Duke defeated Miami 80-76 Friday night to advance to Saturday’s ACC Tournament title game. The Blue Devils survived a great Miami start, caught up at the half, led most of the second half but never by very much and made the clutch plays they needed to make down the stretch.
And guess who led the charge? Freshman A.J. Griffin, who according to Mike Krzyzewski was still feeling the impact of his stomach issues much of the day.
Miami smoked Duke early. Griffin gave Duke a 3-0 lead and Paolo Banchero scored inside to make it 5-3.
That would be Duke’s last lead of the first half.