The 2011 ACC men's basketball tournament, a part of the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, took place from March 10 to March 13 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.
In contrast to the upset-heavy tournament in 2010 where the 11 and 12 seeds reached the semifinals, there were only two games in the first two rounds in which the lower seed prevailed. Some notable games included the first round game between Miami and Virginia. The Cavaliers held a 10-point lead with 42 seconds left, but the Hurricanes scored 10 straight points at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime, where Miami eventually won. In the quarterfinal game between Florida State and Virginia Tech, the Hokies' Erick Green hit a shot to put Virginia Tech up 1 with 4.7 seconds left. Derwin Kitchen then hit what appeared to be the game-winning shot for the Seminoles, but the shot was waved off after review, and Virginia Tech advanced.
For the first time in 10 years, Duke and North Carolina played each other in the championship game. The top-seeded Tar Heels had come back from double-digit deficits in their victories against Miami and Clemson. Duke started strong as well, scoring the first 8 points and taking a 14-point lead at halftime. However, Duke did not relinquish their lead in the second half, as North Carolina never got closer than 9. Duke won, 75-58, to give the Blue Devils their 19th ACC championship, the most in ACC history. This title also tied Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski with former UNC coach Dean Smith for the most ACC championships, each having won 13.
Ticket policy The ACC implemented a new ticket policy in hopes to sell out more of the Greensboro Coliseum's approximately 23,000 seats. In previous years, each school was allotted an equal number of ticket books for distribution. This left large numbers of tickets unsold as some schools, such as Boston College, Miami, and Florida State, do not have large numbers of fans who make the trip to Greensboro for the tournament. In response, the ACC issued more ticket books to schools who traditionally sold the majority of their ticket books.
Seeding
Teams are seeded based on the final regular season standings, with ties broken under an ACC policy. 2011 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament seedsSeedSchoolConf.Over.Tiebreaker1†‡ North Carolina 14–2 24–6 2† Duke 13–3 27–4 3† Florida State 11–5 21–9 4† Clemson 9–7 20–10 1–0 vs. BC, 1–0 vs. VT5 Boston College 9–7 19–12 2–0 vs. VT, 0–1 vs. CLEM6 Virginia Tech 9–7 19–10 0–1 vs. CLEM, 0–2 vs. BC7 Maryland 7–9 18–13 1–0 vs. FSU8 Virginia 7–9 16–14 0–1 vs. FSU9 Miami 6–10 18–13 10 North Carolina State 5–11 15–15 1–0 vs. GT11 Georgia Tech 5–11 13–17 0–1 vs. NCSU12 Wake Forest 1–15 8–23 ‡ – ACC tournament No. 1 seed.† – Received a bye in the conference tournament.Overall records are as of the end of the regular season.
Schedule SessionGameTime*Matchup#TelevisionAttendance First Round - Thursday, March 101 noon#8 Virginia vs. #9 MiamiRaycom23,381 2:00pm#5 Boston College vs. #12 Wake ForestRaycom23,3812 7:00pm#7 Maryland vs. #10 North Carolina StateESPN223,381 9:00pm#6 Virginia Tech vs. #11 Georgia TechRaycom23,381 Quarterfinals - Friday, March 113 noon#1 North Carolina vs. #9 MiamiESPN2/Raycom23,381 2:00pm#4 Clemson vs. #5 Boston CollegeESPN2/Raycom23,3814 7:00pm#2 Duke vs. #7 Maryland ESPN2/Raycom23,381 9:00pm#3 Florida State vs. #6 Virginia TechESPN2/Raycom23,381 Semifinals - Saturday, March 125 1:00pm#1 North Carolina vs. #4 ClemsonESPN/Raycom23,381 3:00pm#2 Duke vs. #6 Virginia TechESPN/Raycom23,381 Championship Game - Sunday, March 13 1:00pm#1 North Carolina vs.#2 DukeESPN/Raycom *Game Times in ET. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding.
Bracket
Awards and honors Tournament MVP Nolan Smith, Duke
All-Tournament Team
First Team Nolan Smith, Duke Kyle Singler, Duke Harrison Barnes, North Carolina Tyler Zeller, North Carolina Demontez Stitt, Clemson
Second Team Miles Plumlee, Duke Seth Curry, Duke John Henson, North Carolina Kendall Marshall, North Carolina Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech
References