Scott Wood made five 3-pointers and finished with 22 points, leading NC State past Boston College 78-57 in the opening round of the ACC tournament Thursday.

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Duke University’s football program has experienced its share of mind-bending losses down through the years. On Saturday afternoon at Boston College’s Alumni Stadium, the shoe was literally on the other foot.

With 43 seconds remaining, BC place-kicker Nate Freese attempted a 23-yard field goal attempt that caromed off the left upright and Duke ran out the clock for a 20-19 ACC victory. Earlier in the game, Freese missed a point-after attempt that bounced off the right upright.

GREENSBORO -- The Clemson Tigers cruised into the ACC tournament semifinals Friday by manhandling Boston College 70-47 at the Greensboro Coliseum.

The Tigers scored the game’s first 11 points and never looked back, leading throughout.

GREENSBORO -- Wake Forest’s forgettable basketball season came to its expected conclusion today when the Deacons were eliminated from the ACC tournament by an 81-67 loss to Boston College at the Greensboro Coliseum.

The defeat ended the Deacons’ poorest season in ACC play, leaving them with an 8-24 record and just one victory in 17 league games (including the tournament).

updated 9:18 p.m.

GREENSBORO -- N.C. State’s women’s basketball team knows how to fight back.

Trailing No. 7 seed Boston College in the first half by as many as 15 points, down by as many as 14 points in the second half, the No. 10 Wolfpack rallied for an unlikely 71-70 victory over the Eagles on Thursday in the first round of the ACC women’s basketball tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum.

This time, after coming up short throughout the regular season, the Pack learned how to finish a close game.

“It’s got to go our way this time,” State coach Kellie Harper said she thought as the clock wound down. “Surely this team deserves a break.”

State got one.

Her team down by a point, State senior Brittany Strachan snagged a rebound off a missed shot by junior Bonae Holston and was fouled in the lane. She stepped to the free throw line and nailed two free throws with 14.9 second left.

Boston College called a timeout with nine seconds on the clock. The Eagles ran a pick-and-roll with guard Jaclyn Thomas and senior center Carolyn Swords, but were rebuffed in the final seconds by a defensive stance that sent the Pack into the second day of the tournament where it will face No. 2 Miami on Friday at 6 p.m.

updated: 7:43 p.m.

CHAPEL HILL – Boston College junior Reggie Jackson’s potentially game-winning 3-pointer came so close to falling Saturday that he believed – half joking, of course -- that North Carolina must have tightened the screws on the rim.

Instead, the 19^th-ranked Tar Heels tightened the screws on their defense.

UNC overcame a double-digit comeback attempt by the Eagles, and its worst-ever scoring output in 361 games at the Smith Center , to win 48-46. The Tar Heels prevailed because they held BC to 26.9 percent shooting, dominated the backboards, and got a fortuitous defensive play from 6-feet-10 forward John Henson, who was guarding the 6-3 Jackson’s shot with scant seconds left.

Updated 11:59 p.m.

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. –  This is the Harrison Barnes basketball fans expected to see at the beginning of the season.

And for North Carolina, he’s emerging at just the right time.

The freshman pre-season All-America scored 26 points Tuesday night during the No. 23 Tar Heels’ 106-74 blowout at Boston College – bettering the career-high he set last weekend, and recording back-to-back 20-point games for the first time in his career. It was an important step in consistency for the starting wing, who had been struggling to put together two strong halves of offensive basketball (much less for two straight games) all season.

As a result, the Tar Heels (16-5, 6-1 ACC)  – who took all last season just to win five ACC games  – have already improved that league mark; are tied with No. 5 Duke atop the conference standings; and have won nine of their last 10.

DURHAM – Following Duke’s only loss of the season on Jan. 12 at Florida State, the Blue Devils resolved that they weren’t going to force seniors Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler to carry such a heavy load.

Fifteen nights later, the determination of players other than Smith and Singler to become more involved was obvious as the No. 3-ranked Blue Devils dismantled Boston College 84-68 on Thursday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Sophomore forward Ryan Kelly stretched his streak of consecutive field goal attempts made over four games to 18 – two short of Alaa Abdelnaby’s school record – before finally missing on his first shot of the second half.

CHESNUT HILL, Mass. — Boston College changed coaches and styles since the last time N.C. State saw the Eagles last March. With a new reliance on the 3-point shot, the Eagles are different team and 3-0 in the ACC after a 75-66 home win over the Wolfpack on Tuesday night.

Corey Raji and Biko Paris hit consecutive 3-pointers to break a 60-60 tie with 4 minutes left in the game. The Eagles hit nine 3s for their third straight ACC win under first-year coach Steve Donahue.

State (11-5, 1-1 ACC) powered the ball inside to forward Tracy Smith for 18 points and got a second-half surge from freshman guard Ryan Harrow but it wasn't enough to match BC's outside shooting or high-scoring guard Reggie Jackson.

Jackson led all scorers with 29 points and added six assists and five rebounds in a sterling performance.

updated: 5:15 p.m.

DURHAM – It took Duke more than 2 ½ quarters to record a rush of more than 3 yards Saturday – and quarterback Sean Renfree’s 7-yard scramble only managed to push the Blue Devils’ running total back to “zero” at that point.

It was that kind of day for the Blue Devils, who snapped their two-game winning streak – and thwarted any bowl hopes that may have arisen from that two-game winning streak – by losing to Boston College 21-16 at Wallace Wade Stadium.

“I told our team after the ballgame, ‘We prepared really well, we were emotionally ready to play, we competed,’” coach David Cutcliffe said. “[But] we didn’t do the fundamental things it takes to win the game. When you don’t, in close football games, it ends up biting you.”