Around the ACC: January 11, 2010

Every team in the ACC has played at least one conference game, and all but
two have picked up a win in the ACC. It’s still early, and many games have to be
played. There appear to be a lot of very even teams throughout the league, so it
should be another entertaining year of ACC basketball. Every game is big, and
the Hokies have two more big ones coming up this week.

 

 

 

North Carolina (12-4, 1-0)

North Carolina was upset at College of Charleston 82-79 last Monday night,
but came back strong to defeat Virginia Tech 78-64 in the ACC opener for both
teams on Sunday. The Tar Heels played the College of Charleston game without
starting wings Marcus Ginyard and Will Graves.

Ginyard and Graves returned to the lineup against Virginia Tech and made a
difference, particularly Graves. He had 13 points and six rebounds, and he
blistered the Hokies from three-point range in the second half. Ed Davis added
20 points and 11 rebounds, his usual double-double, and as a result the Tar
Heels are 1-0 in the ACC.

A challenging week lies ahead for UNC. North Carolina plays at Clemson on
Wednesday, and then they’ll host Georgia Tech this weekend.

Maryland (10-4, 1-0)

Maryland played just one game this week, but it was a big one. The Terps got
a big home win in the ACC, knocking off Florida State 77-68. They controlled the
game from start to finish. Rather than going inside against the Seminoles’
impressive height, Maryland simply shot over them from the outside.

The Terps were 10-of-16 (62.5%) from three-point range. They were just 46.8%
overall from the field, which shows exactly how effective FSU’s height can be on
the defensive end. However, Maryland guard Eric Hayes and Greivis Vasquez
combined to score 39 points, going 8-of-12 from the outside.

Maryland played well at home against a ranked team. This week we’ll find out
how they can perform on the road, with trips to Wake Forest and Boston College.

Virginia (9-4, 1-0)

Virginia rallied from a 30-26 halftime deficit to defeat NC State 70-62 on
Saturday afternoon. It was a big road win for the Hoos, who appear to be rapidly
improving. A week after picking up a win over a ranked opponent (UAB), they won
their ACC opener on the road.

Virginia’s defense was excellent in this game, limiting NC State to just
40.4% from the field and 28.6% from three-point range. The Hoos committed just
10 turnovers, and they outrebounded NC State 36-30. Sylven Landesberg led the
way with 23 points for UVA, who also defeated Texas-Pan American 72-53 earlier
in the week.

The Hoos have won five games in a row, and they host Georgia Tech and Miami
in Charlottesville this week.

Miami (15-1, 1-1)

The Miami Hurricanes picked up a big conference win on Saturday, downing
visiting Wake Forest 67-66. Their 15-1 record represents Miami’s best start
since the 1959-60 season.

Wake shot just 36.2% against Miami. Al-Farouq Aminu was held to just nine
points on 3-of-12 shooting, and the rest of the team couldn’t pick up the slack.
Dwayne Collins dominated the paint for the Canes, finishing with 23 points and
11 rebounds. Malcolm Grant added 14 points for Miami, whose two ACC games have
each been decided by one point.

The Canes will spend their week in Virginia, as they play at Virginia Tech on
Wednesday night, then take on UVA on Saturday.

Duke (13-2, 1-1)

Duke blew out Iowa State 86-65 in Chicago this past week, but failed their
first road test in the ACC on Saturday by falling to Georgia Tech 71-67. The
Blue Devils have been good offensively all season, but found themselves stymied
against an athletic Georgia Tech team.

Duke shot just 43.4% from the field against the Yellow Jackets. The game was
decided on the three-point line, where the Blue Devils were an uncharacteristic
6-of-28 (21.4%). Jon Scheyer was only 3-of-13, and Kyle Singler was just 2-of-8.
Duke played good defense, as usual, but this time they couldn’t get the lid off
the basket.

The Blue Devils will look to get back on track at home this Wednesday against
struggling Boston College. They’ll also host Wake Forest on Sunday in a big
matchup between two of the ACC’s best teams.

Clemson (13-3, 1-1)

Clemson won their first ACC game of the year on Saturday, whipping Boston
College 72-56 in Littlejohn Coliseum. The Tigers dominated the Eagles in every
phase of the game. BC shot just 37.1% from the field and 12.5% from three-point
range. They never stood a chance on the road with those shooting numbers.

Trevor Booker led the way for Clemson, finishing with 19 points and four
blocks in 29 minutes of action. His brother, Devin Booker, did not score, but
led the team with eight rebounds. The Booker brothers are quite the rebounding
combination, and the Tigers feed off their energy on the inside.

Clemson hosts North Carolina on Wednesday, and then travels to NC State on
Saturday.

Florida State (13-3, 1-1)

FSU hammered Texas A&M Corpus Christi 94-54 early in the week, then lost
at Maryland 77-68 on Sunday night. The Noles are off to a good start in ACC
play, considering they’ve played two road games against tough opponents in
Georgia Tech and Maryland. Going 1-1 against that schedule is a good thing, and
now FSU has just six road games remaining on their ACC schedule.

As noted earlier, Florida State couldn’t stop Maryland’s three-point attack.
7-1 center Solomon Alabi was also shut down until late in the game. Though Alabi
finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, he missed a big stretch of the first
half with foul trouble, and that’s when Maryland was able to jump out to a big
lead.

Florida State gets two ACC home games this week, hosting NC State and
Virginia Tech. A 3-1 start in conference play would be big for the Noles.

Georgia Tech (12-3, 1-1)

It was an up and down week for Georgia Tech. They began the week by losing to
in-state rival Georgia 73-66 in Athens. The Yellow Jackets had a poor shooting
night, and their guard play was questionable. However, they followed up that
disappointing loss with a 71-67 home win over Duke, despite some noticeable
empty seats in the Thriller Dome.

Duke’s poor shooting night enabled the Yellow Jackets to do just enough to
hang on for the victory. Power forward Gani Lawal was the star, scoring 21
points and grabbing nine rebounds. Lawal was an impressive 8-of-9 from the
field.

Georgia Tech has two tough road games ahead of them, at UVA on Wednesday and
at UNC on Saturday.

Wake Forest (11-3, 1-1)

Wake Forest dropped a heartbreaker to Miami on Saturday, losing 67-66 on the
road. The Demon Deacons didn’t get a great scoring night from their star, Al-Farouq
Aminu, and as a result they had to win a defensive game. That’s not Wake’s
specialty, and Miami took advantage.

Wake shot just 36.2% from the field and 26.7% from three-point range. They
were also crushed on the inside by Dwayne Collins, who finished with 23 points
and 11 rebounds. The main thing that kept Wake in this game was free throw
shooting. They went 20-of-25 (80%) from the charity stripe, but it wasn’t
enough.

Wake hosts Maryland on Tuesday, and then travels to Duke for a big ACC Sunday
night game.

Boston College (10-6, 1-1)

Boston College was flattened at Clemson on Saturday, losing 72-56 in a game
that was never close. The Eagles didn’t get good production from some of their
top players. Corey Raji had just four points and six rebounds, while Rakim
Sanders was 4-of-14 from the field and 0-of-5 from three-point range.

Sanders still doesn’t appear completely healthy after missing much of the
non-conference slate with an injury. Joe Trapani scored 13 points and had five
rebounds for BC, but he didn’t have a lot of help.

The Eagles have a tough week coming up. They play at Duke on Wednesday, then
host Maryland on Saturday.

Virginia Tech (12-2, 0-1)

Virginia Tech led UNC 38-34 at halftime, but they were dominated down the
stretch in a 78-64 road loss. Malcolm Delaney returned from his ankle injury and
played 38 minutes, leading the team with 26 points. He scored 20 points against
the Tar Heels in the first half.

Delaney didn’t have a lot of help from his teammates in this one. Dorenzo
Hudson scored 14 points, but he was just 7-of-22 from the field. Terrell Bell
was only 2-of-11. Jeff Allen scored just four points and was benched late in the
game for bad defense in the second half. Delaney was the only Tech player to
score in the final nine minutes of the first half, and try as he might, he
couldn’t keep the Hokies in the game in the second half.

Tech hosts Miami on Wednesday night, then faces a tough matchup at Florida
State on Saturday. The Miami game is almost a must-win, as the Hokies can’t
afford to start 0-3 in conference play.

NC State (11-5, 0-2)

NC State struggled at home against Virginia on Saturday, losing 70-62. Tracy
Smith led the Wolfpack with 18 points, but NC State has serious issues with
guard play. As well as Smith has been playing on the inside, he’s not getting
much help from the perimeter.

The Wolfpack shot themselves in the foot by having a poor day at the free
throw line. They were just 16-of-25 (61.5%), while Virginia was 19-of-20 (95%).
That free throw disparity turned out to be the difference in an otherwise evenly
played game.

NC State travels to Florida State on Tuesday, and then hosts Clemson on
Saturday. The Wolfpack could find themselves at 0-4 in the ACC by this time next
week, which would cast a lot of doubt on the future of head coach Sidney Lowe.