ACC Roundball Roundup 2/1

Saturday, January 27th

#2 Virginia 65 - #4 DUKE 63

In a battle of ACC titans, it was Virginia and their super sophomore guards that emerged from victorious from Cameron Indoor. The Cavaliers’ Pack Line defense stymied Duke in the first half. For all the Blue Devils’ firepower they were only able to put in 22 points in the game’s first twenty minutes. They rallied back quickly in the second half, making for a thrilling finish. Up 60-58 with 37.6 seconds left, Virginia PG Ty Jerome launched a deep three from the top of the key, putting the Cavs up by 5. A Marvin Bagley III three gave Duke a chance, but Kyle Guy’s free throws clinched the game. Virginia was led by their sophomore duo of Guy (team-high 17 points) and Jerome (13 points, 7 assists) while Duke’s freshmen bigs again put up huge numbers in the loss (30 and 14 for Bagley; 14, 15, and 4 blocks for Wendell Carter Jr).

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

NC State 95 - #10 NORTH CAROLINA 91 (OT)

Before the Virginia-Duke game tipped off, NC State already produced one massive upset on tobacco road. The Wolfpack notched their their third win over a top 10 team and improved to 4-2 against the Top 25 in Kevin Keatts first year at the helm. This game was tight throughout and came right down to the wire. In the end, it was NC State’s scalding hot shooting that put them over the top. The Pack hit 15 of 30 three point attempts, while UNC went just 4 for 19. The star for NCST was Baylor grad transfer Allerik Freeman, who came off the bench and went 7 for 7 beyond the arc on his way to 29 points. On the other side, it was the Luke Maye and Theo Pinson show. Maye put up another big double-double with 31 points and 12 rebounds. Meanwhile Pinson hit career highs with 22 points and 15 boards.

FLORIDA STATE 103 - Miami 94 (OT)

Florida State won their rematch against Miami despite a school-record 17 made three pointers from the Hurricanes. The Seminoles prevailed by putting on a shooting clinic of their own, making a season-high 60% of their field goal attempts with six players scoring at least 13 points. Florida State’s top scorer was F Phil Cofer, who put in 21 points and 8 rebounds. G Braian Angola played a great all-around game, recording 18 points, 7 boards, and 6 assists. Miami’s scoring leader was Lonnie Walker IV, who scored 23 points but it was sixth man Dejan Vasiljevic that led the Canes’ three point assault, hitting on 6 of 10 threes.

Syracuse 60 - PITTSBURGH 55

While Florida State-Miami was an offensive showcase, Syracuse-Pittsburgh was anything but. Pitt had nearly a 9 minute stretch in the first half where they didn’t hit a field goal and missed 12 straight shots in the second half to let Syracuse take control. The Panthers made a bit of a run in the last minute but too little, too late. On the day, Syracuse made just 35% of their field goals and 20% of their threes while Pitt hit 28% and 27%, respectively. Syracuse’s star was freshmen F Bourama Sidibe who scored 18 points and 16 rebounds in his first significant minutes since early December. Jared Wilson-Frame recorded a double-double of his own with 18 points and 13 rebounds but needed 23 shots to get there.

Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Virginia Tech 80 - NOTRE DAME 75

Virginia Tech F Chris Clarke almost single-handily kept Virginia Tech on top of Notre Dame when the Irish made a late surge. After Notre Dame cut the lead to 74-72, the Hokies’ sixth man scored six consecutive points in the final 23 seconds to clinch the victory. On the day, Clarke totaled 12 points and 14 rebounds while G Justin Bibbs led VT with 20 points, including 4 for 4 shooting beyond the arc. Notre Dame was led by TJ Gibbs’ career-high 27 points and sophomore F John Mooney’s first career double-double (15 points, 11 rebounds).

LOUISVILLE 96 - Wake Forest 77

Louisville overcame a slow start to blow out Wake Forest behind a balanced scoring attack. The Cardinals trailed 17-8 about 6 minutes into the game before breaking off a 19-2 that led to a 42-33 halftime lead. From there it was all Louisville. Wake turned the ball over 20 times against Louisville’s strong defense, leading to 28 Cardinal points. Louisville’s leading scorers were Quentin Snider and V.J. King, who each scored 15 points. Chaundee Brown led Wake Forest with 20 points on 8 for 10 shooting.

Sunday, January 28th

#18 Clemson 72 - GEORGIA TECH 70

Recap here.

Monday, January 29th

#4 DUKE 88 - Notre Dame 66

Duke bounced back from their loss to Virginia in a big way, leading nearly wire-to-wire against visiting Notre Dame. Despite an off night from superstar Marvin Bagley, the Blue Devils were able to blow the game open early in the second half with some hot shooting from guards Gary Trent Jr and Grayson Allen. Trent led the team with 22 points and tied a career high with 10 rebounds. Allen, meanwhile, put in 18 points of his and set his teammates up for 8 assists. Notre Dame really struggled with Duke’s size and had a tough time finding their shooting stroke. TJ Gibbs led the team with 22 points but only made 1 of 6 shots from beyond the arc.

Tuesday, January 30th

#20 CLEMSON 82 - #19 North Carolina 78

Clemson may not be able to beat UNC in Chapel Hill but they got an elusive win over the Tar Heels in their return trip to Littlejohn Coliseum. The Tigers got out to a fast start and led by 16 at halftime but UNC chipped away at the lead throughout the second half, culminating in a Joel Berry jumper tying the game at 74 with about two minutes remaining. Instead of crumbling under the pressure, Clemson stepped up. Moments later, Marcquise Reed knocked down a 3-pointer that put the Tigers ahead for good. Reed led Clemson with 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. North Carolina essentially played a two-man game with Cameron Johnson (a career-high 32 points) and Joel Berry (27 points) producing the vast majority of their scoring.

Wednesday, January 31st

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

#2 VIRGINIA 74 - Louisville 64

Virginia defeated Louisville to move to 10-0 in conference, their best start in over 35 years. The Cavaliers took charge of the game in the latter part of the first half and never let up in the second half, cruising to the win. Louisville actually shot pretty well against the Pack Line defense, making 50% of their attempts and hitting 8 of 18 3s but turned the ball over 13 times, leading to 22 Virginia points. Kyle Guy scored 22 points while Ty Jerome added 16 points and 9 assists to pace Virginia. Ray Spalding led Louisville with 16 points and 7 boards.

MIAMI 69 - Pittsburgh 57

In their first game since losing star sophomore Bruce Brown Jr to a foot injury, Miami overcame a late surge from Pitt to notch their fifth conference win. At one point in the second half, the Hurricanes lead by 13 points. They followed that up with nearly six scoreless minutes to allow Pitt to surge back and take a lead. Pitt’s lead was short lived as Miami quickly rallied together and built their lead back to double-digits. With this loss, Pitt fell to 0-10 in conference play and tied the school record for consecutive losses. Freshman Lonnie Walker IV led Miami with 16 points while Jared Wilson-Frame’s 17 points led Pitt.

WAKE FOREST 76 - Florida State 72

Wake Forest snapped a seven game losing streak behind strong second half shooting and big plays from their big man at the end. Wake shot 52% from the field after halftime to come back from a six point deficit at the break. Wake G Brandon Childress hit a pair of free throws to put the Deacons ahead for good with 44 seconds left. From there, big man Doral Moore took them home. The 7-footer extended the lead with a dunk around the 19 minute mark, grabbing three big rebounds on FSU misses, and hitting a free throw with 2 seconds left to make it a two possession game. Brandon Crawford was Wake’s leading scorer putting in 19 points and 7 assists. Florida State really struggled to shoot ball, hitting on under 29% of their three pointers. Phil Cofer’s 23 points was the game high.

GEORGIA TECH 55 - Syracuse 51

Recap here.

Virginia Tech 85 - BOSTON COLLEGE 80 (OT)

With 1:04 left in the game Virginia Tech led Boston College by 7 points and looked like they would coast to an ACC road win. Boston College made sure it wouldn’t be easy. G Jerome Robinson was made seven free throws in the final 64 seconds to send the game into overtime. In the extra period, BC played the Hokies tight for three minutes before Nickeil Alexander-Walker nailed a 3 to put VT ahead for good. The Hokies had three players score at least 18 points, topped by 20 from Kerry Blackshear Jr. The Eagles were led by their dynamic guards. Robinson scored a game-high 32 points and Ky Bowman came close to a triple-double with 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists.

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Looking ahead...

It’s a little bit of a quiet week in the ACC, with no ranked-ranked matchups. That said, there are still a few exciting games to watch. Saturday is nearly a full slate, with 13 of the 15 teams in action (GT and BC play on Sunday). If you’re into defensive showcases, #2 Virginia travels to the Carrier Dome to face Syracuse at 4:00 pm. Virginia Tech-Miami (2:00 pm) and Louisville-Florida State (4:00 pm) are both important games in the race for the 4 seed and a double bye in the ACC Tournament. On Wednesday, Virginia travels down to Tallahassee for a game of contrasting styles. Can FSU’s offense score against the Wahoo’s stingy defense? Tune in at 7:00 pm to find out.

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