Blue Devils Claims 17th ACC Title (Photo: AP) |
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| Duke University 2008-09 |
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Duke is back in a familiar position: champion of the Atlantic Coast
Conference.
The No. 9 Blue Devils swamped Florida State with a barrage of 3-pointers on the
way to a 79-69 victory in the title game Sunday, giving Duke its ninth ACC crown
in 12 years.
Jon
Scheyer (6'5''-G-87) scored 29 points,
Gerald Henderson (6'4''-G/F-87) had 27 and the Blue Devils (28-6) turned in
one of its most complete performances of the season to keep their Tobacco Road
heirloom from heading down to the Sunshine State. It couldn't have come at a
better time, with NCAA bids going out later Sunday.
How complete? Duke had more steals (five) than turnovers (four), outrebounded
the taller, bulkier Seminoles 35-34 and buried Florida State with a 12-of-25
showing from beyond the arc.
Toney
Douglas (6'1''-G-86) led the No. 22 Seminoles (25-9) with 28 points but that
wasn't nearly enough to give the school its first ACC championship. Florida
State will have to be content with knocking off top-ranked North Carolina in the
semifinals and earning its first NCAA bid since 1998.
Duke's
Mike Krzyzewski , following up his gold-medal triumph as coach of the U.S.
Olympic team, captured the 11th conference championship of his career. Now he'll
turn his attention to the quest for a fourth national title.
The Blue Devils put this one away early. After Douglas hit a 3-pointer to give
Florida State its final lead, 11-9, Duke ripped off 14 points in a row-- all but
two of them coming from long range.
Henderson worked off a pick and sank a 3-pointer, then
Kyle
Singler (6'8''-F-88) hit three straight treys to complete the run. He
swished one out of the corner and came off a screen for a wide-open look from
the top of the key that gave the Blue Devils a 23-11 lead.
Duke was up 35-21 at halftime, taking advantage of miserable shooting (5 of 23)
by a Florida State team that had won two down-to-the wire games to get to the
championship, but suddenly looked out of place.
Coming off a 73-70 upset of North Carolina, the Seminoles turned it over 13
times and only a late shooting blitz kept it from being a total blowout. Douglas
was basically a one-man show, though
Chris
Singleton (6'9''-F-89) did chip in with 15 points.
Florida State made a brief spurt in the second half, closing the gap to 42-36
when
Ryan Reid (6'8''-F-86) laid it in with just over 12 minutes remaining,
prompting Duke to call a timeout.
But the Blue Devils, who shot more 3-pointers than any team in the ACC, turned
to a familiar weapon to finish off the Seminoles. Scheyer hit a
momentum-breaking 3, then got knocked to the court by
Derwin Kitchen (6'4''-G) while putting up another shot beyond the arc. He
sank all three free throws, stretching the lead back to 48-38.
From there, Duke pulled away. Singler came up with a steal, and
Nolan
Smith (6'2''-G-88) made a floater in the lane. After Duke snatched an
offensive rebound, Henderson buried a 3 from the corner. Smith threaded a
brilliant pass to Henderson for a dunk, Scheyer flipped in a no-look shot after
turning his back to the basket on a drive, then Singler and Scheyer made
back-to-back treys to give the Blue Devils their biggest lead, 65-43, with 6 1/2
minutes to go.
As an added bonus to winning an ACC title after North Carolina was sent packing,
Duke pulled even with the Tar Heels for the most wins in ACC tournament history.
Both schools have 84.
Courtesy of ACC
Tournament Final: Duke - Florida St. 79-69
Tournament Semifinals:
N.Carolina - Florida St. 70-73
Duke - Maryland 67-61
ACC All-Tournament MVP:
Jon
Scheyer of Duke
| All-ACC 1st Team 2008-09 |
Lawson |
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Henderson |
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Douglas |
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Hansbrough |
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McClinton |
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All-ACC 1st Team
Tyler
Hansbrough (6'9''-F-85) of North Carolina
Toney
Douglas of Florida State
Ty
Lawson (5'11''-G-87) of North Carolina
Gerald Henderson of Duke
Jack
McClinton (6'1''-G-85) of Miami
All-ACC 2nd Team
Jeff
Teague (6'2''-G-88) of Wake Forest
Trevor Booker (6'7''-F/C-87) of Clemson
Tyrese
Rice (6'1''-G-87) of Boston College
Kyle
Singler of Duke
Greivis Vasquez (6'6''-G-87) of Maryland
All-ACC 3rd Team
James
Johnson (6'9''-F-87) of Wake Forest
Malcolm Delaney (6'3''-G-89) of Virginia Tech
A.D.
Vassallo (6'6''-G/F-86) of Virginia Tech
Danny
Green (6'6''-F/G-87) of North Carolina
Gani
Lawal (6'8''-F-88) of Georgia Tech
All-ACC Honorable Mention
Wayne Ellington of North Carolina
K.C. Rivers of Clemson
Sylven Landesberg (6'6''-G-90) of Virginia
ACC All-Freshman Team
Sylven Landesberg of Virginia
Al-Farouq Aminu of Wake Forest
Iman
Shumpert (6'4''-G) of Georgia Tech
Solomon Alabi (7'1''-C-88) of Florida State
Ed
Davis (6'10''-F-89) of North Carolina
ACC All-Freshman Honorable Mention
Chris
Singleton of Florida State
ACC All-Defensive Team
Trevor Booker of Clemson
Toney
Douglas of Florida State
Solomon Alabi of Florida State
Danny
Green of North Carolina
L.D. Williams of Wake Forest
ACC All-Defensive Honorable Mention
Ty
Lawson of North Carolina
Gani
Lawal of Georgia Tech
Courtney Fells (6'6''-G-86) of North Carolina State
Gerald Henderson of Duke
ACC All-Academic Team
Jack
McClinton of Miami
Jerome Meyinsse (6'8''-F/C) of Virginia
Greg
Paulus (6'1''-G-86) of Duke
Tanner Smith (6'5''-G/F) of Clemson
Tunji
Soroye (6'11''-C-84) of Virginia
Johnny Thomas (6'5''-G/F) of NC State
Tyler
Zeller (7'0''-C-90) of North Carolina
Brian
Zoubek (7'1''-C-88) of Duke
ACC Player of the Year:
Ty
Lawson of North Carolina
ACC Defensive Player of the Year:
Toney
Douglas of Florida State
ACC Rookie of the Year:
Sylven Landesberg of Virginia
ACC Coach of the Year:
Leonard
Hamilton of Florida St.
Krzyzewski
