GREENSBORO, N.C. — Kyle Filipowski had 17 points and 11 rebounds, Jeremy Roach hit a huge 3-pointer at the 1:32 mark and No. 21 Duke held off No. 14 Miami 85-78 in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals on Friday night.
Roach's 3 from the left wing over Isaiah Wong with the shot clock going down proved to be the biggest shot, giving Duke a 78-71 lead that Miami couldn't overcome in a well-played matchup that often resembled a second-weekend NCAA tournament game.
The fourth-seeded Blue Devils (25-8) did enough late to stay in control, closing out their eighth straight win and earning their 17th trip to the title game in the past 25 tournaments.
This one comes in the debut run of first-year coach Jon Scheyer, who replaced retired Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski and has Duke within a win of another title.
Tyrese Proctor hit two free throws with 9.8 seconds left, and Filipowski rebounded Wong's last-ditch 3-pointer to start Duke's celebration. Proctor raised his arms and motioned to the home-state crowd for more noise.
Wong had 22 points to lead the top-seeded Hurricanes (25-7), who suffered an immediate blow by losing starting forward Norchad Omier to an ankle injury just 66 seconds into the game.
Miami shot 46.8% for the game, with Wong and Jordan Miller (17 points) leading the attack.
Both teams had five players in double figures, with Duke getting 16 points from Dariq Whitehead and 15 from Proctor. The Blue Devils shot 54.9% a day after a season-best offensive output in a quarterfinal rout of Pittsburgh, including 8 of 16 from 3-point range.
