The Confidential

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Archive for the category “Game Review”

11 Mar 2012

ACC Basketball Recap: Third Round ACC Tournament Action

The third round of the ACC Conference Championship has concluded.  The Championship games is now set, with North Carolina facing Florida State.

Of the two semifinal games, the only one with NCAA tournament implications was the North Carolina-North Carolina State matchup.  After losing to North Carolina, 69-67, the Wolfpack are going to have to sweat it out today when the field of 68 is announced.  This was a golden opportunity for a win because the Tar Heels were forced to play without John Henson, who has a sprained wrist.  But North Carolina still had Tyler Zeller, who contributed 23 points and 9 rebounds.  Meanwhile, Harrison Barnes added 16 points and Kendall Marshall had 10 assists.  The Wolfpack were led by CJ Leslie’s 22 points and 7 rebounds, all the more impressive since he fouled out with 8 minutes to go.  The Wolfpack bench lost track of the foul totals.  North Carolina improved to 29-4, while North Carolina State fell to 22-12.

In the other semifinal matchup, Florida State defeated Duke, 62-59.  Florida State led by as many as 10 points in the second-half, but Duke had two chances to tie the game in the final seconds.  Michael Snaer led the Seminoles with 16 points.  Austin Rivers led the Blue Devils with 19 points.  With the loss, Duke drops to 27-6.  With the win, Florida State improves to 23-9.

The results of these games mean that Florida State with play North Carolina for the ACC Championship.  In their prior meeting, Florida State embarrassed North Carolina 90-57.  Naturally, the Tar Heels will be looking for revenge.

 

 

 

 

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

ACC Basketball Recap: Second Round ACC Tournament Action

The second round of the ACC Conference Championship has concluded.  Four teams advanced on March 9, 2012: North Carolina State, Duke, North Carolina, and Florida State.

As noted yesterday, North Carolina State is a team that many consider to be on the wrong side of the bubble.  So it was huge for the Wolfpack to come up with a victory over Virginia in the ACC Tournament, 67-64.  The big hero for North Carolina State was CJ Leslie, who scored 19 points and added 14 rebounds.  With the win, North Carolina State will move on to play North Carolina.  Mike Scott led Virginia with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

The news was not as good for Miami.  Florida State defeated the Hurricanes, 82-71.  The Seminoles were led by Michael Snaer’s 20 points.   Shane Larkin led Miami with 16 points.  Joe Lunardi has Miami as the second team in the “Last Four Out.”  For more analysis on Miami’s chances, see here.

In the other quarterfinal games, Duke defeated Virginia Tech, 60-56.  North Carolina defeated Maryland, 85-69.  In New York City, Syracuse suffered only its second loss of the season, losing to Cincinnati, 71-68.  The biggest news of these three games, however, was the wrist injury suffered by John Henson.  Right now, it is being called a sprain.

Saturday’s games:

  • #1 North Carolina v #5 North Carolina State 1:00 pm
  • #2 Duke v #3 Florida State, 3:00 pm

The Championship game will, of course, be Sunday afternoon.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , , , , ,
09 Mar 2012

ACC Basketball Recap: First Round ACC Tournament Action

The first round of the ACC Conference Championship has concluded.  Four teams advanced on March 8, 2012: Maryland, Virginia Tech, North Carolina State, and Miami.

North Carolina State is a team that many consider to be on the wrong side of the bubble.  Joe Lunardi has North Carolina State as the 4th team “out” of the Big Dance.  A loss to Boston College would have destroyed the Wolfpack’s chances.  Instead, North Carolina State improved to 21-11 with a 78-57 win over the Eagles. Scott Wood led North Carolina State with 22 points.  While North Carolina State will need to win at least one more game to have a chance at cracking the field of 68, they took care of business in beating Boston College.  The Eagles, whose season ends with a 9-22 record, were led by Ryan Anderson’s 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Joe Lunardi also considers Miami on the wrong side of the bubble.  So it was important for Miami to avoid that bubble bursting when it played struggling Georgia Tech.  The Hurricanes did exactly that, beating the Yellow Jackets, 54-36.  In other words, less offense than a typical MAC football game.  Shane Larkin led the Hurricanes, who improved to 19-11, with 12 points.  Mfon Udofia led Georgia Tech, whose season ends with an 11-20 record, with 13 points.

In other games: Virginia Tech improved to 16-16 by defeating Clemson, 68-63.  Point guard Erick Green led Virginia Tech with 24 points, while Tanner Smith led Clemson with 12 points.  Maryland defeated Wake Forest 82-60 to improve to 17-14.  Terrell Stoglin scored 25 points to lead Maryland, while Wake Forest–whose season ended at 13-18–was led by Travis McKie’s 22 points.  Also, Syracuse improved to 31-1 by defeating Connecticut 58-55.  Dion Waiters led Syracuse with 18 points.

Friday’s games:

  • #1 North Carolina v #8 Maryland, noon
  • #4 Virginia v #5 North Carolina State 2:00 pm
  • #2 Duke v #10 Virginia Tech, 7:00 pm
  • #1 Syracuse v #4 Cincinnati, 7:00 pm
  • #3 Florida State v #6 Miami, 9:00 pm

For North Carolina State and Miami, the only option is winning.

 

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , , , , ,
04 Mar 2012

All Three ACC Favorites Win on Sunday

Today was a big day for three ACC teams.  While Florida State and Virginia are playing for seeding, North Carolina State is playing to get on the right side of the proverbial bubble.  All three teams won.

As noted above, North Carolina State really needed to win on Sunday.  And they did, beating Virginia Tech, 70-58.  With the win, the Wolfpack improved to 20-11 and 9-7 in conference play.  Scott Wood led North Carolina State with 19 points, but CJ Leslie was a huge contributor with 18 points and 11 rebounds.  Although Virginia Tech has struggled to a 15-16 record, the Hokies play everyone tough at home and rarely lose by a significant margin.  Cadarian Raines scored 15 points to lead the Hokies.

In Maryland, #24 Virginia improved to 22-8 and 9-7 in conference play by getting an overtime road win over the Terrapins, 75-72.  The big hero of the day was Virginia Senior Mike Scott, who scored 35 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.  He also scored 7 of Virginia’s 14 overtime points.  Terrell Stoglin scored 25 points to lead the Terps, who dropped to 16-14 overall and 6-10 in conference play.

In Tallahassee, #22 Florida State held off suddenly-rolling Clemson, 80-72.  Clemson was down by 16 at the half, but rallied to get it within 3 with 30 seconds to go.  But Florida State scored the final five points to improve to 21-9 and 12-4 in conference play.  With the loss, Clemson drops to 16-14 and a respectable 8-8 in conference play. Michael Snaer led Florida State with 23 points, while K.J. McDaniels and Andre Young scored 16 points to lead Clemson.

With these results, here are the final standings for the ACC regular season (including the March 4, 2012, games):

School Conf. Pct. Overall Pct.
North Carolina 14-2 .875 27-4 .871
Duke 13-3 .812 26-5 .839
Florida State 12-4 .750 21-9 .700
Virginia 9-7 .562 22-8 .733
NC State 9-7 .562 20-11 .645
Miami 9-7 .562 18-11 .621
Clemson 8-8 .500 16-14 .533
Maryland 6-10 .375 16-14 .533
Virginia Tech 4-12 .250 15-16 .484
Wake Forest 4-12 .250 13-17 .433
Georgia Tech 4-12 .250 11-19 .367
Boston College 4-12 .250 9-21 .300
Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Game Review and tagged , , , , ,
04 Mar 2012

North Carolina Wraps Up ACC Regular Season Title

The game of the day in the ACC on March 3, 2012, was the matchup between #4 Duke and #6 North Carolina.  Both teams were tied for #1 overall in the ACC with their identical 13-2 conference records and 26-4 overall records.  But North Carolina dominated Duke on Saturday, winning 88-70.

Not only was it an 18-point victory, but North Carolina led by 24 at the half.  The Tar Heels out-rebounded Due–normally a good rebounding team–42 to 22.  North Carolina shot 54.5% from the field and limited Duke to a mere 41.3%.  As is the case whenever Duke is at home, the Blue Devils had more free throw attempts than the visitor.  But Duke only made 57.1% of their attempts, compared to North Carolina’s 80%.  Simply domination.

The numbers jump off the page.  All five North Carolina starters finished in double-figures:

  • Kendall Marshall: 20 points, 10 assists, 4 rebounds
  • Tyler Zeller: 19 points, 10 rebounds
  • Harrison Barnes: 16 points, 4 rebounds
  • John Henson: 13 points, 10 rebounds
  • Reggie Bullock: 12 points, 6 rebounds

While North Carolina’s depth is questionable, no team has five starters that can do that kind of damage.  With a nice showing in the ACC tournament, the Tar Heels may yet end up with a #1 seed.

For Duke, it is a disappointing effort ending an otherwise decent regular season.  There have to be concerns about the defense.  But this is a Duke team that lost to Florida State and Miami at home.  Mason Plumlee had 17 points, while Miles Plumlee added 16 points and 11 rebounds.  Austin Rivers also had 15 points.  All told, losing to North Carolina in this fashion is not as disturbing as North Carolina’s undressing by Florida State.  This is not a vintage Duke team, but it can do some damage in March.

The Confidential will have a weekend recap Monday morning…

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , , ,
01 Mar 2012

ACC Basketball Recap: February 29, 2012

Leap Day–February 29, 2012–a day of basketball for the ACC.

The big game of the day was the matchup between two bubble teams–North Carolina State and Miami.  Ultimately, the Wolfpack successfully defended its home court and kept its March hopes alive by defeating the Hurricanes, 77-73.  However, Miami led at the half by two points and this win did not come easily by any stretch.  Rion Brown came off the bench to lead Miami with 15 points, while Malcolm Grant added 14.  The Hurricanes dropped to 8-7 in conference play and 17-11 overall.  CJ Leslie was the big star for North Carolina State, scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.  Lorenzo Brown added 16 for the Wolfpack, who improved to 8-7 in conference play and 19-11 overall.

How about a little credit to Boston College?  With nothing but pride to play for–and nothing to play for in many months in fact–the Eagles defeated Georgia Tech, 56-52, for yet another conference win.  Boston College was led by Matt Humphrey with 13 points and Ryan Anderson with 10 points.  Daniel Miller led Georgia Tech with 13 points.  With the loss, Georgia Tech drops to 10-19 overall and 3-12 in conference play.  With the win, Boston College improves to 9-20 overall, but also to 4-11 in conference play.  That’s just enough to get the Eagles out of last place in the ACC standings.

And the Confidential will throw some credit to Pittsburgh too.  The season has been a disappointment, but senior Ashton Gibbs led Pittsburgh to an 89-69 home win over St. Johns in the regular season home finale.  Gibbs scored 19 points and Dante Taylor added 17.  With the win, the Panthers moved to 16-14 overall and 5-12 in conference play.  A bright spot in an otherwise gloomy season.

Nothing gloomy for North Carolina.  The #6 Tar Heels improved to 26-4 by handily defeating Maryland, 88-64, in the final home game of the year.  Senior Tyler Zeller went out in style, scoring 30 points  and grabbing 8 rebounds in his home finale.  Josh Henson added 19 points and 9 rebounds, while Kendall Marshall dished out 8 assists.  North Carolina’s defense held ACC leading scorer Terrell Stoglin to 4 for 18 shooting, although he finished with 16 points.  Nick Faust led the Terps with a career-high 17 points.  With the loss, Maryland drops to 16-13 overall and 6-9 in conference play.

After these games, here are the updated ACC Standings:

ACC Standings

TEAM CONF OVERALL
Duke 13-2 26-4
North Carolina 13-2 26-4
Florida State 10-4 19-9
Virginia 8-6 21-7
North Carolina State 8-7 19-11
Miami (FL) 8-7 17-11
Clemson 7-7 15-13
Maryland 6-9 16-13
Virginia Tech 4-10 15-14
Wake Forest 4-11 13-16
Boston College 4-11 9-20
Georgia Tech 3-12 10-19
Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , , ,
24 Feb 2012

Duke Defeats Florida State

#5 Duke avenged its earlier home loss to #15 Florida State by returning the favor last night, defeating the Seminoles 74-66.  With the win, Duke improves to 24-4 and is now tied with #8 North Carolina for first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.  Both teams share a 24-4 overall record and 11-2 conference record.

The Blue Devils were led by Andre Dawkins’ 22 points off the bench, while Austin Rivers added another 20.  Surprisingly, Duke was able to win despite being outrebounded.  Florida State had the rebounding edge, 37-30.  From a scoring standpoint, the Seminoles were led by Michael Snaer’s 18 points.  Bernard James added 13 points and 9 rebounds.

With the loss, Florida State drops to a very respectful 19-8, with a 10-3 conference record.  That is good enough for third in the conference standings.  See below.  Florida State has little time to rest, however, as it must head on the road to Miami and Virginia for its next two games.  Both teams are in the top half of the standings.  The finale is a home game against Clemson.

Duke’s next two games are against Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.  As is the case every year, its season will conclude against North Carolina on March 3.

With only three regular season games remaining for all teams, here are the updated standings:

Team Conf. W-L Tot. W-L
Duke 11-2 24-4
North Carolina 11-2 24-4
Florida St. 10-3 19-8
Virginia 8-5 21-6
N.C. State 7-6 18-10
Miami (Fla.) 7-6 16-10
Maryland 6-7 16-11
Clemson 6-7 14-13
Virginia Tech 4-9 15-13
Wake Forest 3-10 12-15
Boston College 3-10 8-19
Georgia Tech 2-11 9-18
Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , ,
17 Feb 2012

ACC Basketball Recap: February 16, 2012

February 16, 2012, was a great day of college basketball in the ACC.

First, #5 Duke rallied from a 20-point deficit to defeat North Carolina State, 78-73.  In fact, the Wolfpack led at the half by 16 points.  But Duke really outplayed North Carolina State down the stretch to prevent a big upset.  Seth Curry was the scoring leader for Duke with 26 points, while Austin Rivers added 16.  Lorenzo Brown led the Wolfpack, who dropped to 18-8 with the loss, with 19 points.  Duke improved to 22-4 with the win.

Second, #20 Florida State won in the final seconds again, defeating Virginia Tech, 48-47.  Once again, it was Michael Snaer providing the heroics with a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left.  Against Duke, Snaer did it as time expired.  Snaer and Ian Miller were the scoring leaders for Florida State with 9 and 11 points, respectively.  Erick Green led Virginia Tech, who dropped to 14-12 with the loss, with 18 points.  Florida State is now 18-7 on the season.

Third, on a less exciting note, Maryland defeated Boston College 81-65.  This one was never really in doubt as Maryland led by 14 at the half.  Ryan Anderson led the 8-18 Eagles with 22 points and 10 rebounds.  Terrell Stoglin led Maryland with 24 points.  With the win, Maryland improves to 15-10 overall and keeps its Big Dance dreams alive.

Finally, Pittsburgh’s woes continued as they suffered a 66-48 home loss to rival West Virginia.  This game was actually close at the half (26-25), but West Virginia pulled away in the second-half.  Pittsburgh drops to 15-12 overall and 4-10 in conference play.

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review 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 , , , ,

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