–82ESPN17,732[5]
52:30 pm5 NC State vs 12 Boston College87–91
267:00 pm7 Virginia Tech vs 10 Notre Dame65–71ESPN2
79:30 pm6 North Carolina vs 11 Syracuse78–59
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 8
3812:00 pm1 Virginia vs 9 Louisville75–58ESPN17,732[6]
92:00 pm4 Clemson vs 12 Boston College90–82
4107:00 pm2 Duke vs 10 Notre Dame88–70
119:00 pm3 Miami vs 6 North Carolina 65–82
Semifinals – Friday, March 9
5127:00 pm1 Virginia vs 4 Clemson64–58ESPN218,157[7]
139:00 pm2 Duke vs 6 North Carolina69–74ESPN
Championship – Saturday, March 10
6148:30 pm1 Virginia vs 6 North Carolina 71–63ESPN18,157[8]
Game times in ET. Rankings denote tournament seed.

Bracket

[9]

Game summaries

First round

Three games were played in the first round. In all three, the higher seed advanced.

In the first game, the 12-seed Boston College Eagles took on the 13-seed Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Boston College got out to a ten-point lead at halftime. They opened the second half on a 15–5 run, bringing their lead to 20 with under 14 minutes to play. A late flurry of scoring by Georgia Tech reduced the Eagles' lead to 6 with only 45 seconds remaining, but BC hit four free throws at the end of the game, ending the chance of a Yellow Jacket comeback. Georgia Tech's Tadric Jackson led all scorers with 29 points in the losing effort.[10]

The second game featured the 10-seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish against the 15-seed Pittsburgh Panthers. The game looked to be one of the biggest mismatches in the tournament, with Notre Dame likely post-season bound with a 20-win season and Pittsburgh entering the tournament having lost every conference game and sporting a woeful 8–24 record. Instead, the two teams played the closest game of the first round, with Notre Dame clinging to a two-point lead with less than a minute remaining; however a controversial loose-ball foul against Pitt's Marcus Carr followed by a turnover by Carr allowed Notre Dame to preserve their lead and close out the game 67–64. Carr's late game mistakes were ironic as his three-pointer was the one that cut the Notre Dame lead to two, and he scored 18 in the game, tied with Jared Wilson-Frame to lead the Panthers in scoring. Notre Dame's Bonzie Colson led all scorers with 19.[11]

The last game of the day featured the 11-seed Syracuse Orange versus the 14-seed Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Syracuse was playing with a short bench, as several injuries limited their ability to substitute. Despite leading by 19 with under eight minutes to play, the wear on Syracuse's starters showed, as they played all but the last 32 seconds of the second half, and that substitution was forced by Tyus Battle's fifth foul of the game. The Demon Deacons had cut the lead to six with fresher legs, but the Orange held on to win 73–64. Wake Forest's Bryant Crawford led all scoring with 22 points.[12]

Championship

Awards and honors

Tournament MVP: Kyle Guy

All-Tournament Teams:[13]

First Team

Second Team

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://augustafreepress.com/virginia-wins-third-acc-tournament-title-hoos-defeats-unc-71-63/ Virginia wins third ACC Tournament title: ‘Hoos defeats UNC, 71-63
  2. http://www.nydailynews.com/newswires/sports/acc-loves-nyc-expect-tournament-back-brooklyn-article-1.3865683 ACC loves NYC: Expect tournament to be back in Brooklyn
  3. Web site: Bracket Set For 2018 New York Life ACC Tournament. theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. March 3, 2018. March 5, 2018.
  4. Web site: Official Basketball Box Score Game Totals Final Statistics Syracuse vs Wake Forest. theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. March 6, 2018. March 7, 2018.
  5. Web site: Official Basketball Box Score Game Totals Final Statistics Syracuse vs North Carolina. theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. March 7, 2018. March 8, 2018.
  6. Web site: Official Basketball Box Score Game Totals Final Statistics Boston College vs Clemson. theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. March 8, 2018. March 9, 2018.
  7. Web site: Official Basketball Box Score Game Totals Final Statistics North Carolina vs Duke. theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. March 9, 2018. March 10, 2018.
  8. Web site: Official Basketball Box Score Game Totals Final Statistics North Carolina vs Virginia. theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. March 10, 2018. March 11, 2018.
  9. Web site: 2018 New York Life ACC Tournament. theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. March 5, 2018.
  10. Web site: Eagles Soar in ACC Tournament Opener. TheACC.com. 9 March 2018.
  11. Web site: Irish Sweat, but Push Past Pitt. TheACC.com. 9 March 2018.
  12. Web site: Orange Down Deacs in First Round. TheACC.com. 9 March 2018.
  13. Web site: Cavaliers’ Ride Continues With ACC Tourney Title. theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. March 10, 2018. March 11, 2018.