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13 Feb 2012

ACC Basketball Rankings: February 13, 2012

This is particularly complex with Pitt and Syracuse not yet in the ACC, but it can still be done.  Here is how we view the ACC basketball schools as of February 13, 2012:

1.  Syracuse (25-1)  It took overtime for Syracuse to beat Georgetown, but the Orange pulled away from UConn.  Up next is their nemesis: Louisville.

2. Duke (21-4)  A buzzer beater is still a win.  Duke was able to beat North Carolina on the road and then handle Maryland at home.Looked dominant in wins over Wake Forest and Maryland.  Next up?  Duke and Virginia.

3. North Carolina (21-4)  The loss to Duke was a disappointment.  The Tar Heels rebounded nicely in a win against Virginia.

4. Florida State (17-7)  Florida State is handling the good teams.  Unfortunately, it has been Clemson and Boston College that tripped them up.

5. Virginia (19-5)  The loss to the Tar Heels was not unexpected.  A road trip to Clemson awaits.

6. North Carolina State (18-7)  North Carolina State is making a nice run at the Big Dance.  The problem is that its games this week are against Duke (away) and Florida State (home).

7.  Miami (15-8)  Miami followed up the Duke win with a win over Virginia Tech.  But Florida State was too much for the Hurricanes.

8. Maryland (14-10)  Maryland is running short on opportunities to get the wins.  This week is Boston College (home) and Virginia (away).  The .500 weeks are not getting it done.

9. Pittsburgh (15-11)  The win over Villanova has faded.  The Panthers followed that up with road losses to USF and Seton Hall.

10.  Clemson (12-12)  Clemson split the week again, losing to Maryland and crushing Wake Forest.

11.  Virginia Tech (14-11)  The conference games have destroyed this team.  They finally had some luck against Boston College with a last second-win.

12. Boston College (8-17)  The win over Florida State has to be worth sliding up a few slots.  And they almost nipped Virginia Tech on the road.

13. Wake Forest (11-14) Not only is Wake Forest losing, they are getting blown out.  That is not going to get it done.

14. Georgia Tech (9-15)  Georgia Tech continues to struggle.  This season will end in disappointment, unfortunately.

Agree?  Disagree?  Let us know!

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
12 Feb 2012

Virginia Tech Wins in Final Seconds

Virginia Tech, a team desperate for wins just to make any post-season tournament, finally got a lucky bounce.  Dorian Finney-Smith scored on a tip-in with 1.8 seconds left to give Virginia Tech a 66-65 win over Boston College.  Finney-Smith led the Hokies with 17 points.  With the win, the Hokies move to 14-11 and 3-7 in conference play.

Boston College played good enough to win, shooting 55.8% from the field.  But it was not enough to get the win.  Ryan Anderson led Boston College with 17 points.  With the loss, the Eagles drop to 8-17 overall and 3-8 in conference play.

In the only other action, Pittsburgh fell to Seton Hall on the road, 73-66.  Herb Pope and Aaron Crosby each scored 19 points for the Pirates.  The Panthers were led by Ashton Gibbs’ 26 points.  That’s two losses in a row for Pittsburgh, as the already slim Big Dance hopes appear to be gone.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , ,
12 Feb 2012

Duke Improves to 21-4

The #5 Duke Blue Devils avoided any concern about a hangover from their Wednesday victory over North Carolina by defeating the Maryland Terrapins on Saturday, 73-55.  Notwithstanding the final score, the teams were close for much of the contest.  In fact, Duke only led by 3 at halftime.

But the second-half ended up being a different story, as the Blue Devils overwhelmed the Terrapins.  In addition to the margin of the final score, Duke outrebounded Maryland 48-33.  Miles Plumlee led Duke with 22 rebounds, while brother Mason Plumlee added 10.  They also added 13 and 16 points, respectively.  Seth Curry led Duke with 19 points.  Wednesday’s hero Austin Rivers also scored 11.

The Terrapins were led by Nick Faust’s 15 points and 8 rebounds.  With the loss, Maryland drops to 14-10 on the season.  Duke improves to 21-4.

In other action Saturday, Clemson beat Wake Forest, 78-58.  Tanner Smith led Clemson, who improved to 12-12, with 20 points.  CJ Harris led the Demon Deacons with 18 points.  With the loss, Wake Forest dropped to 11-14.

As noted yesterday, the other ranked ACC teams fared well.  #2 Syracuse, #5 North Carolina, and #15 Florida State all won.  #19 Virginia lost to North Carolina.

In today’s action, Pittsburgh will travel to Seton Hall in a noon contest.  In the ACC Sunday Night Game of the Week, Boston College will travel to Virginia Tech.

 

 

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , ,
11 Feb 2012
1 Comment

Syracuse and North Carolina Win on Saturday Afternoon

A lot of big games in the ACC on February 11, 2012.  So far, with the afternoon games over, the favorites are doing what they need to do.

In the big ACC game of the day, #5 North Carolina rebounded from its loss to Duke by handily defeating #19 Virginia, 70-52.  Virginia led by a score of 41-40 with fifteen minutes to go, but the Tar Heels overwhelmed the Cavaliers down the stretch.  The size of the Tar Heels was a big problem for Virginia, as North Carolina finished the game with a 48-31 rebounding edge.  Mike Scott did his best, as usual, for Virginia with 18 points.  The big trio for North Carolina starred, with Tyler Zeller leading the way with 25 points and 9 rebounds.  Both Josh Henson and Harrison Barnes had double-doubles.  Barnes had 14 points and 11 rebounds, while  Henson had 10 points and 10 rebounds.  With the loss, Virginia drops to a still-decent 19-5.  North Carolina improved to 21-4.

#15 Florida State got back to its winning ways with a 64-59 win over rival Miami.  This game was close throughout, although Florida State maintained a lead for most of the second-half.  Kenny Kadji led the Hurricanes with 14 points, while Durand Scott added 12.  With the loss, Miami drops to 15-8.  Florida State was led by Bernard James, who scored 18 points and 6 rebounds.  With the win, Florida State improves to 17-7.

In Syracuse, 33,430 fans packed the Carrier Dome to watch #1 Syracuse improve to 25-1 by defeating Connecticut, 85-67.  The score is a big misleading as this game was 63-61 with approximately 6 minutes to go.  But Scoop Jardine hit a big three-pointer for Syracuse, and the Orange finished the game on a 22-6 run.  Jardine led the Orange with 21 points on 8 of 9 shooting.  CJ Fair and Dion Waiters were strong off the bench, as Fair scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while Waiters scored 18 points.  Kris Joseph also scored 15 points for Syracuse.   UConn was led by Jeremy Lamb’s 18 points, but it was Ryan Boatwright and Andre Drummond that did most of the damage when the game was close.  Boatwright finished with 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.  Despite missing time with an injury, Drummond finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds.  With the loss, UConn drops to 15-9 and may be playing its way onto the bubble.  Syracuse is now 12-1 in Big East conference play.

And there is plenty of late afternoon and evening action yet to come…

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , , ,
10 Feb 2012

This Day in ACC History: 50 Years Ago (Wake Forest @ North Carolina)

In a new feature, the Confidential will attempt to bridge the gap between yesterday and today by providing some publicity for ACC events from the past.  Today, the Confidential takes a look at a regular season game between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.  The game took place on February 10, 1962–exactly 50 years ago today.

At the time, these were two of the true blue-bloods of ACC basketball.  North Carolina had already established itself as a great basketball school, most recently under the coaching of Frank McGuire.  Wake Forest would finish #1 in the ACC during the 1961-1962 season.    On February 10, 1962, Wake Forest traveled to North Carolina and won, 87-80.

One of the notable facts of this game is that North Carolina was coached by a young man named Dean Smith.  The Wake Forest game was only his 11th game ever.  As we know, he would go on to win many more games before retiring in 1997 with a then-record 879 wins.  While that record has since fallen to Coach K, Bob Knight, and most recently Jim Boeheim, Dean Smith was a legend in the game.

But the 1961-1962 North Carolina team would struggle.  First, due to a point-shaving scandal, the team drastically cut back its regular season schedule.  Second, the team would finish 8-9 on the year, including 7-7 in conference play.

Against Wake Forest, the Tar Heels were led by Senior Larry Brown’s 21 points.  Yes, that Larry Brown.  Brown led the team in scoring that year with 16.5 points per game.  Senior Jim Hudock also scored 21 points.

Wake Forest jumped out to a 47-37 lead at the half, before holding on to win the game.  The leading scorer was Senior Forward Len Chappell, who scored 36 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.  On the season, Chappell would average a remarkable 30.1 points and 15.2 rebounds per game.  Senior Guard Billy Packer also contributed 14 points in the win over North Carolina.  Yes, that Billy Packer.

The Demon Deacons would finish the ACC slate 12-2.  They then defeated Clemson to win the ACC conference tournament.  And then in the Big Dance (although not quite as big back then), Wake Forest advanced to the Final Four with wins over Yale, St. Joseph’s, and Villanova.  Wake would lose to Ohio State before beating UCLA in the consolation game.

That was a lot of star power on one court–only nobody could have possibly realized it yet.  Fifty years later–two coaching icons and a broadcasting icon.

Do you remember this game?  Please feel free to share any details…

Billy Packer. Image courtesty of CBS @ http://www.cbssports.com/cbssports/team/bpacker

Billy Packer. Image courtesy of CBS @ http://www.cbssports.com/cbssports/team/bpacker

This Day in History is a feature that relies heavily on information obtained from Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Games, Michael O’ Hara, McFarland & Company, Inc. (2008).  Special thanks to that fine publication.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, This Day in ACC and tagged , , , ,
09 Feb 2012

Rivalry Week Recap

Yesterday, the Confidential noted that February 8, 2012, featured two of the best rivalries in college basketball–Duke/North Carolina & Syracuse/Georgetown.  The games certainly ended up living up to the hype.

In the premier ACC match up of the day, Duke’s Austin Rivers hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Duke an 85-84 win at North Carolina.  North Carolina led by as many as 13 points in the second-half.  They also led by 10 points with less than 3 minutes remaining. But Duke was able to gradually chip away at the margin down the stretch. For North Carolina, this will certainly be a painful loss.  There was the blown lead.  The errant tip-in.  The missed free throws.   And ANY loss to Duke already hurts.

Rivers was not just the hero at the end, but scored 29 points to lead all scorers.  Harrison Barnes and Tyler Zeller scored 25 and 23, respectively, for North Carolina.  Josh Henson had an impressive 17 rebounds, while Zeller added 11.  Mason Plumlee led Duke with 14 rebounds.  Both teams are now 7-2 in conference play and 20-4 overall.

Up in Syracuse, it took an overtime period, but the Orange defeated the Georgetown Hoyas, 64-61.  In the process, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim won his 880th career game, moving him out of a tie with North Carolina’s legendary coach Dean Smith for third place all-time.

Much like Rivers, Syracuse’s Kris Joseph was the hero–scoring 29 points and hitting a three-pointer with 29 seconds left that provided the final margin of victory.  This game was incredibly close throughout as neither team led by more than 6 points, while there more than a dozen lead changes and ties.  Both teams also played stifling defense–neither team shot more than 35% from the field.

Georgetown was led by Otto Porter’s 14 points and 13 rebounds.  In addition to Joseph, Fab Melo scored 11 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, and blocked 6 shots.  With the win, Syracuse moves to 24-1 overall, including an 11-1 record in conference games.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , , , ,
08 Feb 2012

Boston College Stuns Florida State

The Seminoles can blame it on the Confidential.  For weeks, Florida State has been surging.  The Confidential finally took notice and put Florida State at #3 in the ACC and #13 overall–and the next game result was a loss to lowly (sorry) Boston College, 64-60.

If you are keeping score at home, this means that Florida State has beaten Duke on the road and demolished North Carolina, but also lost to Clemson by 20 and now Boston College.  Needless to say, this is a very disappointing loss.

For Boston College, however, it is a bright spot in a season that has had very few of them.  Jordan Daniels led the Eagles with 19 points.  Matt Humphrey added 15 points and Ryan Anderson contributed 14 points and six rebounds.  With the win, Boston College improves to 3-7 in conference play and 8-16 overall.

Michael Snaer scored 16 points for Florida State, but struggled mightily from the field going 6 for 18. With the loss, Florida State drops to 7-2 in conference play and 16-7 overall.

In the other non-rivalry games involving ACC teams:

  • #20 Virginia handily defeated Wake Forest, 68-44.  Mike Scott led the five-players that scored in double-figures for the Cavs with 19 points on 9 of 9 shooting from the field.  Virginia’s stifling defense held Wake Forest to 34.1% shooting.  Travis McKie led Wake Forest with 16 points.  With the loss, Wake Forest drops to 11-13.  Virginia improves to 19-4.
  • Pittsburgh’s four-game winning streak was snapped as South Florida continued its surprising season with a 63-51 win over the visiting Panthers.  The Bulls were led by Hugh Robertson’s 18 points.  The fact that South Florida shot 60.5% from the field certainly helped.  In contrast, Pitt was held to 34.6% shooting, led by Tray Woodall’s 11 points.  Pittsburgh is now 15-10 on the season and 4-8 in conference play.  South Florida is 14-10, including 7-4 in conference games.

Ryan Anderson, image courtesty of US Pressire and CBS Sports. Image can be found at http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/gametracker/recap/NCAAB_20120208_FLST@BC

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , , ,
08 Feb 2012
3 Comments

Rivalry Day Preview: February 8, 2012

February 8, 2012, is a big day for ACC hoops.

First, all five teams that are currently ranked play games tonight:

  • #2 Syracuse hosts #12 Georgetown
  • #5 North Carolina hosts #10 Duke
  • #15 Florida State travels to unranked Boston College
  • #19 Virginia hosts unranked Wake Forest

Second, this is rivalry week for ESPN purposes, as the Syracuse-Georgetown and North Carolina-Duke games will be on ESPN at 7pm and 9pm, respectively.  Actually, the full name of the evening is this mouthful: Wednesday Night Hoops presented by Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups as Part of Rivalry Week.

Third, these are not just rivalry games, but perhaps two of the best rivalries in all of college basketball.  USA Today has both of these has top 25 rivalries, although that list is far too slanted towards college football to be meaningful.  SB Nation’s list focuses on college basketball and gives a better appraisal.  Still, for long-time ACC fans, it is probably easy to look down on the Syracuse-Georgetown rivalry, as it just started in earnest with the formation of the Big East in 1979-1980.  In contrast, the Carolina schools have been hated rivals for much longer than that.  Plus, Syracuse is not quite in the ACC fold yet, and Georgetown is certainly not part of the ACC.  In contrast, Duke-North Carolina is a matchup of two ACC schools.

Fourth, Syracuse is expected to draw more than 30,000 fans to the game tonight.  North Carolina is certain to draw its capacity of 21,000+.  These are simply huge games.

Fifth, and finally, these two games feature 4 of the top 12 teams in college basketball.  And Georgetown is playing like a top 10 team of late.  All four teams still need statement games to show the tournament committee that they are deserving of the #1 overall seed, a #1 seed, or merely a top 3 seed.  And then there is conference tournament seeding.  So there is much more to play for than merely pride.

If you love college basketball and the ACC, tonight will be a great night.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball and tagged , , , , , , ,
07 Feb 2012
1 Comment

The Confidential’s Basketball Top 30 for February 7, 2012

With over 300 teams in college basketball, the top 25 is just not enough anymore.  Here is the Confidential’s Top 30 for February 7, 2012 (before tonight’s games):

  1. Syracuse (23-1).  The return of Fab Melo injected life into Syracuse.  However, a massively tough schedule awaits.  Next up: Georgetown.
  2. Kentucky (23-1).  The Florida game is finally here.  Winner gets some serious momentum.  Next up: Florida.
  3. Ohio State (20-3).  Big win at Wisconsin.  Can they hold off Michigan State?  Next up: Purdue.
  4. Missouri (22-2).  Got the needed win over Kansas to stay solidly on the top line in bracket predictions.  Then won at Oklahoma.  Next up: @ Kansas.
  5. Baylor (21-2).  Very tough week for the Bears, who seem to be feast or famine on the schedule.  Road trip to Missouri looms after the next game.  Next up: Kansas.
  6. North Carolina (20-3).  North Carolina is really on a roll since the Florida State embarrassment.  The Duke game is finally here.  Next up: Duke.
  7. Michigan State (18-5).  Missing the extra-point to lose at Illinois 42-41, hurts.  But MSU has been better for the past few weeks than Duke.  Will it continue? Next up: Penn State.
  8. Duke (19-4).  The Florida State loss was understandable–even at home.  But a home loss to Miami?  Next up: @ North Carolina.
  9. Florida (19-4).  The Gators have been on a mini-roll lately.  But the Kentucky game will be a true test of where this team is at.  Next up: @ Kentucky.
  10. Kansas (18-5).  All of the sudden, Kansas has five losses.  And it gets Baylor next.  Next up: @ Baylor.
  11. Georgetown (18-4).  Looked real good in beating UConn.  Looked even better beating a much improved South Florida team.  Next up: @ Syracuse.
  12. Murray State (23-0).  This team should not be this high, but the other teams in the second ten keep losing.  Next up: Tennessee State.
  13. Florida State (16-6).  Who has done more lately?  Six losses are high, but this team is on fire.  Next up: @ Boston College.
  14. Creighton (21-3).  Creighton finally dropped a game–at Northern Iowa.  Still a solid resume.  Next up: @ Evansville.
  15. San Diego State (20-3).  Yet another 20-win season for San Diego State.  Next up: @ UNLV.
  16. Virginia (18-4).  Ran into the unstoppable Seminoles.  Almost stopped them too.  Next up: Wake Forest.
  17. Wisconsin (18-6).  The home loss to Ohio State was disappointing, but not the end of the world.  Still on a roll lately.  Next up: @ Minnesota.
  18. Marquette (20-5).  The blowout loss at Notre Dame was a shocker.  But the Irish have been pretty good at home and Marquette was due for a loss.  Next up: @ DePaul.
  19. UNLV (21-4).  Losing at Wyoming is not as damaging as it sounds.  Still, UNLV only has so many chances to impress.  A missed opportunity.  One awaits.  Next up: San Diego State.
  20. Indiana (18-6).  Split a tough road swing at Michigan and Purdue.  The wins are slowing down a bit for this young team.  Next up: Illinois.
  21. Michigan (17-7).  Beat Indiana, before losing to Michigan State in East Lansing.  That latter would have been a huge win.  Next up: @ Nebraska.
  22. Mississippi State (18-5).  Got the win over Auburn.  Two more home games ahead on the schedule.  Next up: Mississippi.
  23. St. Mary’s (22-2).  Was able to focus against San Diego.  The big game is next though.  Next up: @ Gonzaga.
  24. Southern Mississippi (20-3) Debuted in this ranking last week.  Moves up after the win over Memphis.  Next up: @ UAB.
  25. Louisville (18-5).  The Cardinals demolished UConn last night.  Big weekend ahead with a trip to West Virginia before hosting Syracuse.  Next up: @ West Virginia.
  26. Notre Dame (15-8).  The win over Syracuse could be rationalized by the absence of Fab Melo.  But the Irish stopped Marquette’s momentum.  Next up: @ West Virginia.
  27. Iowa State (17-6)  All of the sudden Iowa State is making a move.  Swept the Kansas schools and then won at Oklahoma.  Next up: @ Oklahoma State.
  28. Virginia Commonwealth (20-5).  The Rams have won 9 straight.  The out-of-conference performance was a little weak, so they need this late run.  Next up: Towson.
  29. New Mexico (19-4).  Going to have to upset either San Diego State or UNLV to make some real noise.  Those opportunities will both come next week.  Next up: Wyoming.
  30. Washington (16-7).  The Huskies have won 5 in a row.  Not a lot of horrible losses, really… just too many of them.  Next up: @ Oregon.

Tell us what you think.  Is anyone unfairly missing?  Anyone too high or too low?

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Rankings and tagged , , , , , ,
06 Feb 2012
1 Comment

ACC Basketball Rankings: February 6, 2012

This is particularly complex with Pitt and Syracuse not yet in the ACC, but it can still be done.  Here is how we view the ACC basketball schools as of January 30, 2012:

1.  Syracuse (23-1)  With Fab Melo back, the Orange returned to their dominant ways.  However, all seven remaining games for the Orange are against teams in the top half of the Big East standings.  This will not end easy for Syracuse.

2. North Carolina (20-3)  Looked dominant in wins over Wake Forest and Maryland.  Next up?  Duke and Virginia.

3. Florida State (16-6)  That’s seven straight conference wins for the Seminoles.  In the process, they have defeated nationally ranked Virginia and North Carolina at home, while defeating Maryland and Duke on the road.

4. Duke (19-4)  The home loss to Florida State at the buzzer was a shocker.  Losing to Miami?  This isn’t football.

5. Virginia (18-4)  No shame in losing to Florida State on the road.  Virginia fared much better than the Tar Heels.

6. North Carolina State (17-7)  A good week for the Wolfpack, who beat both BC and Wake Forest to get back to their winning ways.  All five starters were in double-digits against Wake too.

7.  Miami (14-7)  The win over Duke, at Duke, was the marquee win that Miami needed.  Now they need to keep up the 6-3 conference pace down the stretch.

8. Maryland (13-9)  While the loss to North Carolina stings, it was the road loss to Miami that will be regretted.  That was a winnable game, as evidenced by the overtime.

9. Pittsburgh (15-9)  Don’t look know, but the Panthers have won four straight.  If they keep this up, the Big Dance is not out of the question.

10. Virginia Tech (13-10)  The Hokies took care of business against Clemson.  That 2-6 conference record still hurts.

11. Clemson (11-11)  Swept by both Virginia schools.  A tough road for the Tigers this past week.

12. Wake Forest (11-12)  Wake Forest was overmatched by North Carolina and North Carolina State.  Not a surprise.

13. Georgia Tech (9-14)  Georgia Tech is part of the 3-way tie in the ACC cellar at 2-7 in conference play.  The win over BC gets them to 13th.

14. Boston College (7-16)  The Eagles could have gotten out of the cellar with a win against Georgia Tech.  Alas, it was not meant to be.

Agree?  Disagree?  Let us know!

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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