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GREENSBORO - For the seventh time in eight years, Mike Krzyzewski cut down the nets at the ACC Championship.
The No. 3 Blue Devils (30-3) held off No. 11 Boston College (26-7) for a 78-76 victory Sunday afternoon in front of a pro-Duke crowd at the Greensboro Coliseum.
The title helped the top-seeded Blue Devils erase the memory of back-to-back losses to end the regular season and wrapped up a No. 1 seed in the Atlanta regional for the NCAA Tournament, which begins Thursday.
"To win both the regular season and the tournament is quite an accomplishment for this senior class," Krzyzewski said. "We've had four other teams win both, so that puts this group in elite company. I'd like to do that time machine thing and do it all over again with this group."
The Eagles fought back from the 10-point deficit they faced midway through the second half and took a three-point lead on Craig Smith's layup with 2:10 left.
But then J.J. Redick demanded the ball and took over the game, just as he has so many times for the Blue Devils this season.
"I've told him a lot that if you miss and we lose, then we'll walk off arm and arm," Krzyzewski said. "Your players win games, and as a coach, I try to let my best players be the ones that decide games."
Redick did just that.
The senior came off a screen and nailed a long-range three from the left wing to tie the score. After Smith made two free throws to put Boston College ahead two, Redick came through again. He pulled up from the right wing and drained another deep three while falling down, putting Duke ahead, 74-73--a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the way.
"In that situation I want the ball in my hands whether I shoot it or not, and I wanted it in my hands," Redick said.
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