Louisville will face Duke in ACC tournament second round

As most people anticipated, Louisville will open its 2021 postseason against Duke on Wednesday in the second round of the ACC tournament. Tip-off from Greensboro is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the ACC Network will have the TV coverage.

The 10th-seeded Blue Devils advanced to the second round by way of an 86-51 walloping of No. 15 seed Boston College. Freshman guard D.J. Steward led the way with 17 points, while big man Mark Williams added 13 on 6-of-7 shooting from the field. As a team, Duke shot 52.5 percent from the field, and was a scorching 15-of-32 (46.9 percent) from beyond the arc.

This will be the third meeting of the season between Louisville and Duke, with both of the prior victories going to the Cardinals. U of L defeated Coach K’s team 70-65 at the KFC Yum Center on Jan. 23, and then outlasted them in overtime at Cameron Indoor Stadium for a 70-63 win on Feb. 27.

Matthew Hurt was sensational in both losses to Louisville, scoring 24 points in round one and a career-high 37 in the second meeting. Carlik Jones was up to the challenge both times as well, netting 24 points in the January meeting and 25 a couple of weeks ago.

Hurt, for what it’s worth, scored just eight points and attempted only six shots in Tuesday’s win over Boston College.

The amount of “tough to beat a team three times in one season” we’re all about to hear over the next 24 hours is going to be off the charts. Stay strapped at all times:

Beat Duke.