Duke reigned supreme at last year’s ACC tourney

By Bud L. Ellis

As the first weekend in February dawns, the Duke Blue Devils find themselves on top of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

That’s where the Devils sat after last year’s ACC tournament at the Georgia Dome.

Duke won last year’s tournament, downing Florida State in the title game 79-69 to capture its eighth conference championship in the past 11 years.

Georgia Tech opened the tournament with an upset of No. 17 ranked and fifth-seed Clemson on opening day, 86-81. The Seminoles would end Tech’s run in the quarterfinals, but Maryland was the story on day two of the tourney, upending second-seed and eighth-ranked Wake Forest, 75-64.

The other three top seeded teams – top-ranked North Carolina, Duke and Florida State – joined the Terps in the semifinals. FSU pulled the biggest upset of all, knocking off the Tar Heels 73-70 in the semis. Duke held off Maryland to set the stage for the championship game.

The Devils put three players on the all-tournament team: MVP Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Gerald Henderson.

This year’s ACC tournament will be at Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C., March 11-14.

—30—

Friday, February 5, 2010 at 10:09 pm by bud

Tags: Atlantic Coast Conference, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Dome, Georgia Tech, Gerald Henderson, Greensboro Coliseum, Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler, Maryland, North Carolina, Wake Forest