The 2018 ACC men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Atlantic Coast Conference held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, from March 6 to 10, 2018. It was the 65th annual edition of the tournament, and the second year in a row being held at Barclays Center. The Virginia Cavaliers entered the tournament as the top seed, with a 17âÂÂ1 conference record (28âÂÂ2 overall) under the guidance of Tony Bennett. UVA also began the tournament unanimously ranked number 1 in the country in both major polls.
The Cavaliers defeated Louisville 75âÂÂ58 and Clemson 64âÂÂ58 to secure a place in the tournament championship game. They defeated North Carolina 71âÂÂ63 in the championship game to become tournament champion. Sophomore guard Kyle Guy was named Tournament MVP. Games were shown on over-the-air television in local media markets by the syndicated ACCN and simulcast nationally on various ESPN cable networks.
Both the VirginiaâÂÂNorth Carolina title game and DukeâÂÂNorth Carolina semifinal game set the Barclays Center attendance record for college basketball games, and conference leadership vowed to return the ACC Tournament to New York in the near future.
All 15 ACC teams participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. The tournament was held over five consecutive days. Teams ranked 10âÂÂ15 played on the first day; teams ranked 5âÂÂ9 entered the bracket on the second day, with teams ranked 1âÂÂ4 entering on the third day (quarterfinals). The semifinals were played on the fourth day, and the finals on the last day.
All games were televised on the ACC Network within the ACC footprint and simulcast nationally on the ESPN networks denoted below.
Three games were played in the first round. In all three, the higher seed advanced.
In the first game, the 12-seed Boston College Eagles took on the 13-seed Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Boston College got out to a ten-point lead at halftime. They opened the second half on a 15âÂÂ5 run, bringing their lead to 20 with under 14 minutes to play. A late flurry of scoring by Georgia Tech reduced the Eagles' lead to 6 with only 45 seconds remaining, but BC hit four free throws at the end of the game, ending the chance of a Yellow Jacket comeback. Georgia Tech's Tadric Jackson led all scorers with 29 points in the losing effort.
The second game featured the 10-seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish against the 15-seed Pittsburgh Panthers. The game looked to be one of the biggest mismatches in the tournament, with Notre Dame likely post-season bound with a 20-win season and Pittsburgh entering the tournament having lost every conference game and sporting a woeful 8âÂÂ24 record. Instead, the two teams played the closest game of the first round, with Notre Dame clinging to a two-point lead with less than a minute remaining; however a controversial loose-ball foul against Pitt's Marcus Carr followed by a turnover by Carr allowed Notre Dame to preserve their lead and close out the game 67âÂÂ64. Carr's late game mistakes were ironic as his three-pointer was the one that cut the Notre Dame lead to two, and he scored 18 in the game, tied with Jared Wilson-Frame to lead the Panthers in scoring. Notre Dame's Bonzie Colson led all scorers with 19.
The last game of the day featured the 11-seed Syracuse Orange versus the 14-seed Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Syracuse was playing with a short bench, as several injuries limited their ability to substitute. Despite leading by 19 with under eight minutes to play, the wear on Syracuse's starters showed, as they played all but the last 32 seconds of the second half, and that substitution was forced by Tyus Battle's fifth foul of the game. The Demon Deacons had cut the lead to six with fresher legs, but the Orange held on to win 73âÂÂ64. Wake Forest's Bryant Crawford led all scoring with 22 points.
All-Tournament Teams: