What began with 15 teams has dwindled to two in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the ACC Tournament bracket has chewed up and spit out 13 others to leave us with No. 1 seed Duke and No. 2 Louisville with only Saturday's title game remaining.

While the focus will undoubtedly skew toward Duke — with or without Cooper Flagg — UNC, Clemson and Louisville are coming off thrilling finishes in their own quarterfinals.

North Carolina's furious comeback against Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals came up short after Jae'lyn Withers committed a lane violation on teammate Ven-Allen Lubin's successful second free throw attempt — which had it counted,

Friday had all the makings of a classic win for UNC in a season that can best be described as a disappointment. Then Jae'Lyn Withers stepped over the line — literally. The Tar Heels lost a game-tying free throw against rival Duke,

After North Carolina cut a 24-point, second-half deficit to one, Ven-Allen Lubin had two free throws with 4.1 seconds left to potentially give the Tar Heels (22-13) the lead. But he missed the first and had the second made free throw waved off after teammate Jae’Lyn Withers stepped in the lane too early.

Kon Knueppel scored 17 points and No. 1 Duke held off a furious second half rally by rival North Carolina to beat the Tar Heels for the third time this season, 74-71 on Friday night to reach the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game.

Top-ranked Duke played without Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown in its win against rival North Carolina in the Atlantic Conference Tournament because of injuries.