A Matt Jones three-pointer with 48 seconds left keyed a 10-4 game-closing run lifting Duke to a 75-69 win over Notre Dame for the 2017 ACC Tournament championship Saturday night in Brooklyn.
The Blue Devils (26-8, 15-7 ACC) became the first team to win an ACC Tournament title with four wins in four days and the first #5 seed to win a tournament championship.
Two free throws by Matt Farrell with 1:15 to go cut the Duke lead to 68-67. Jones got the ball on the right wing with three seconds on the shot clock and drained the shot, putting Duke up four.
A V.J. Beachem dunk with 32.1 seconds left cut the lead back to two. Notre Dame (26-9, 14-7 ACC), trying to foul to put Duke on the line, surrendered a breakaway dunk by Jayson Tatum, who was fouled on the play and converted the old-fashioned three-point play to push the margin to five.
Farrell turned the ball over trying to drive to the basket at the 16-second mark. Luke Kennard hit the first of two free throws to give the Blue Devils a six-point lead, and the Irish missed two three-pointers in the final seconds as the clock ran out.
Duke led by as many as nine points in the first half, but Notre Dame pulled to within four at the break, trailing 38-34 despite shooting just 39.4 percent from the floor.
Notre Dame stayed in the game largely due to its efficiency in turning Duke turnovers into points. The Blue Devils had 12 turnovers on the game, which the Irish converted into a 20-5 advantage in points off turnovers.
Notre Dame opened the second half on an extended 22-10 scoring run to go up 56-48 on a Beachem dunk with 11:35 to go.
The Irish had two chances to push the margin to double digits, but failed to convert, and Duke got back into the game with a 15-4 run over a 6:40 stretch to go up 63-60 with 4:55 to go on a Kennard short jumper.
A three-point jumper by Bonzie Colson with 2:27 to go tied the game at 65. Tatum converted the second of a two-shot foul with 2:02 to go to put Duke up one, and then Tatum scored on a hard drive to the basket with 1:35 left to put Duke up three, setting up the game’s final sequence.
Colson had 29 points on 12-of-21 shooting and nine rebounds for Notre Dame. Beachem had 15 points, and Farrell had 13 points and seven assists.
Tatum had 19 points and eight rebounds to lead Duke, which also got 16 points from Kennard, named the tournament MVP.
Amile Jefferson had 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field. Grayson Allen chipped in 10 points.
Tatum joined Kennard on the All-Tournament Team, along with Colson and Farrell from Notre Dame, and Isaiah Hicks from North Carolina, which lost to Duke in the semifinals on Friday night.
Allen, Jefferson and Frank Jackson headed up the All-Tournament Second Team, along with Steve Vasturia from Notre Dame and Zach LeDay from Virginia Tech.
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