The Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Trevor Booker scored 18 points, Cliff Hammonds added 17 and Clemson, the perennial pushover in the Atlantic Coast Conference, stunned No. 7 Duke 78-74 on Saturday to reach the tournament title game for the first time in 46 years.

The third-seeded Tigers (24-8), who had lost 22 straight games to the Blue Devils, pulled away in the second half to spoil a much more familiar North Carolina-Duke rematch in the championship. Instead Clemson, which has never won the ACC title, will get a shot at the top-ranked Tar Heels on Sunday.

The athletic Tigers, who have improved all season and should make their first NCAA tournament appearance in 10 years, exploited Duke’s weakness inside when it mattered.

Rugged James Mays, who scored 16 points, had two three-point plays in an 11-4 run that snapped a 56-all tie.

Second-seeded Duke (27-5) cut the lead to 71-69 on Greg Paulus’ 3-pointer with 48 seconds left. But then Clemson, a 63-percent free throw shooting team, made 3-of-4 from the line.

K.C. River’s transition dunk after DeMarcus Nelson turned the ball over iced it, setting off a wild celebration for the Tigers, who had been 14-54 in the ACC tournament before beating Boston College on Friday.

Clemson’s Sam Perry ripped off his jersey as the final horn sounded and ran up and hugged the Clemson mascot. The Tigers qualified for their first ACC title game since losing to a Wake Forest team that featured Billy Packer in 1962.

Paulus scored 17 points, Nelson added 14 and Jon Scheyer 13 for the Blue Devils, who failed to reach the title game for the second straight year after a stretch of seven ACC titles in eight seasons.

With fans still buzzing over North Carolina’s thrilling 68-66 comeback win over Virginia Tech in the opener, Paulus and Hammonds put on an outside-shooting competition in the first half.

Both players were 4-of-5 from the field, but Paulus was 4-of-4 from the free throw line and Hammonds never got there as Duke took a 31-30 lead.

The other competition early involved the coaches. Late in the first half after Duke had taken a five-point lead, Mike Krzyzewski came on the floor at the start of a timeout and motioned to the Duke fans across the floor to get loud.

Clemson’s Oliver Purnell returned the favor during Clemson’s 9-0 run to start the second half, gesturing to the Clemson fans behind the bench. Many of the North Carolina fans joined in to root against their archrival as the Tigers built a 43-34 lead.

Duke fought back, taking a 52-51 lead on Nolan Smith’s 3-pointer with 9:45 left.

But the Blue Devils faded down the stretch behind poor shooting.

Duke made only six of 26 3-pointers in their second loss in three games. Kyle Singler, the ACC rookie of the year, had his second straight poor game, finishing with two points on 1-of-9 shooting.



No. 1 North Carolina 68

Virginia Tech 66

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Tyler Hansbrough hit a fadeaway jumper off an offensive rebound with 0.8 seconds left to help No. 1 North Carolina beat Virginia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals.

Hansbrough finished with 26 points and nine rebounds for the top-seeded Tar Heels (31-2), who trailed almost the entire way against a team it had routed last month. The Tar Heels advanced to Sunday’s championship to play Clemson.

A.D. Vassallo scored 17 points to lead the fourth-seeded Hokies (19-13), who couldn’t get off a shot on their final possession and watched a possible NCAA tournament bid-clinching win painfully slip away.

The Tar Heels rallied from an eight-point deficit in the second half before getting the ball with 21 seconds left in a tie game. Ty Lawson drove in for a runner that bounced off the rim, but Hansbrough chased down the rebound and launched a quick 15-footer from the right side that swished through the net.

As soon as the ball went in, Hansbrough ran downcourt pumping his fists in celebration. Vassallo, meanwhile, walked slowly back to midcourt with his jersey pulled up over his face as the Hokies called a timeout.

Virginia Tech had one more chance, but Deon Thompson batted Malcolm Delaney’s inbounds pass from the baseline as the clock expired.

Wayne Ellington had 15 points, including a pair of key 3-pointers and two free throws in the final 3 1/2 minutes for North Carolina, which survived despite shooting just 40 percent against Virginia Tech’s tough defense.

It was a completely different game than the last matchup, which the Tar Heels won 92-53 in Chapel Hill. In that game, North Carolina held Virginia Tech to 26 percent shooting, took a 54-24 rebounding advantage and led by as many as 47 points.

This time, the Hokies led by eight points in the first half before heading to the locker room tied, then pushed ahead again by eight with about 13 minutes left. But North Carolina, playing catch-up the entire second half, rallied to tie it at 59 on Ellington’s 3 with 3:11 left.

From there, the teams went back and forth over the final minutes, with Delaney and Ellington trading 3-pointers before Ellington went 2-for-3 from the line to give North Carolina a 66-64 lead with 1:28 left.

Vassallo hit two free throws to tie it on the next possession, and the Hokies had a chance to go ahead after Hank Thorns stripped Danny Green to get the ball back in the final minute. But J.T. Thompson missed a baseline jumper and Hansbrough got the rebound, setting up his final shot.



Conference USA

No. 2 Memphis 77, Tulsa 51

MEMPHIS, Tenn.—Antonio Anderson scored 19 points, and No. 2 Memphis added a third straight Conference USA tournament championship to the Tigers’ third consecutive regular-season title.

Anderson hit 4-of-5 from 3-point range to become the third player to lead the Tigers (33-1) in scoring in as many games. He and Chris Doulas-Roberts, who added 16 points, went a combined 14-of-17 from the floor. Jeff Robinson had 11 off the bench.

Tulsa (20-13) 7-footer Jerome Jordan had a team-high 17 points, and Ben Uzoh added 13.

The Tigers finished the season with their seventh straight win and 42nd consecutive league win, strengthening their case for a second No. 1 seed in three seasons after tying the school record for wins in a season with 33.



Big Ten

No. 8 Wisconsin 65

No. 19 Michigan State 63

INDIANAPOLIS—Brian Butch scored 19, Marcus Landry added 18 and Joe Krabbenhoft had 11 points and 10 rebounds as Wisconsin held off a foul-challenged Michigan State and earned its second straight trip to the Big Ten tournament title game.

Wisconsin (28-4) will play Illinois, which beat Minnesota 54-50.

Drew Neitzel led all scorers with 26. But it wasn’t nearly enough to bail out the Spartans (25-8), who were whistled for 30 fouls and had four players foul out, including three in a 56-second span.

Wisconsin won despite going only 26-of-37 from the free throw line.