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University of Louisville
25-8
Duke
24-8
Cardinals Fall to Duke in ACC Quarterfinals, 81-77
March 09, 2017 | Men's Basketball
Deng Adel leads Louisville with 21 points
NEW YORK (AP) -- Jayson Tatum scored 25 points and Grayson Allen provided an emotional lift during a second-half comeback as No. 14 Duke beat No. 10 Louisville 81-77 Thursday to setup a semifinal match with North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
The fifth-seeded Blue Devils (25-8) will play No. 1 seed North Carolina for the third time this season on Friday night at Barclays Center.
Deng Adel scored 21 points for fourth-seeded Louisville (24-8), which led by a dozen with 13 minutes left but struggled from the free-throw (15 for 26) and 3-point lines (4 for 21). Still, the Cardinals had a chance to tie it late, but Quentin Snider missed a shot with 4 seconds left as he leaned into a defender trying to draw contact.
Allen scored 18 points, his best outing in a month, and ACC leading scorer Luke Kennard had 24. For the second straight game, Kennard made big shots down the stretch for Duke.
The sophomore's 3 with 4:45 left in the second half gave Duke its first lead, 73-70, since the end of the first. Tatum's 3 with 2:20 left made it 78-73 for the Blue Devils.
BIG PICTURE
Duke: The Blue Devils aren't very deep, playing mostly six players, but they dealt with foul trouble for Frank Jackson and were still able to rally against a deep Louisville team that thrives on tenacious pressure defense.
Louisville: This was just the program's second ACC Tournament game since joining the conference three years ago. The Cardinals were one-and-done in their first ACC Tournament in 2015, followed by a self-imposed postseason ban because of NCAA violations. Another one-and-done should eliminate any outside hopes the Cardinals had of grabbing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
UP NEXT
Duke: The Blue Devils and Tar Heels split two regular-season matchups.
Louisville: Will find out its next opponent on Selection Sunday.
