Duke Takes ACC Crown for 17th Time!

Losing wasn’t an option for the Blue Devils when they arrived in Atlanta for the ACC Tournament on Thursday evening.

Tonight the team heads back home to Durham following their 79-69 win over Florida State in the ACC Championship game with their head held high.

“It’s a great day and we are really excited about have that taste,” senior Greg Paulus said. “We want to get more now.”

What the Blue Devils are after next is a run in the NCAA Tournament with Duke slated to go up against Binghamton in the opening round.

“Now we are starting a new season because it’s your one and done,” Kyle Singler said. “We have to keep the same mindset, stay healthy and whatever [momentum] we have now just carry over because we know we are playing good basketball.”

The Duke Blue Devils (28-6, 12-5) were crowned kings of the ACC for the eighth time in 11 years winning their first Conference Tournament since 2006.

“Night and day” is the way Lance Thomas described the difference between the Blue Devils previous two conference tournaments and this year’s.

“I feel like we underachieved last year,” Thomas said. “We had a way better mindset coming into this tournament. Losing wasn’t an option.”

Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Gerald Henderson each put together strong performances in the team’s three tournament games, each earning first team all-tournament honors.

But today’s game belonged to Scheyer, who led Duke with 29 points going 6-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-6 from three. He also managed to reach the free throw line 15 times connecting on 13 of his attempts while playing 38 minutes.

His final’s performance was good enough to net the junior guard the tournament’s MVP award.

“He had a heck of a tournament,” Greg Paulus said. “He did a great job for us and made big time plays.

It wasn’t surprising to see Scheyer play well throughout the tournament.

Since becoming the starting point guard the junior guard has averaged 19.1 points per game and 3.3 three-point field goals made per game over his last eight contests including the first two games of the ACC Tournament. He also has 19 assists, 14 steals and just eight turnovers during this stretch.

“He makes plays for himself and others,” Singler said. “That spot for us, when Jon has been there, has been huge for us.”

Duke and Scheyer has been steady with the basketball throughout the tournament committing just 11 turnovers as a team in the win over Maryland and 12 in the win over Boston College.

Today Duke committed their fewest turnovers of the season turning it over just four times. Scheyer committed just five in three ACC Tournament games running the offense.

The win today ties Duke with North Carolina for most ACC Tournament Championships all-time with 17 and most all-1time wins in the tournament with 84.
This was their 28th ACC Championship game all-time.

But for most of the current Duke players this was the first chance they have had to cut down the nets. Nolan Smith, who did his best Gerald Henderson impression in the first half throwing down a thundering dunk, said it took a moment for him to cut down his piece of the net during the victory celebration.

Singler had an easier time with the net.

“I won a lot of championships in high school so I had a lot of practice,” Singler said. “For the first time in college it feels good.”

In the first two games in ACC Tournament games Singler averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds. He scored 14 points today in the win, and played 40 minutes for the third straight game.

Henderson finally went off on the offensive end today scoring 27 points, after scoring 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting against Boston College and eight points on 3-of-14 shooting against Maryland.

Henderson, Scheyer and Singler all hit big shots in the first half during a stretch where the Blue Devils connected on five straight from 3s ending the first half shooting 7-of-14 from long range.

“Everyone was shooting the ball well,” Singler said. “It was big for us. It was a big confidence booster to see the ball go in the basket. We didn’t want to have the mindset that we were going to outscore them. We wanted to play defense for 40 minutes and I think that’s what won the game for us.”

Duke held the Seminoles without a field goal just over eight minutes in the first half.

Brian Zoubek play on the defensive end was crucial as the 7’1” center disrupted the play of the Florida State bigs inside after they were able to score a few buckets inside early.

“It’s hard for somebody to shoot over somebody who is 7’1” even if the other person is 7’1”,” Zoubek said.

“I think they got a little discouraged after that first blocked shot,” he added.

The Blue Devils will hope to discourage Binghamton in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. on Thursday.

“We have players that play as well as any players in the country,” Singler said. “We have a team, we have a coaching staff, and with that we are a very confident team.”