ACC Tournament Recap

May 2, 2014

ACC Tournament Recap

The Atlantic Coast Conference has been holding an end of the season tournament since 1954 in order to crown a conference champion. The ACC also crowns a regular season champion, the team that holds the best conference record at the end of the regular season, even though, the term “conference champions” is coined to the team who wins the tournament. Since 1961, Duke has won a grand total 19 times, while UNC is second with 17 wins.

This year was the league’s 60th annual tournament and provided the public with great moments. All teams in the conference are eligible to compete in the tournament. Based on how the teams finish in conference play, they are seeded accordingly. Virginia finished 16-2 in conference play, which earned them the first seed in the tournament. The format of the tournament resulted in 9 teams being able to receive a first round bye.

In the quarterfinals, seventh seeded NC State provided the public with an upset over second seeded Syracuse. The Orange struggled from the floor, shooting only 32.7 percent and converting only four threes, out of 17 shot. State also struggled throughout the game in shooting, so it was a defensive battle all night long. State led by 10 points with 11 minutes left in the game. Syracuse mounted a 19-7 run to go up by two around the four minute mark. Ralston Turner, guard for NC State, made a three off the glass to pull ahead 62-59. Although Syracuse had their chances down the road of the final seconds, they could not convert. NC State won 66-63 to advance to the semifinals. TJ Warren led State past Syracuse by leading them in three major stat categories: points(28), rebounds(8) and blocks(2).

“Warren put on a show. He truly is amazing and I love to watch him play even though I am not a State fan,” said Peyton Elder, junior.

“State beating Cuse brought a sense of pride to Raleigh,” said Jake Tully, junior.

In order to advance to the championship game, Virginia had to get past Pittsburgh. In the quarterfinals, Pittsburgh provided an upset over UNC. This caught the eye of Virginia’s team. Even though Pitt had just pulled off the upset, they wouldn’t go 2-2 on upsets. Virginia shot 10 percent better from the floor then Pittsburgh, going 21-45, whereas Pittsburgh shot 18-49 from the floor. Joe Harris led the Virginia Cavaliers in team scoring with 12 points and Lamar Patterson led the Pittsburgh Panthers with 15 points. In the final seconds of the game, James Robinson drove down the lane and converted a contact layup to pull within 1 point of Virginia, 49-48. Despite the contact, no foul was called, which made the game controversial.

The championship game was set and it grabbed many peoples attention. The first seeded Virginia Cavaliers played the third seeded Duke Blue Devils. Jabari Parker, Duke’s all-star freshman, was more than ready to capture his first ACC title, but Joe Harris and Virginia had some other plans for Parker. Virginia had been known all season to keep opponents offenses from scoring more than they normally do. Virginia prevailed over Duke 72-63.

Joe Harris from UVA was named MVP of the tournament. This was Virginia’s second win. Their first win dated back all the way to 1976. Next year the ACC will add Louisville to the conference and drop Maryland. Maryland won three tournaments in their tenure.