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Clemson holds off furious 2nd half rally from No. 19 North Carolina to win 80-79 in ACC Tournament

By The Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Nick Davidson scored 17 points, and Clemson nearly allowed an 18-point second-half lead to slip away before holding on to beat No. 19 North Carolina 80-79 on Thursday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

Dillon Hunter had 14 points and went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final minute for the Tigers (24-9), who had six players finish in double figures in scoring.

Henri Veesaar had a mammoth game for the Tar Heels with 28 points and 17 rebounds, while Derek Dixon finished with 16 points including three late 3s to help North Carolina (24-8) climb back into the game.

The Tigers seemed ready to cruise into the semifinals after building an 18-point lead with 11:36 left before the Tar Heels came storming back to cut the lead to 78-76 with 13 seconds left behind a barrage of 3-pointers from Veesaar and Dixon.

Hunter made two free throws with 11.1 seconds left to make it a two-possession game before Dixon added yet another 3 with 3 seconds left.

The Tar Heels fouled Davidson, who missed both free throws with 2.4 seconds. North Carolina’s Jarin Stevenson’s grabbed the rebound, but with the Tar Heels out of timeouts he was forced to heave the ball from three-quarters court and it fell well short.

Clemson shot 9 of 19 from beyond the 3-point line with Davidson a perfect 4-for-4.

The Tar Heels struggled to hit shots all night until the 3s started falling late. Dixon made three 3s and Veesaar two in the final 2:28.

Clemson announced before the game that forward Carter Welling suffered a torn ACL in his right knee in Wednesday’s second-round win against Wake Forest when he collapsed to the court.

Up next

Clemson: Moves on to Friday night’s semifinals against No. 1 Duke, which beat Florida State 80-79 after the Seminoles missed a 3-pointer to win it at the buzzer.

North Carolina: Will await NCAA Tournament seeding.

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ACC backs Duke’s TV deal with Amazon, calling it innovative despite Big Ten pushback

By The Associated Press
AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. (AP) — At a time when college athletic departments are desperately looking for new revenue sources, Duke “came up with something creative” and landed a three-game deal with streaming giant Amazon, Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner Jim Phillips said. Phillips praised the Blue Devils for working with ACC television partner ESPN to secure a first-of-its-kind contract that could set a precedent for future cash grabs around the league and maybe the country. “If there’s other opportunities that are out there that schools bring forward, we’ll look at it,” Phillips said Wednesday while wrapping up the league’s three-day spring meetings inside a posh resort in northeast Florida. “I think it’s innovative by Duke.” Phillips offered some insight into how the deal came together and said negotiations never undermined the ACC’s current TV contracts. Duke agreed to future scheduling commitments with ESPN in exchange for the three games on Amazon Prime Video.
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