Highlights | Postgame Press Conferences | Bracket | Box Score | Quotes
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Zion Williamson made all 13 of his shots, five on high-flying dunks, and scored 29 points in his return to lead No. 5 Duke to an 84-72 victory over Syracuse on Thursday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinals.
RJ Barrett added 23 points and six rebounds to help Duke (27-5) set up a semifinal showdown with No. 3 North Carolina. The Tar Heels swept both games from the Blue Devils in the regular season, with Williamson injured in the first minute of the first meeting.
Williamson got off to a rousing start two minutes into the game when he stole a pass and drove the length of the floor before cocking his right hand back and throwing down a highlight-reel dunk that brought the crowd to its feet. He added three more soaring dunks in the first half - including one off an alley-oop pass from Barrett - and finished the first half with 21 points on 9-of-9 shooting and nine rebounds as Duke built a 34-28 lead.
It was Williamson's first game since his left Nike Paul George shoe broke during a Feb. 20 game against the Tar Heels, causing him to miss nearly six full games with a sprained right knee. Williamson wore modified Nike Kyrie 4's this time specifically designed to lend extra support to his 6-foot-7, 285-pound frame.
He showed no signs of any lingering knee issue and cracked a smile several times throughout the game.
Frank Howard scored 28 points, and Buddy Boeheim had 15 for Syracuse (20-13).
Despite Williamson's highlight-reel display, the Orange battled until the end without leading scorer Tyus Battle, who missed his second straight game with a back injury.
Syracuse tied it with 13 minutes remaining on back-to-back 3-pointers from Boeheim.
But Duke wore down Syracuse down the stretch between the inside game of Williamson and the shooting of Barrett, who punctuated the win with a windmill dunk with 1:14 remaining.
Tre Jones added 15 points and eight assists for Duke.
BIG PICTURE
Syracuse: Despite the emotional return of Williamson, Syracuse stayed close with one of the nation's best teams despite playing without their leading scorer which is good news for Jim Boeheim's club heading into the NCAA Tournament.
Duke: The Blue Devils are in contention for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Williamson's return looks likely to help by making the Blue Devils look more like the team that spent a national-best seven weeks at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll.
UP NEXT
Syracuse: Will await word on an NCAA Tournament berth.
Duke: Will face No. 3 North Carolina for a third time in the semifinals. The Tar Heels won the previous two games - 88-72 on the road and 79-70 at home.
NOTES
No. 3 seed North Duke (27-5) advanced to Friday’s 9 p.m. semifinal game against No. 2 seed North Carolina (27-5) … The Tar Heels defeated Duke twice during the regular season, winning 88-72 on the road Feb. 20 and by a 79-70 score at home last Saturday night … UNC defeated Syracuse 93-85 on Feb. 26 in Chapel Hill.
Duke improved to 101-45 all-time in the ACC Tournament and to 43-18 in quarterfinal games.
Syracuse (20-13) slipped to 2-5 in ACC Tournament play and to 0-2 in the quarterfinal round.
Thursday night marked the return of Duke standout freshman Zion Williamson, who missed five full games after suffering a sprained knee in the opening minute of the Blue Devils’ Feb. 20 home game versus UNC.
Williamson set an ACC Tournament field goal percentage record (minimum of 10 attempts) by going 13-for-13 from the floor en route to 29 points ... It also tied the overall ACC mark for most made field goals without a miss in any single game, equaling the mark set by UNC's Brad Daugherty against UCLA on Nov. 24, 1985 … Williamson broke the previous ACC Tournament field goal percentage record of .929 (13-for-14) set by North Carolina’s Larry Miller in UNC’s 82-73 win over Duke in the 1967 finals.
Williamson added a game-high 14 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season … He scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 17 first-half minutes alone, leading Duke to a 34-28 lead at the break … Williamson went 9-for-9 from the floor in the first 20 minutes.
With 23 points, Duke’s RJ Barrett extended his ACC freshman single-season scoring record to 747 points … Barrett is the only player in the conference who has scored in double figures in each of his team’s games this season … It marked Barrett’s 24th game this season with 20-or-more points.
The 15 points by Duke freshman guard Tre Jones were two shy of his career high, and his eight assists were one short of the high for his career.
Senior guard Frank Howard led the Orange with a career-high 28 points …With the help of a 3-for-4 showing from 3-point distance, Howard scored 15 points in the first half to keep the Orange when striking range.
Freshman Buddy Boeheim added 15 points for the Orange and averaged 17.5 points in his first two ACC Tournament games.
Duke and North Carolina have played 22 times in the ACC Tournament with the Blue Devils holding a 13-9 edge … This will mark the third straight season the teams have met in the semifinals after meeting in back-to-back years at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center … Duke defeated the Tar Heels 93-83 in 2017, and UNC won 74-69 last season.
Syracuse played its second consecutive game without junior Tyus Battle, the ACC’s second-leading active scorer who is nursing a bruised hip … Duke played without junior center Marques Bolden, who was injured in the opening minutes of last Saturday night’s regular-season finale at North Carolina.
This marks the first time since 2008 – the most recent tournament played at Spectrum Center prior to this year – that the top four seeds reached the ACC Tournament semifinals … Top-seeded UNC faced No. 4 seed Virginia Tech, while No. 2 seed Duke was matched against No. 3 seed Clemson.