After the teams traded baskets on the final possessions, the Blue Devils sealed their spot at the finals of the ACC Tournament by converting on free throws.

Be sure to check back later today for more content (including the video of Dickie V dancing with Erin Andrews!)

Duke 74-67, 32.8 left in the second half

Scheyer was fouled on the inbounds play and made both shots from the line.

Miami then proceeded to make an off balance shot and went to the line but failed to convert on the and-one.

Duke 72-67, 32.8 left in the second half

A dunk by Julian Gamble brings Miami within five points of Duke.

A tweet by former Blue Devil Marty Pocious (@LTUmarty): “Meet your passes #Duke !!! Heard it all the way over in Lithuania. Strong voice, coach..”

Duke 72-65, 41.5 left in the second half

A foul by singler put grant back at the line. The Miami guard—again—converted on both shots.

Singler was fouled on the next possession and extended the lead to seven with two makes from the charity stripe.

In the game for Duke: Scheyer, Smith, Singler, Thomas and Zoubek

Duke 70-63, 50.4 remaining in the second half

Miami’s grant made two free throws to cut the lead to five. A long Duke possession—ending in a bucket by Smith—brought the lead back up to seven.

Duke 68-61, 1:33 left in the second half

Another shot clock violate for Duke. Miami ball with less than two minutes to play.

Duke 68-61, 1:58 left in the second half

A trap by Miami forced Jon Scheyer to turn the ball over while trying to toss it to Kyle Singler. The Hurricanes failed to capitalize on the possession, however, and Duke held on to its seven point lead.

Duke 66-58, 5:52 left in the second half

As Duke Blue Planet just pointed out on its Twitter, Duke has played much better today since Krzyzewski ditched the jacket. Check out the photo here.

Reggie Johnson of Miami just picked up his fourth foul of the game.

Duke 62-Miami 50, 10:29 left in the second half

Should Duke win the ACC Tournament, Kyle Singler looks like the obvious favorite for the player of the tournament. The junior has 23 points, six assists and five rebounds today after scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 boards in Duke’s game against Virginia yesterday.

Duke 53-42, 13:05 left in the second half.

Scheyer just followed a fast break layup with a three pointer that gives Duke an 11 point lead. The senior now has 11 points.

On the floor for Duke: Smith, Scheyer, Singler, Thomas and Zoubek

Duke 43-42, 15:14 left in the second half

Spotted in the crowd: the youngest Plumlee brother, Marshall. He is a 6-foot-11, four-star center and will graduate high school in 2011.

Singler has eight points in the first 4:46 of the second half and now has 18 points on the game. The junior is carrying the scoring load for the Blue Devils—Smith and Scheyer have combined for just seven points.

Duke 38, Miami 35, 18:58 left in the second half

Singler hit two three pointers in the first 62 seconds of the second half to give Duke a three point lead. Miami called a timeout.

Also, some notable first half stats:

• Duke made 43 percent of its shots on 13-for-30 shooting
• The Blue Devils outrebounded Miami 19 to 11. Duke had nine rebounds on the offensive end alone.
• 3-pointers have been hard to come by. The Blue Devils shot just 2-12 during the first half. Singler is the only player to have connected from longrange and made 2 of his 5 attempts. He leads the team with 10 points.

Miami 35-32, HALFTIME

After picking up his second foul immediately after the timeout bon a charging call, Dawkins was replaced by Nolan Smith. Soon after, Singler became the first player on either team to reach double digits.

The Duke bench just got called for the technical foul after protesting Nolan Smith’s travel call. Miami barely hit the rim on the first shot but converted on the second. Since that foul, the game has gotten noticeable more physical and Singler wrestled for a ball under the hoop on one possession.

Krzyzewski took off his jacked (woah!) after Smith got called for carry that prompted incredulous looks from the Duke bench. All of a sudden everything possible seems to be going wrong for Duke. The crowd is on its feet.

On their last possession of the half, the Hurricanes nailed a 3-pointer to give them a lead at the half.

We’ll be back in 15 minutes!

Duke 30-23, 3:34 left in the first half

The tape across the Blue Devil mascot’s head reads, “U Won’t Win” for Miami.

Immediately before the timeout, Andre Dawkins got blocked on a 3-point attempt. The freshman is having a bit of a tough time so far today and is scoreless on his three shot attempts.

Duke 21-14, 7:54 left in the first half

Updates on Duke’s foul trouble:

• Smith came back inwith 10:09 remaining on the clock and hasn’t picked up a foul since. He has four points so far today.
• Scheyer took a seat on the bench after picking up his second foul with over ten minutes remaining the half.
• Miles Plumlee picked up his second foul just before the timeout.

The Miami band is currently playing “We’re Not Going to Take It,” but only because they already played I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) by Pitbull during warmups.

Duke 15-9, 11:18 left in the first half

The Plumlee brothers are providing the crowd with some serious entertainment so far this half. Immediately out of the first timeout, Mason Plumlee delivered an alley-oop pass to Miles Plumlee.

Nolan Smith picked up his second foul in the half with 14:32. The Blue Devils will likely have to play without the guard for a good part of the first half. Andre Dawkins came in off the bench early to let Smith take a seat on the bench.

Nine Duke players have already logged minutes in today’s game. In addition to the starters, Ryan Kelly, Andre Dawkins, Miles Plumlee and Mason Plumlee have taken the floor.

Duke 8-7, 15:43 left in the first half Miami’s zone defense has proven difficult for the Blue Devils in the opening minutes. Multiple times, when Duke tried to get the ball into the post, the Hurricanes forced a turnover. Mason Plumlee earned the crowd’s loudest roar so far this game by completing an alley-oop delivered by Singler.

Pregame: We’re just minutes from tipoff in Greensboro, North Carolina as the Blue Devils will take on Miami in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. We’re sitting behind ESPN’s Dick Vitale, Dan Shulman and Erin Andrews. Highlight of the day so far: Vitale dancing with Andrews, which I managed to get on tape. Check back on the blog later today for the footage. Oh, and Howie Schwab from the show “Stump the Schwab” is making an appearance here today as well. Duke is favored by 11.5 points this afternoon and if it advances will face the winner of the Georgia Tech and N.C. State.

Starters for Duke: Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler, Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek

Starters for Miami: Julian Gamble, DeQuan Jones, Reggie Johnson, Durand Scott, James Dews

It isn’t as if Duke is the only team in that situation, however, as upsets have hit the Big-10 and Big East tournaments as well. West Virginia narrowly escaped an upset for the second straight night, narrowly beating Notre Dame, but most importantly the Mountaineers have not looked at all impressive in their two contests. Their offense has been atrocious at worst, and ugly at best, especially against two Bubble teams in the Big-East. While a win is a win, the case for the final No. 1 seed may come down to the “eye-test” and right now West Virginia isn’t looking too pretty. The Mountaineers still face a tough contest today versus a hot Georgetown team, and a loss could eliminate them from contention for that last top seed.

In the Big-10, the big news of the day was Minnesota’s upset of Michigan State, which actually could prove to have negative effects for the Blue Devils. If either Ohio State or Purdue wins the Big-10 tournament, either team would have a legitimate case for a top seed, whereas Michigan State had fallen out of that discussion. Now, Duke must rely on Minnesota to upset Purdue today (a possibility, considering one more win could propel the Golden Gophers into the NCAA Tournament), and hope a similar fate befalls Ohio State versus Illinois (as the Illini are another team fighting for their Tournament lives).

On a side note, I think it is safe to say that the ending of the Michigan vs. Ohio State game yesterday could be the best of Championship Week thus far. But I’m shocked that none of the talking heads on ESPN discussed the fact that, at least to my eye, Evan Turner’s fantastic buzzer-beating shot never should have happened. Look at the replay: you’ll see (if I’m not insane) that the clock doesn’t start until at least three or four milliseconds after Turner touches the ball.  That means he never should have had the time to get off his improbable shot, even if the Wolverines’ defense was atrocious on that final play. Just some food for thought.

Now that the slate of games is thinning as Championship Week comes to a close, I think it is pretty clear which games Duke fans will want to watch today: both Big-10 semifinals and the Big-East Championship. An upset in any of those contests would go a long way in securing Duke’s No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, especially now that the Blue Devils’ road to the ACC Title is much clearer with the plethora of upsets yesterday.

I’ll leave you with a preview of Duke’s showdown with Miami today, courtesy of Raycom (you’ll find it in the top-right corner of this page). I won’t be able to post tomorrow morning (I know you all were planning your day around it) because I’ll be flying back to Durham, but I’ll try to get something up before the Selection Show to offer my final predictions on Duke’s seed.

MBB_ACCTourney1_Ian – Images by Duke Student Publishing Co. Duke Chronicle

Duke 57-44, 2:32 remaining in the SECOND HALF: With lay-ups from Duke’s Big Three, the Blue Devils suddenly find themselves with a comfortable 13 point lead. Duke can now let the clock work to its advantage.

Duke 52-44, 4:19 remaining in the SECOND HALF: Virginia’s Farrakhan made it a two-point game with a three but Duke’s tough defense has kept the Cavs from scoring easily in the paint. Zoubek’s presence around the post has made it a lot tougher for the Virginia’s guards to drive to the basket, forcing them to take 3-point jumpers or tough lay-ups.

Duke 46-41, 6:38 remaining in the SECOND HALF: And it’s a 5-point game and Virginia’s ball after an offensive foul was called on Smith. Virginia’s Farrakhan makes it a

Duke 46-39, 7:40 remaining in the SECOND HALF: Duke briefly extended its lead to double-digits, but two layups and several missed shots by Duke, the Cavaliers were able to bring it back to a 7-point game. An offensive foul was called against Virginia’s Jontel Evans.

Duke 43-35, 12:13 remaining in the SECOND HALF: Duke is slowly pulling away here with a 10-2 run, with all 10 points coming from Singler. The Blue Devils’ strong defense has kept Virginia from getting easy baskets, and Singler just nailed a 3-pointer to make it an 8-point game.

Duke 35-33, 15:16 remaining in the SECOND HALF: We’re in for a close game ahead as the teams traded baskets in the opening minutes of the first half. Duke keeps its lead of 2 for now, but Virginia has tied the game 3 times already this half.

Duke 27-27, HALF TIME: Virginia’s Mike Scott’s two-point attempt from the baseline was perfectly balanced on the rim but rolled out to end the first half. Poor shooting from the Blue Devils this half as they shot 31% and Virginia was able to keep the game close shooting 33.3%. Duke’s only got 2 offensive rebounds and generally did not get as many second chance shots. Poor rebounding can be attributed to only 5 minutes of play from Brian Zoubek as he got quickly got two fouls early in the first half. Smith has 11, Scheyer has 8 and Singler adds 4 points to make up 23 of Duke’s 27 points. On the Virginia side, the Mike Scott came off the bench to lead the team with 10 points and Jeff Jones added 9, including two 3-pointers from the same corner on the baseline. Hopefully Duke will come out of the locker room with better offensive output.

Duke 27-27, 0:37 remaining in the FIRST HALF: We’re tied at 27 and it’s Virginia ball. Let’s see what the Cavs will do to round out the half.

Duke 27-25, 1:16 remaining in the FIRST HALF: Jeff Jones makes another 3-pointer from the same corner to make it a one-point game. After a foul on Lance Thomas, Virginia’s Mike Scott makes the two free throws and the Cavaliers took the lead for the first time this game. The teams traded leads for the next two possessions until Scheyer was fouled on a 3-point attempt and nails all three free throws to bring Duke’s lead back to 2.

Duke 20-16, 3:56 remaining in the FIRST HALF: Cav fans are getting on their feet here after Jeff Jones was foul as he made the Cav’s first 3-pointer and converted the free throw. But a 2-pointer by Miles Plumlee quickly put them back on their seats. Virginia is able to keep the game close due to the lack of offensive rebound output and second chance points from Duke’s big men, which grabbed only 1 offensive board so far this half.

Duke 14-8, 7:51 remaining in the FIRST HALF: Not much to report as both teams missed all of their free-throw attempts so far. Nothing spectacular as both teams are just shooting poorly.

Duke 12-6, 11:20 remaining in the FIRST HALF: Virginia made a short run to bring the score to 8-6 but the Blue Devils made two quick baskets to make it a 12-6 game. Otherwise, both teams are not shooting great with the Cavaliers making only 3-of-13 and the Blue Devils scoring on 5-of-15.

Duke 3-0, 15:45 remaining in the FIRST HALF: Scheyer finally nails a three but Smith missed another shot off an inbound-steal from the Cavs. Poor shooting from both sides as Virginia missed its first 5 shots.

Duke 0-0, 16:39 remaining in the FIRST HALF: Cold shooting starts for both teams as Smith and Scheyer missed several shots and the Cavaliers are kept cold by a block from Zoubek.

MORE PREGAME: We’re about 5 minutes away from tipoff here. Just a bit TMI for everyone out there: Duke is 30-15 overall at the Greensboro Coliseum and has won 10 of last 12 in Greensboro. The Blue Devils is seeded No. 1 in the ACC Tournament for the 17th time in school’s history. Duke is the defending champion here and has won the title 17 times.

PREGAME: We’re live here at he Greensboro Coliseum about 15 minutes before tipoff for No. 1 Duke’s matchup against the 9th-seeded Virginia in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. Virginia defeated No. 8 Boston College 68-62 last night. However, as Danny Vinik wrote in his preview, Duke handily beat Virginia 67-49 in an earlier match up this season. Expect the Blue Devils’ “Big Three” to lead Duke again this afternoon. Should the Blue Devils prevail, they will face either Virginia Tech or Miami tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.

Then, the hated Tar Heels played their best half of the season… and promptly reverted back into the North Carolina team we’ve all grown to love in the second half. Listening to the Mike Patrick and Len Elmore extol the Tar Heels’ effort in the first half was almost comical, especially when juxtaposed with the familiar lack thereof in the second half.  With the loss, the Tar Heels finish the year 16-and-16 (gasp!) and are now nervous about receiving their NIT bid.

But the nightcap was the only game that turned out sour for Blue Devils fans. In what was an overwhelmingly ugly game for 35 minutes, the last five minutes of Cincinnati vs. West Virginia almost made up for the earlier lackluster action. Down by seven with five minutes to go, the Bearcats’ Lance Stephenson took over the game, and singlehandedly brought Cincinnati back and tied the game. Cincinnati had a chance to win the game with six minutes to go, but seldom-used guard Dion Dixon dribbled the ball out of bounds with three seconds to go. That gave West Virginia its own chance to steal the game, and steal it they did, with Da’Sean Butler sinking a long, bank-shot three (over Stephenson, ironically) to win the game for the Mountaineers.

Now, had the Bearcats completed their miraculous comeback, that likely would have cemented Duke’s No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. With the Mountaineer victory, though, the Blue Devils still need to win the ACC Tournament to feel secure with that No. 1 seed (on SportsCenter this morning, Joe Lunardi stated he still thinks Duke will claim the No. 1 seed if both Duke and West Virginia win their conference tournaments).  Still, after the lackluster performance last night, West Virginia could have trouble again versus Notre Dame. Regardless, though, the Blue Devils can feel (somewhat) secure that they control their own destiny (according to some… really, what do we know at this point?)

My colleague Andy Moore already previewed Duke’s matchup with Virginia, which is now less than an hour away. So here are three other games the Duke Fan should watch today:

Michigan vs. Ohio State (12:00 p.m., ESPN):

There have been rumblings that Ohio State could jump in and steal a No. 1 seed if Duke and West Virginia find themselves victim to upsets, but Michigan could put an end to that talk with its own upset today. The Wolverines have been one of the most disappointing teams this season (can you believe they were ranked in the Top 20 at the start of the year?), but still have a lot of talent in Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims, plus some solid role players in three point shooters Stu Douglass and Zack Novack. Still, Michigan has no one that can match-up with Evan Turner, and as such the Wolverines’ only shot is if Douglass and Novack are hitting their three-pointers at an astounding rate.

Miami (FL) vs. Virginia Tech (2:00 p.m., ESPN 2):

Duke will face the winner of this contest, and for once Blue Devil fans may not want to root for the upset. A win over Virginia Tech would look much better on Duke’s resume than one over conference cellar-dweller Miami, especially since the Blue Devils’ only victory over the Hokies came at home this season. Regardless, Malcolm Delaney and the Hokies should be able to handle the Hurricanes.

Notre Dame vs. West Virginia (9:00 p.m., ESPN):

This game could end up being very similar to West Virginia’s close victory last night: an ugly game that goes down to the wire. The difference could be Luke Harangody, who has played well after returning from injury in the Big-East Tournament. After an atrocious offensive effort last night, I’m calling the upset here for the Irish: Notre Dame has more offensive talent than the Bearcats, so they should have a better shot at coming out victorious in a low-scoring game.

Two nights ago, coincidentally, Weber State lost to Montana in the Big Sky Conference final, behind a 42-point performance for the ages from Montana’s dishwasher-turned-superstar Anthony Johnson. (It’s not okay if you didn’t watch. Seriously, do not continue reading this blog post until you watch the highlight.) Unfortunately for Weber State, the Big Sky Conference regular season champions, that loss cost them a berth in the NCAA Tournament. However, due to a change in the NIT selection process prior to the 2006 season, any team that wins its conference in the regular season but fails to earn a place in the Big Dance is automatically selected for the NIT. So Weber State has that going for them, which is nice.

But here’s what’s also nice: Way back in 1999, a former JUCO player named Harold “The Show” Arceneaux turned in one of the most memorable performances in NCAA Tournament history as 14th-seeded Weber State upset third-seeded North Carolina. Arceneaux scored 20 of his 36 points in the second half, all while wearing a spectacular purple-accented 90s uniform.

Wouldn’t an NIT loss to Weber State just be the perfect end to UNC’s season?

Our friends at Raycom provided us with interviews and highlights from the Virginia-Boston College game. Be an advance scout for the Blue Devils by watching the video below. Do you think Duke is in for any trouble tomorrow?

Cincinnati freshman Lance Stephenson will be critical if the Bearcats are to upset West Virginia Thursday night.

Last year, the great Tim Britton took the lead as The Chronicle’s own “Bracketologist”, analyzing the impact of Conference Championship Week upsets on possible NCAA Tournament seeding, as well as predicting what seed Duke would receive. And while I can never purport to be as clairvoyant as Mr. Britton in that regard, I do know that the next four days will be crucial in Duke’s hunt for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tourney. Indeed, while ESPN’s Joe Lunardi currently has the Blue Devils projected as a No. 1 seed, SI.com’s Andy Glockner (who I chatted with earlier in the season) has bequeathed the final No. 1 seed to West Virginia over Duke. What’s more, ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb (remember him, un-athletic Dukies?) has stated numerous times on the ESPN rounds that he also feels the Mountaineers deserve the No. 1 seed over the Blue Devils.

Clearly, Duke’s position in March Madness this season is much less clear than it was last season, where despite winning the ACC Tournament Duke was all but guaranteed a No. 2 seed even before the tournament began, as North Carolina, UConn, Louisville, and Pittsburgh had all but sewn-up the No. 1 seeds even before Championship Week began.  As such, over the next few days I’ll preview the day’s most important games, both Duke-related and in general, in the morning, and return in the evening to put on my own “Bracketologist” hat and analyze the results.  (At least, that’s the plan).

So without further ado, here are the three games a Duke fan should watch amidst the Championship Week craziness on Thursday:

Virginia vs. Boston College (12:00 p.m., ESPN 360):

While not the sexiest matchup on paper, this game will determine Duke’s matchup on Friday. The Blue Devils likely won’t be intimidated by either foe (Duke annihilated Virginia on the road and beat Boston College twice this season), but I would think that if Sylven Landesberg is healthy for the Cavaliers (which he wasn’t in the teams’ previous meeting), Virginia could be the worse matchup for Duke. Landesberg is a player who can take over a game by himself, and Duke has had trouble with athletic guards at times this season (see: Hughes, Trevon and Freeman, Austin). Regardless, Landesberg likely isn’t at 100 percent yet, and as such I like the more balanced Eagles in this contest.

North Carolina vs. Georgia Tech (7:00 p.m., ESPN2):

Georgia Tech finds itself squarely on the bubble after a disappointing ACC season, but could cement its spot in the Tournament with a victory over the Tar Heels Thursday night. A Tar Heel loss would also mean North Carolina would finish the season at .500, a final blow to a disastrous season for the defending National Champions. Again, not the sexiest matchup per se, but for the typical Duke fan the possibility of watching the Tar Heels be humiliated one last time overshadows most else.

Cincinnati vs. West Virginia (9:00 p.m., ESPN):

An early exit from the Big-East Tournament could eliminate the Mountaineers from contention for the final No. 1 seed, and as last season showed anything can happen in the Big East Tournament (six overtimes, anyone?). And while West Virginia is clearly the superior team in this matchup, Cincinnati has momentum after upsetting Louisville last night. The victory placed the Bearcats squarely back on the bubble, and could leapfrog into the Tournament with the unlikely upset today. And however unlikely such an upset might be, West Virginia has some firepower of its own in freshman star Lance Stephenson, who leads the team in scoring with 12 points per game, and has the pure athletic ability to take over a game. Look for this game to be much more competitive than many expect, as Cincinnati has a lot to play for in this Thursday night showdown.

It happened to the Capel family, when Jason decided to stray from older brother Jeff’s footsteps when he committed to play basketball for the Tar Heels. More recently, it happened to the Paulus family, when younger brother Mike decided to play quarterback for North Carolina.

Photo courtesy of ESPN

And it happened again earlier this week when Amber Henson, a junior from Tampa, Florida, committed to play basketball for the Blue Devils. According to ESPN, she is the No. 1 ranked forward in her class.

Henson’s older brother, John, is currently a freshman forward for the North Carolina Tar Heels. Upon hearing of his sister’s commitment, he tweeted the following:

“Tried my hardest but, Congrats to my Sister on her commitment to dook….guess ill be making a few more trips over there than expected lol”

Alas, Scheyer came up short Tuesday morning when the conference announced that Greivis Vasquez of Maryland would take home the ACC Player of the Year honors, earning 39 votes to Scheyer’s 12.

Why?

Photo Courtesy of the Duke Chronicle.

Both Scheyer and Vasquez are similar in most respects, except for humility, where Vasquez is reportedly at a disadvantage. They play the same position, are both prolific scorers, and led their respective teams to share the ACC regular-season championship. In addition, they were both unanimous selections to the All-ACC First Team. But what sets them apart?

Perhaps it was a mere matter of statistics. Vasquez does have the edge on points (19.2), assists (6.3) and rebounds (4.6). However, the far more likely reasoning for Vasquez’s victory may be that he managed to do more with less.

While Scheyer was one of three players on the Blue Devil squad to lead his team into the national spotlight and win the ACC Regular Season Championship, Vasquez accomplished the same with a much less talented squad.

This fact is best exemplified in the All-ACC team selections, where Duke had three players represented on the first and second All-ACC teams, whereas Maryland only had one. In addition, Duke, unlike Maryland, is represented in the ACC All-Defensive team with senior Lance Thomas garnering 17 votes.

Indeed, Vasquez must have been instrumental in any success that Maryland had this season. Because of him, the Terrapins are ranked No. 19 and celebrated their first regular season championship in eight years.

Whatever the reason, Greivis will not have much time to celebrate, as he has to prepare his himself for the ACC Tournament this weekend in Greensboro. He will hope to lead Maryland to their first tournament victory since 2004, when the Terrapins beat Duke in an overtime thriller, 95-87.