The ACC Tournament notebook ...

CHARLOTTE — Exhausted after three games in three days, the N.C. State basketball team headed back to its hotel, had dinner and gathered to watch TV.

The Wolfpack didn’t have to wait long to appear on the NCAA Tournament Selection Show. State earned a No. 7 seed in the East Region and will face No. 10 Michigan State on Friday in Washington, D.C.

“The overall weekend wore everybody out,”senior guard Archie Miller said. “To have the name pop up so early was just kind of a relief.”

Head coach Herb Sendek said his team’s selection earned little more than a few claps and big smiles. After all, the 22-10 Pack knew they’d be making their first NCAA appearance since 1991 — it was just a matter of when and where.

Being at the MCI Center in the nation’s capital is a nice bonus, Sendek said, allowing State fans to drive a relatively short distance to support the Pack. But what really pleased Sendek was the Friday start date.

“Having played three very intense, emotional games like we just did at a high level of competition, that extra day is really important,”Sendek said. “Friday will get here really quick anyway.”

State’s players and coaches know little about the Spartans, although they’re well aware Michigan State has been to the Final Four three straight seasons.

Some might consider it a tough draw, especially with a matchup against No. 2 seed Connecticut looming Sunday.

Not so for the Pack.

“We just played two No. 1 seeds in two days, so I don’t think we can be too concerned with who we drew,”Miller said.

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DUKE’S DRAW: The tournament committee’s plan to keep teams closer to home early on was evident in the South Region, where Duke is the No. 1 seed.

Duke will face Big South champion Winthrop (19-11) in Thursday’s first round.

The Blue Devils are hungry to repeat as national champions, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since Duke did it in 1991 and 1992.

“We like to be uncommon, and the uncommon thing to do is win two national championships in a row,”Duke guard Chris Duhon said.

The Blue Devils should cruise against the small school from Rock Hill, S.C., but an interesting second-round matchup could be in the cards.

Should Duke win, it will face the winner of Thursday’s contest between No. 8 seed Notre Dame and No. 9 Charlotte on Saturday.

The Blue Devils and 49ers have played only two times, and Duke won each contest. The Blue Devils defeated Charlotte 111-94 in 1990 and 104-82 in 1992.

Duke, a top seed for the fifth year in a row, isn’t feeling the pressure of its top billing.

“We feel like we’ve been a No. 1 seed all year long with people trying to take us down,”junior Mike Dunleavy said.

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ALL-TOURNEY TEAM:Mike Krzyzewski’s team is the first to win four straight ACC tournament titles, but he thinks another accomplishment will stand the test of time.

Carlos Boozer, Duke’s junior center from Alaska, earned an award that even eluded Trajan Langdon.

“He’s the first player from Juneau to be MVP,”Krzyzewski said with a smile. “Our record of four might be topped, but I don’t know if that will be topped.”

Boozer — who does have a 14-year-old brother named Charles — was joined on the all-tournament first team by Jason Williams, Anthony Grundy, Dunleavy and Miller. Boozer, Williams and Grundy were unanimous selections.

Williams had a chance to become only the third player along with Larry Miller and Tommy Burleson to win MVP twice.

Krzyzewski blamed Williams, who had 10 assists Sunday, for not being selfish enough.

“When he was a freshman, he was MVP. He’s gone down a notch,” Krzyzewski joked. “He just passed the ball too much to Carlos. It’s his fault.”

Duhon, Steve Blake, Julius Hodge, Darius Songaila and Marcus Melvin made the second team.

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SEEING SOME ACTION: After playing just 10 minutes in the first two games of the tournament, West Rowan’s Scooter Sherrill saw 21 minutes of action against Duke.

It marked only the fifth time in 32 games that Sherrill has topped the 20-minute mark. His season high came five games ago when he notched 26 minutes against North Carolina.

“It felt good,”Sherrill said.“I was glad to be out there, but when you can’t hit a shot ...”

Sherrill struggled from the field, missing his only attempt from long range and several times in the lane. His only points came on a nice reverse layup in heavy traffic.

When he made the free throw for the three-point play, it extended his streak to 23 straight attempts from the foul line without a miss.

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Bret Strelow will follow Duke through the NCAA Tournament, while Steve Hanf will cover N.C. State for the Post.