The ACC Tournament Begins Today

Click to see the 55th ACC Tournament Bracket.

UPDATE:

Florida State, Miami, Boston College and Georgia Tech all advanced to the second round. That sets up games with Florida State vs. North Carolina, Miami vs. Virginia Tech, Duke vs. Georgia Tech and the night cap is Clemson vs. Boston College.

Florida State dropped its game to North Carolina 82-70. North Carolina will now face the winner of Miami and Virginia Tech. Miami dropped their game to Virginia Tech 63-49. Duke faced Georgia Tech, winning 82-70 and Clemson defeated Boston College in the last quarterfinal match-up.

That set up Saturday games between North Carolina vs. Virginia Tech and Duke vs. Clemson. The first semi-final game saw North Carolina defeat Virginia Tech on a Tyler Hansbrough jump shot with .8 seconds left on the game clock. In the other semi-final, Clemson defeated Duke 78-74 in, somewhat of a surprising fashion, by hitting their free throws down the stretch. I heard Coach K say (paraphrasing) "there are games that you loose and there are games that you just don't win, and this is one that we just did not win."

Tournament Recap:

The Tournament final was North Carolina vs. Clemson. This was the third time that the two teams have faced off this year. The first two games ended with North Carolina wins, but not before going to double overtime and a single overtime the second time they played in Chapel Hill. North Carolina was able to pull this one out as well, but by a closer margin than it should have been. North Carolina could not hit their free throws throughout the entire game. A team that normally does not miss, at least not very often, was only 58% from the charity stripe. North Carolina defeated Clemson 86-81.

The Bluedevils Did Their Part

The Duke Bluedevils did their part last night by going to Virginia and winning 86-70. The greatest rivalry in college basketball will have additional meaning Saturday night. When the North Carolina Tarheels make that eight mile trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium saturday night, the ACC regular season title and the No.1 seed in the ACC tournament will be at stake. Also up for grabs is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and the opportunity to play the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament in Raleigh at the RBC Center and the third and forth rounds in Charlotte.

Even if there was nothing on the line, it would still be a great game. The greatest rivalry in college basketball continues Saturday night at 9pm.

UNC over FSU

The North Carolina Tarheels added another win last night as they prepare for a showdown with the Duke Bluedevils on Saturday, March 8th. The Tarheels defeated Florida State last night 90-77, in the Dean E. Smith Center on Senior night. It was a special night for Senior Quentin Thomas, who has played such an important role for the Tarheels with the absence of Ty Lawson. Coming into the season, Thomas was third on the depth chart at the point guard position, and probably expecting his only start to come on senior night. But with the injury to Bobby Frasor and then the high ankle sprain of Ty Lawson, Thomas had to step in and deliver. And deliver he did. Under his guidance, the Tarheels were able to regain their No. 1 ranking. Since becoming a starter, the Tarheels are 7-1, with their only loss coming right out of the gate against Duke. Thomas has contributed with 6.6 points/game, just under 6 assists/game and barely over 3 turnovers/game as a starter.

Duke has a game tonight at Virginia, who is always tough with Senior Sean Singletary. Assuming that Duke is able to prevail tonight, a battle for the ACC regular season title and more than likely an NCAA No. 1 seed in the tournament will be settled Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The ACC, Simply Amazing

There were three Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball games that looked by the start of the second half, in each case, to be blow outs. The outcomes proved to be far from blow-outs. Saturday Duke traveled to Raleigh to face NC State. The Wolfpack had dropped six in a row and by games end, they would have dropped their seventh straight, based on conventional wisdom. But, as they say, that is why you play the game. NC State was 3 points ahead at the half. They extended that lead to 13 points with 10:22 left to play in the game, with no signs of looking back. The Bluedevils made a few stops and battled their way back. Poor free throw shooting down the stretch made made it impossible for the Pack to pull the game out. The Wolfpack missed three of their last six free throws after going 22 for their previous 23. The final score was Duke 87 and NC State 86.

Later Saturday afternoon, the UNC Tarheels traveled to Chestnut Hill, MA to take on the Boston College Screaming Eagles. It was a cold and snowy day outside, but the Tyrese Rice was on fire. He scored 34 points in the first half and 46 for the game. The second half opened with Boston College making the first two baskets of the half to extend their lead to 18 points. Shortly thereafter, Coach Roy Williams sent in the "blue team," replacing all five starters. That lit the spark that the Tarheels needed. They battled back to win the game by 10 points. Also a contributor in this game was Tywon Lawson, seeing his first action in six games.

The Duke and North Carolina comebacks were both special, but Clemson battling back from a 59 - 39 deficit with just 11:23 left was simply amazing. Both Maryland and Clemson were fighting to be the next team in the ACC, following Duke and North Carolina. They are also fighting for at large bids to the NCAA tournament. Clemson went on a tear. A 31-11 run brought the second half to a close. The game was tied at 70 coming out of a Clemson timeout. The play drawn up by coach Oliver Purnell was designed to get the ball into James Mays in the closing seconds. Unfortunately, Maryland did not cooperate and the Tigers had to settle for long three from Terrence Oglesby. The shot fell and Maryland had 2.3 seconds to get the ball in bounds and get off a three point shot of its own. Maryland had to settle for a shot from just short of the half court line, which came up well short.

This past weekend hammers home the point, at least to me, that year in and year out, the ACC has the best basketball conference in America.

Duke Remains Unbeaten in Conference Play

Duke topped Maryland last night 77-65. Duke remains unbeaten in conference play with a 10-0 record; Maryland fell to 6-4 and has sole possession of third place in the conference. Duke had the game well in hand for the majority of the 40-minute contest. Maryland was able to trim a halftime deficit of 11 points down to two points midway through the second half, but that was as close as they could muster. Duke was again on fire from behind the three-point line, hitting 12-25. Maryland only managed to make 3-13 from behind the arc. Kyle Singler with 26 points and Greg Paulus with 20 led Duke. Singler and Paulus were a combined 10-17 from behind the three-point line. Maryland will face Florida State on Saturday and Duke's next game is Wake Forest on Sunday.

Duke Reigns Supreme in the ACC

With the absence of point guard Tywon Lawson, describing the Tarheels as "sloppy," might just be an understatement. The Duke Bluedevils went into the Dean E. Smith Center and quieted the crowd. Duke's defense was better and they were able to hit shots from behind the arc. Duke held North Carolina to under 41% from the field and only allowed 3-17 from behind the arc. In contrast, Duke shot almost 46% from the field, including 13-29 from behind the three-point line. Duke also had six players in double figures to Carolina's four. Wayne Ellington and Danny Green where pretty much absent offensively. Alot of that can be attributed to solid defense by Duke, but Ellington and Green where a combined 4-24 and 11 points. If the Tarheels are to have any hope of avenging this loss in Cameron Indoor Stadium some 30 days from now, these two guys are going to have to step up.



Here's what Jeff Goodman of Foxsports.com wrote.

Duke over NC State

The Duke Bluedevils outlasted the NC State Wolfpack, and then some. The final score was 92-72. NC State had a 9 point lead going into halftime. The Duke Bluedevils came out of the half firing on all cylinders and outscored the Wolfpack by 29 in the second half.

NC State will face Wake Forest on Sunday (2/3) and the Virginia Tech on Tuesday. The Duke's next opponent is Miami on Saturday, followed by an 8 mile trip to North Carolina on Wednesday night. It is no coincidence that Dick Vitale will make his return courtside to call the game for ESPN.

Lucky and Good

The saying goes, "I'd rather be lucky than good." Last night, the North Carolina Tarheels were both lucky and good. The Tarheels traveled to Atlanta to face the Ramblin' Reck of Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech was looking to defend its home court, which is so important in ACC conference play. By doing so, they would be one of only three teams that has been able to hold serve with the Tarheels four times in a row. Duke and Virginia are the two teams that have been able to do this.

It was an up and down, run and gun, fast paced basketball game. North Carolina was certainly on pace to meet or exceed their scoring average of 92 on the road. The problem for the Tarheels was that Georgia Tech was playing and scoring at the same pace. From the games that I have seen, and this was echoed by the commentators last night, a game with North Carolina is a game of attrition. North Carolina will continue to fly up and down the court, they will "trap" after a made basket. Often times causing a steal, resulting in another made basket. This played out a couple of times last night. But Georgia Tech kept pace. In fact, Georgia Tech had two opportunities, inside of 12 feet in the closing seconds to win the game. The shots would not fall and Carolina came out on top with an 83-82 win.

There is no doubt that the North Carolina Tarheels are good, in fact they are very good. But without luck last night, Georgia Tech would have added their name to a list that only Duke and Virginia sit on today.

Here is the Associated Press' take courtesy of Foxsports.

In other ACC play from last night, Duke went into Tallahassee to play a Florida State Seminole team that always give Duke a tough time. Last night was no different. With 3:56 seconds left in the game, Florida State held a 55-54 lead. Duke managed to finish out the game by making 16 of the last 18 points. The final score was 70-57.

Here's more information on the game.

Virginia Tech outlasted the Virgina Cavaliers in a 70-69 overtime win. A.D. Vasallo led the Hokies with 22 points and 5 rebounds. The Cavaliers were led by Sean Singletary with 34 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists.

Game Recap.

Tobacco Road is the Most Valuable

Tobacco Road does not only offer the best college basketball in the country, but according to a study by Forbes magazine, is also the most valuable.

See the entrie article.

Wins by all of the Big Three

All three Triangle schools won non conference games last night. NC State beat North Carolina Central University 57-29 to win their seventh straight contest. The Duke Bluedevels beat Temple 74-64 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, PA. This was Coach K's 787th victory, making him sixth on the all time career win list. Duke is currently ranked No. 9 with a 12-1 record overall. North Carolina also won, defeating UNC Asheville 93-81. UNC Asheville has the country's tallest player, Kenny George who is 7 foot 7. George had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. North Carolina is still ranked No. 1 in the polls with undefeated Memphis and Kansas on their heels.



NC State travels to the Dean Dome this Saturday for what promises to be a typical high energy, high intensity, throw the records and rankings out the door Tobacco Road battle.



For information on NC State, click here. For Duke, click here. And for North Carolina, click here.

No. 9 Duke picks up another win

Cameron Indoor Stadium was the site of another Bluedevil win. Duke topped Cornell 81-67. DeMarcus Nelson led the Bluedevils with 23 points and 8 rebounds. The Bluedevils improved to 11-1.

For more information on Duke's win, click here.

Great Basketball at Madison Square Garden

Great basketball returned to Madison Square Garden last night. Unfortunately for Knicks fans, it was between two college basketball teams, the Duke Bluedevils and the Pittsburgh Panthers. It was a great game that required one overtime period to determine the outcome. After trailing by 12 at the half, the Panthers came roaring back to upset Duke 65-64. Prior to last night, Duke had not lost a game in the month of December since loosing to Stanford in 2000. Eventhough the Panthers won the game, they may have come up on the short end of the stick. Mike Cook, a senior Forward and East Carolina transfer, left the game with an undetermined knee injury just one minute into the overtime period. Hopefully Cook's injury is not serious and he will be able to make his 49th consecutive start.