Duke Basketball: Blue Devils defeat Florida State, win ACC Championship

The Duke Basketball team won the ACC Tournament Championship after downing the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday night.

One banner down, one banner to go.

The 2018-19 Duke Blue Devils are the ACC Tournament Champions!

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It was a slow start by the Blue Devils, trailing by as many as eight points in the first half, but battled back to tie the game at halftime and then used a vintage second half run to create separation and held the Seminoles at bay for the remainder of the game.

The win secured ACC Championship No. 21 for the Duke Basketball program, the most in ACC History.

The Blue Devils were led by 21 points from Zion Williamson who was named as the tournament’s MVP. Zion also had five rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and a steal.

Williamson was named to the All-ACC Tournament First Team along with teammate R.J. Barrett.

In the Championship Game, Barrett finished with 17 points, nine rebounds, one assist, and four steals.

Tre Jones was the lone Blue Devil to be named to the All-ACC Tournament Second Team as he finished with 18, four rebounds, six assists, and a steal.

Jones was electric in the second half, reminding fans of his brother Tyus, for how clutch he was late in the season at the end of games. In the final 20 minutes, Jones was six of eight from the floor, with one bank shot late in the game, which looked to be the dagger.

However, with 1:26 left, the Florida State killer, Cam Reddish, launched a wing 3-pointer, and after struggling for a majority of the tournament, Reddish’s shot went all around the rim, hit the backboard, and rolled in, giving Duke a 70-58 lead.

Cam Reddish also hit the game winning shot at Florida State in the regular season with a wing 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Tonight, Reddish finished the game with 11 points and six rebounds.

Despite only scoring six points, Javin DeLaurier was working so hard on the glass tonight, coming away with seven rebounds, three offensive, along with an assist, two steals, and a block.

Duke once again struggled from the perimeter, missing twelve of its fourteen 3-point attempts, but still found a way to win the game by 10 points.

Along with its 3-point shooting, the only other concern for the Blue Devils was Jack White going to the bench late in the second half and heading to the locker room. White did not return to the game, but he did return to the bench and take part in the post game celebration.

Duke is now 29-5 on the season and might have well locked up the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Blue Devils will find out its fate tomorrow, March 17, at 6:00pm ET when the NCAA Tournament Selection Show airs on CBS.

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