Tuesday’s ACC Tournament men’s basketball live updates: Notre Dame, NC State advance

Luke DeCock, Andrew Carter, Jadyn Watson-Fisher, Steve Wiseman
·4 min read

The ACC Tournament’s return to Washington, D.C., started with a thriller between two teams near the bottom of the regular-season standings.

In Tuesday’s first game at Capital One Arena, No. 12 seed Notre Dame, having squandered a 17-point lead, scored the game’s final five points to beat No. 13 Georgia Tech, 84-80.

Braeden Shrewsberry scored 23 points and Markus Burton, the ACC’s top freshman this season, scored 21 points for Notre Dame (13-19) advances to a second-round game on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. against No. 5 seed Wake Forest (19-12). The Irish defeated Wake Forest, 70-65, on Feb. 27, starting a three-game losing streak that’s put Wake Forest’s NCAA Tournament hopes in jeopardy.

Against Georgia Tech (14-18), Notre Dame hit 62.1% of its first-half shots to build a 45-35 halftime lead. The Irish pushed it to 65-48 with 12:59 to play and appeared ready to cruise to the win.

But the Yellow Jackets, behind freshmen Naithan George and Baye Ndongo, fought back and led 80-79 when Ndongo scored on a rebound basket with 2:24 to play.

That would be the final points the Yellow Jackets would score, though.

Burton put Notre Dame in front for good at 81-80 with a driving layup with 1:16 to play. From there, George committed a pair of turnovers in the final minute and the Yellow Jackets came up short.

George scored 24 points while Ndongo added 22 for Georgia Tech.

NC State lives to see another day

For better or worse, N.C. State’s season lived to see another day here on Tuesday.

The Wolfpack escaped the first round of the ACC Tournament with an 94-85 victory against Louisville, though for a while in the first half – and even at times in the second – State played like a team that might’ve been content to go home.

The Pack, the tournament’s No. 10 seed, trailed the hapless Cardinals by 12 points a little more than seven minutes into the game. State gradually cut into the deficit, trailed by one and withstood bouts of second-half sloppiness to prevail.

Pretty, it was not for State. Nor was it particularly inspiring, especially defensively.

Louisville has been the ACC’s worst team for two seasons running, but the Wolfpack’s defense for long stretches made the Cardinals look downright imposing, offensively. They shot 66.7% in the first half and fought back in the game in the second, just as the Wolfpack seemed on the verge of taking control. State led by as much as seven in the second half, but Louisville tied it at 75 with a little more than four and a half minutes to play.

Skyy Clark, Louisville’s sophomore guard, was brilliant for the Cardinals. He finished with a career-high 36 points and kept his team in it, while making seven of his eight 3-point attempts — three of those in the second half.

After Louisville tied the game at 75, Jayden Taylor made a 3 from the right corner for State, and then another from the left wing as the shot clock was running down to give the Pack a four-point lead. The Cardinals made it a three-point game in the final minutes but came no closer.

State, led by 25 points from Casey Morsell, advanced to play Syracuse, the No. 7 seed, here on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Wolfpack has never won consecutive ACC Tournament games under coach Kevin Keatts.

Tuesday’s schedule

No. 12 Notre Dame 84, No. 13 Georgia Tech 80

No. 10 NC State 94, No. 15 Louisville 85

7 p.m.: No. 11 Boston College vs. No. 14 Miami (ACC Network)

N.C. State’s Jayden Taylor (1) goes over Louisville’s Mike James (0) after he was fouled by James during the first half of N.C. State’s game against Louisville in the first round of the 2024 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, March 12, 2024.
N.C. State’s Jayden Taylor (1) goes over Louisville’s Mike James (0) after he was fouled by James during the first half of N.C. State’s game against Louisville in the first round of the 2024 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, March 12, 2024.

Wednesday’s schedule

Noon: No. 8 Virginia Tech vs. No. 9 Florida State, noon (ESPN/ESPN2)

2:30 p.m.: No. 5 Wake Forest vs. No. 12 Notre Dame, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)

7 p.m.: No. 7 Syracuse vs. No. 10 NC State, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

9:30 p.m.: No. 6 Clemson vs. Game 3 winner, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPNU)

Thursday’s schedule

Noon: No. 1 UNC vs. Game 4 winner (ESPN/ESPN2)

2:30 p.m.: No. 4 Pittsburgh vs. Game 5 winner (ESPN/ESPN2)

7 p.m.: No. 2 Duke vs. Game 6 winner (ESPN/ESPN2)

9:30 p.m.: No. 3 Virginia vs. Game 7 winner (ESPN/ESPN2)

Friday’s schedule

Semifinals: 7 pm. and 9:30 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2)

Saturday’s schedule

Championship, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)