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GREENSBORO — With Miami looking to become the latest lower seed to pull an upset at the ACC tournament, Duke's All-ACC stars Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer seized control with a supernova start to the second half that overwhelmingly swung the momentum toward Duke in a 77-74 semifinal win over the Hurricanes on Saturday.

Singler and Scheyer combined for 21 points in a decisive 26-7 run to start the half, with Singler making three 3-pointers in the run and Scheyer adding a pair of threes to suppress stubborn 12th-seeded Miami.

"They came out with a lot of fire," Hurricanes coach Frank Haith said of the run. "The game got away from us a little bit, and that was the difference."

And that should make the Blue Devils extra thankful for their clutch stars, because Duke was outscored 67-51 outside of that 8-minute stretch. While the Blue Devils were 9-of-11 from the field during the run, they made 17 of 43 shots (40 percent) and scored 51 points during the other 32 minutes, when senior center Brian Zoubek said the offense was "a little out of sorts at times."

On this day, though, Singler and Scheyer provided enough support for the Blue Devils to advance. After Miami closed the first half with a 17-2 run to take a 35-32 lead, Singler opened the second by making 3-pointers on Duke's first two possessions. The shots seemed to rattle Miami, which struggled to contain Duke's momentum.

The pair combined for 21 of the run's first 24 points to push Duke ahead 58-42 with 11:58 remaining.

"When a team comes out in the second half and kind of pushes a lead a little bit, you do get pushed back," said Singler. "That's kind of what happened to us coming into halftime, so it was huge for us to kind of get out to that lead."

But that run was a short-lived stretch of prosperity in a tournament that has mostly seen an inconsistent Duke offense. The Blue Devils shot 38 percent from the field in Friday's quarterfinal win over Virginia and followed up its big run on Saturday by going 4-of-13 from the field and committing three shot-clock violations on its final 21 possessions. Those struggles allowed Miami to close within 68-63 with 1:24 remaining.

"Sometimes on the court, all five players aren't on the same page," Zoubek said. "One player's doing one thing just a little bit ahead of the other, or a little bit mistimed, and we just weren't completely there for a good portion of it."

Why Duke won

The Blue Devils had Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer, and that was just enough to advance to today's final. The two first-team All-ACC players combined for 21 of Duke's first 24 second-half points and drove a 26-7 run that gave the Blue Devils a cushion they were able to nurse for the remainder of the game. Scheyer (16 points) and Singler (27) provided 56 percent of Duke's offense.

Why Miami lost

The Hurricanes didn't hit shots when they needed them in the final five minutes. Miami was down seven points with 4:37 to play, but went 0-for-3 from the field on its next three possessions.

Play of the game

Singler's 3-pointer with 18:58 remaining — his second consecutive 3-pointer to open the second half — gave Duke the lead for good, at 38-35, and immediately signaled trouble for Miami. The Hurricanes called a timeout, but it didn't halt Duke's momentum. The Blue Devils outscored Miami 26-7 to open the half and seize control of the game.

The key player

Singler is the reason Duke will play for the ACC championship today. The first-team All-ACC forward hit five 3-pointers — three of which came during Duke's decisive 26-7 run — to go with eight rebounds and six assists.

What they're saying

"We've had some stretches throughout these two games where we just didn't play well offensively or defensively, and that's something we expect of ourselves. ... So, obviously we're really excited to be in this position, but we're not excited by any means with the way we've played or just getting here." — Jon Scheyer, Duke guard

"At halftime we said that Duke was going to make their run and they came out and did it. They came out more hungry than we did, it seemed like." — Reggie Johnson, Miami center from Winston-Salem

Noting the game

Duke won for only the second time in six games this season after trailing at halftime. ... Miami's 3-for-6 3-point shooting performance made the Hurricanes the first team this season to shoot 50 percent or better from beyond the arc against Duke. Only five other teams had shot better than 40 percent from the perimeter against the Blue Devils. ... Duke's 38-24 rebounding advantage improved their record to 24-2 when outrebounding an opponent. ... Freshman Durand Scott led Miami with 21 points, his second-highest scoring game of the season. ... Winston-Salem's Reggie Johnson capped his most productive stretch of the season with 14 points and eight rebounds against Duke. He averaged 16.7 points and 8.0 rebounds during the ACC tournament.

MIAMI (20-13) — Scott 10-15 0-1 21, Dews 3-6 0-0 8, Jones 2-9 2-4 7, Johnson 3-6 8-10 14, Gamble 2-4 0-0 4, Grant 4-10 6-6 17, McGowan 0-1 0-0 0, Adams 0-0 0-0 0, Thomas 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 25-55 16-21 74.

DUKE (28-5) — Smith 6-14 0-1 12, Singler 8-15 6-6 27, Scheyer 4-10 6-9 16, Thomas 2-4 0-0 4, Zoubek 1-1 5-6 7, Ma.Plumlee 2-3 0-0 4, Dawkins 0-3 0-0 0, Mi.Plumlee 3-4 1-2 7, Kelly 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-54 18-24 77.

Miami 35 39 — 74
Duke 32 45 — 77

3-point goals—Miami (FG .455, FT .762), Duke (FG .481, FT .750)

3-point goals—Miami 8-15 (Grant 3-5, Dews 2-4, Jones 1-1, Scott 1-2, Thomas 1-3), Duke 7-22 (Singler 5-9, Scheyer 2-6, Dawkins 0-3, Smith 0-4).

Fouled out—Scott. Rebounds_Miami 24 (Johnson 8), Duke 38 (Singler 8).

Assists—Miami 10 (Grant 4), Duke 16 (Singler 6).

Blocked shots—Miami  4 (Johnson 2), Duke  5 (Ma.Plumlee 2).

Turnovers—Miami 8 (Gamble 2, Scott 2, Grant 2), Duke 11 (Smith 3, Thomas 2, Scheyer 2).

Steals—Miami 4 (Scott 2), Duke 5 (Scheyer 3).

Total fouls—Miami 19, Duke 19.

Technical—Duke Bench.

A—na.

Officials—Jamie Luckie, Roger Ayers, Gary Maxwell.