No one can make faces like Jon Scheyer.No one on Duke's team will argue that DeMarcus Nelson is the most vocal leader.
The senior captain isn't exactly a rah-rah type of guy.
But late in the second half of Friday's ACC Tournament quarterfinal against Georgia Tech, Nelson was at his best, recapturing his teammates' attention after the Yellow Jackets trimmed a 20-point Duke lead to two.
Nelson's words and actions resulted in an 82-70 Duke victory that vaulted the Blue Devils into Saturday's second semifinal against either Clemson or Boston College.
The game is scheduled to tip at approximately 4 p.m.
When Georgia Tech cut the Devils' lead to 52-50 with 13:37 remaining on a Lewis Clinch jumper, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski called timeout.
In the huddle, Nelson took over.
"He just said, like, 'It's time to man up, you know, you either win or you go home,'" Lance Thomas said. "And the feeling we had last year at this tournament, losing in the first round to N.C. State, we vow that we're not going to feel that again and we're not going to allow ourselves to be put in that position.
"So, you know, bringing that back up and basically asserting himself in that huddle was very big for us."
Nelson finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and a career-high seven assists.
Jon Scheyer led the Devils with 18 points off the bench, including a 10-for-11 performance from the free-throw line.
Greg Paulus scored 13 points, Gerald Henderson added 12 and Thomas chipped in with 10.
After the timeout, Duke scored six consecutive points to make the score 58-50. The big play was a steal by freshman Kyle Singler, who passed to Nelson for a 3-pointer that made it 58-50. GT never threatened again.
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