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11 Feb 2012
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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 , , , , , ,
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 , , , , , ,
05 Feb 2012

ACC Basketball Recap: February 4, 2012

A few teams got ready for their big rivalry games this week by winning tough games on the road.  Here is the recap for the ACC basketball action on February 4, 2012.

#5 North Carolina traveled to Maryland in a Saturday tune-up for its midweek rivalry game against Duke and came away with a hard-fought victory.  Maryland led at the half and stayed within striking distance throughout the second-half.  However, North Carolina was just too much in the end, winning 83-74.  With the loss, Maryland falls to 13-9.  Terrell Stoglin led the Terps with 20 points, while Alex Len had 9 rebounds.  North Carolina got big games out of its big three, with Tyler Zeller scoring 22 points and grabbing 7 rebounds, while Harrison Barnes added 18 points and 8 rebounds and John Henson added 17 points and 12 rebounds.  North Carolina improved to 20-3 on the season.

#2 Syracuse had an easier time in the tuneup before its midweek rivalry game against Georgetown, handling St. Johns 95-70.  The big news for the Orange was the return of Sophomore center Fab Melo, who led the Orange with 14 points.  Syracuse actually had five players with either 13 or 14 points, including Melo, CJ Fair (14), Dion Waiters (14), Kris Joseph (13), and Michael Carter-Williams (13).  Carter-Williams, a freshman, got Syracuse rolling with two first-half three pointers on consecutive possessions.  With the win Syracuse improves to 23-1, while Jim Boeheim tied Dean Smith for 3rd in career coaching wins with 879.

#21 Florida State kept the momentum going, defeating #16 Virginia 58-55.  The win was the Seminoles’ 7th straight–a first for the team since joining the ACC.  With the exception of a portion of the second half, the game was close throughout.  And Virginia had opportunities to tie in the final minute.  With the loss, Virginia drops to a still-impressive 18-4.  But with the win, Florida State maintains its tie for first place in the ACC with a 7-1 record.  The Seminoles are 16-6 overall.  The Cavs were led by Mike Scott’s 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Joe Harris also scored 16 points.  In victory, Florida State was led by reserve Okaro White’s 13 points.  Xavier Gibson was the only other Seminole in double-digits with 10 points.

North Carolina State improved to 17-7 with an 87-76 win over Wake Forest. With the loss, Wake Forest dropped to 2-7 in conference play.  CJ Harris led Wake Forest with 21 points.  All five NC State starters finished in double-figures in points: Scott Wood (23), CJ Leslie (18), CJ Williams (18), Lorenzo Brown (15), and Ty Walker (12).  Howell added 11 rebounds, while Brown added 8 assists.  And, yes, that’s three players named CJ in one game.

In other action:

  • Virginia Tech got back on the winning track with a 67-65 home win over Clemson.  Andre Young and K.J. McDaniels led the Tigers, who dropped to 11-11 on the season, with 14 points each.  The Hokies were led by Jarell Eddie’s 15 points.  Virginia Tech is now 13-10 overall, including 2-6 in ACC play.
  • Georgia Tech defeated Boston College 51-47 to force a three-way tie for last place in the ACC at 2-7 (both schools and Wake Forest).  The Eagles were led by Matt Humphrey’s 15 points.  Glen Rice, Jr., led Georgia Tech with 11 points.

 

 

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

#7 Duke Defeats Virginia Tech

At 12-9 when it hosted #7 Duke last night, the Virginia Tech Hokies had a chance to get a crucial victory.  Instead, the Blue Devils rolled to a 75-60 victory, dropping Virginia Tech to 12-10.

Although the game was tied at 21, Duke led handily for most of the game.  In fact, Duke led at the half 38-28, and that score required a three-pointer by Erick Green at the buzzer to make it that close.  Duke went on a 24-12 run to open the second-half and make the game a no-doubter.

Erick Green led Virginia Tech with 17 points and 7 rebounds.  Victory Davila added 16 points and 7 rebounds.  With the loss, Virginia Tech is now 1-6 in conference play.  Only Georgia Tech at 1-7 has a worse record in conference play.  Virginia Tech hosts Clemson on Saturday.

Duke was led by Austin Rivers with 18 points. But three other players scored in double-figures: Ryan Kelly (15), Seth Curry (11), and Mason Plumlee (10).  Plumlee added 6 rebounds.  Duke hosts Miami on Sunday,

With the win, Duke moves to 6-1 in conference play and 19-3 overall.  This puts Duke in a three-way tie with North Carolina and Florida State at 6-1.  North Carolina is 19-3 overall, while Florida State is 15-6.  However, the Seminoles have beaten both Duke and North Carolina on the season.  Duke will travel to North Carolina on Wednesday evening for the first game of the season between the two rivals.

Posted by acaffrey in Basketball, Game Review, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , ,
01 Feb 2012

North Carolina and Virginia Keep Winning

North Carolina and Virginia each did their part in maintaining their placement in the polls last night, as both were able to win.  The #16 Cavaliers defended their home court in a 65-61 victory of Clemson.  The #5 Tar Heels handled Wake Forest on the road, 68-53.

The ugly game of the night across the nation was Illinois’ victory over Michigan State by a score of 42-41.  That is a score reminiscent of the 1940’s.  As usual, however, the abysmal shooting in that game will be rationalized as a product of “good defense.”

Well, their must have been some good defense in the North Carolina-Wake Forest game too, as the two teams shot 31.0% and 29.6% from the field.  Nevertheless, both teams were able to avoid scores in the low 40’s, in part because both teams were competent at the free throw line.  The rebounding numbers were pretty impressive too–with North Carolina edging Wake 50-36.  That’s a lot of boards.  In fact, Tyler Zeller had 18 of them, while Josh Henson added 12.  Terrell McKie led the Demon Deacons with 13 rebounds.  From a scoring standpoint, the Tar Heels only had 6 players score, but 4 of them were in double-figures, led by Zeller’s 18.  CJ Harris led Wake Forest with 19 points.  With the loss, Wake Forest drops to 11-11.  North Carolina improves to 19-3.

Up in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers narrowly defeated Clemson in a typically slow tempo game.  In comparison to the rebound-fest described above, Virginia and Clemson combined for only 48 rebounds–with Virginia having an impressive 31-17 edge in that regard.  But the game was a nail biter for Virginia as Clemson maintained a lead into the early part of the second-half before Virginia pulled away.  The Tigers made it close down the stretch, forcing Virginia to win it at the free throw line.  Devin Booker led the Tigers, who dropped to 11-10, with 14 points.  As usual, Mike Scott led Virginia with 18 points and 10 rebounds.  Virginia improves to 18-3 and maintains its 4th place position in the conference standings.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , , , , , ,
29 Jan 2012

ACC Basketball Recap: January 28, 2012

Here is the recap for the ACC basketball action on January 28, 2012.  It was a big day for impressive individual performances, as a few players got into the high teens in rebounds.

The big win of the day goes to… Pittsburgh, who defeated #9 Georgetown by a score of 72-60.  Bear in mind that the Panthers had lost eight straight before winning their last game.  To get that second conference win, and to do it over a very good Georgetown team, is going to rejuvenate this team.  Nasir Robinson went 9 for 9 from the field en route to a 23 point-game to lead Pitt.  Robinson added 8 rebounds too.   Lamar Patterson was another star for Pitt, with 18 points, seven assists and four rebounds.  At this juncture, every win is a big one for Pittsburgh.  But Saturday’s win was huge.  For Georgetown, this would ordinarily be chalked up as a “good” road loss.  With the Panthers’ struggles this year, that may not be the case.  Still, Georgetown is 16-4 and looking at a top seed in the Big Dance.  Otto Porter led the Hoyas with 14 points.

As a close second, how about #19 Virginia landing a road win over the streaking North Carolina State Wolfpack?  The Cavaliers won 61-60,  as Lorenzo Brown missed a desperation 3-pointer at the end of the game that would have won it for NC State.  Not surprisingly, Mike Scott led Virginia with 18 points and 5 rebounds.  However, despite winning, the Cavaliers were outrebounded 40-20.  In  fact, North Carolina State’s Richard Howell almost single-handedly outrebounded Virginia by grabbing 18 boards.  With the loss, the Wolfpack dropped to 15-7 on the season.  Virginia improved to 17-3.

#3 Syracuse also overcame a poor rebounding effort, narrowly defeating visiting West Virginia, 63-61.  The Mountaineers dominated Syracuse–who was again playing without Center Fab Melo–on the glass, 36-20.  But this game was notable for its poor officiating, as the referees failed to call a rather obvious goaltending against Syracuse with less than 10 seconds to go.  However, before feeling too sorry for West Virginia, they retained possession and missed a three-point shot at the buzzer.  Had the basket counted, Syracuse would have had 9 seconds to get off a shot.  Kevin Jones led West Virginia with 20 points and 8 rebounds, but missed the three-pointer as time expired.  Brandon Triche led Syracuse with 18 points.

Visiting St. Johns rallied in the second half, but ultimately lost to #8 Duke in Durham, 83-76.  Duke had a 16-point lead at the half, which grew to 22 points during the second half.  However, the Red Storm were able to narrow the margin to only four points with 21 seconds remaining.  They would never get any closer.  St. Johns looks like it has a budding star in Moe Harkness, who scored 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.  The big star for Duke was Mason Plumlee, who scored 15 points and grabbed an impressive 17 rebounds.  With the win, Duke improved to 18-3 on the season and looks poised to rise a few places in the rankings this week.

Maryland got back to its winning ways with a 73-69 victory over Virginia Tech.  Credit the Hokies for making a game of it, as they trailed by 13 at the half and by as many as 16 in the second-half.  But they just dug too big a hole to get out of.  Erick Green led the Hokies with 18 points.  At 12-9, Virginia Tech is running out of time to get back on the right side of the bubble.  Terrell Stoglin was the hero for Maryland, leading the Terps with 28 points.  Maryland is now 13-7 and controls its own post-season destiny.

Finally, Clemson handed Wake Forest its 10th loss of the season, defending its home court in a 71-60 victory.  CJ Harris led Wake Forest with 19 points, while Andre Young led the four Clemson players that scored in double-figures with 19 points of his own.  With the win, Clemson improves to 11-9.

 

 

 

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , , , ,
26 Jan 2012

ACC Basketball Recap: January 25, 2012

Here is the recap for the ACC basketball action on January 25, 2012.

#8 Duke got back to its winning ways, with a 74-61 win over Maryland.  In the process, Duke spoiled the ceremonial naming of the Maryland basketball court for Gary Williams.  Then again, if Maryland wanted a win, they could have scheduled the event for a game where a lesser opponent was visiting.  Maybe boost attendance for that game in the process too.  In any event, this was a game where Duke jumped out to an early lead and used the second-half to gradually pull away, giving Maryland its second straight loss.  The Terps, who dropped to 12-7, were led by Terrell Stoglin’s 16 points.   Mason Plumlee scored a season-high 23 points and added 12 rebounds for Duke, who improved to 17-3.

#23 Florida State kept up its road warrior ways with a dominating, 75-52 win over Wake Forest.  For the Seminoles, that’s five straight wins, including three-straight on the road.  The hero against Duke, Michael Snaer, led Florida State with 18 points.  Wake Forest, which dropped to 11-9 with the loss, was paced by CJ Harris’s 16 points.  Florida State is now 14-6 and gets the rest of the month off before hosting Georgia Tech on February 1st.

Virginia Tech missed a golden opportunity to improve its–at best–bubble standing by falling to Brigham Young at home, 70-68.  Brigham Young hit a three-pointer with 26 seconds left to break a 66-all tie, and held off the Hokies in the final seconds.  This was a very close game throughout the second half, with numerous ties and lead changes.  Dorenzo Hudson scored 14 to lead four Hokies who scored in double-digits.  Jarell Eddie scored 12 points for the Hokies and added 14 rebounds.  With the loss, Virginia Tech falls to 12-8.

Finally, Pittsburgh rediscovered its winning ways with in 86-74 victory over visiting Providence.  The result leaves both teams tied for 15th place in the Big East with a 1-7 conference record(and matching overall records of 12-9).  But the Panthers must be pleased to end that eight-game losing streak.  Give some credit to the Friars’ Vincent Council, who narrowly missed the triple-double with 26 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.  Pittsburgh was led by Ashton Gibbs’ 22 points, while Trayvon Woodall added 17 points and nine assists in his second game back from injury.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , ,
22 Jan 2012

ACC Basketball Recap: January 21, 2012

Saturday was a big day in the ACC, as several teams played.  Here is the recap for the action on January 21, 2012.

It has already been discussed how #1 Syracuse was the last of the major conference teams to lose its undefeated status.

The next biggest result was Florida State’s stunning, last-second upset of #4 Duke on the road, 76-73.  That is two HUGE wins in a row for Florida State against the ACC’s two best teams.  For those that were not watching, Austin Rivers of Duke scored with 4.9 seconds to time the game up at 73-73.  Out of timeouts, Florida State quickly inbounded the ball to Luke Loucks, who raced up court and got the ball to Michael Snaer.  Snaer let go a three-pointer with less than one second to go that gave Florida State the victory as time expired.  With that, Duke’s 45-game home winning streak ended. It was a team effort for Florida State, though, as six different players scored at least seven points.  Xavier Gibson led Florida State with 16 points, while Snaer added 14.  Austin Rivers led Duke with 19 points.  With the win, Florida State improves to 13-6.  With the loss, Duke drops to 16-3.  The two teams are atop the ACC standings with a 4-1 conference record.

In an early game, Maryland was unable to keep its hot stretch alive, losing to Temple on the road, 73-60.  This means that Temple has now defeated both Duke and Maryland on its home court.  Terrell Stoglin led Maryland with 20 points, while Pe’Shon Howard scored 15.  Compounding the loss was an injury to the ankle of Terps’ center Alex Len in the first half.  No word yet on the severity.

In another early game, Wake Forest traveled to Boston College and pulled out a victory, 71-56.  The Demon Deacons held the Eagles to a mere 31.1% shooting from the field.  Wake Forest built an 8 point lead at the half and nearly matched it with a 7 point margin in the second half.  Ryan Anderson led Boston College with 13 points and 11 rebounds.  Travis McKie was the scoring leader for Wake Forest with 20 points.  Ty Walker added 11 rebounds, while McKie grabbed 10 boards.  With the win, Wake Forest improves to 11-8.

In Clemson, the Tigers were able to hold off a Georgia Tech second-half rally, winning 64-62.  Clemson led at the half by 15, but nearly squandered the win.  Glen Rice, Jr., led the Yellow Jackets with 19 points, all but 4 of them in the second-half.  The big star of the day for Clemson was Andre Young, who scored a career high 29 points with seven 3-pointers.  With the loss, Georgia Tech drops to a disappointing 8-11, as post-season hopes are fading fast.  At 10-9, Clemson has a glimmer of hope in that regard.

Finally, Pittsburgh’s losing streak continued, as the visiting #23 Louisville Cardinals defeated the Panthers in Pittsburgh, 73-62.  Something had to give as both teams were on terrible streaks.  Ultimately, Louisville prevailed, extending Pitt’s losing streak to 8 games.  Both teams had reason to be optimistic with the return of injured stars, Kyle Kuric (Louisville) and Tray Woodall (Pitt).  But it was Kuric that did the most damage, scoring a season-high 21 points.  Pitt was led by the fourteen points scored by Ashton Gibbs and Lamar Patterson.  Next up for Pitt is a home game against Providence.

 

ACC Saturday Standouts:

Scoring

Andre Young, Clemson   29 points

Terrell Stoglin, Maryland   20 points

Glen Rice, Jr., Georgia Tech & Austin Rivers, Duke   19 points

 

Rebounds

Ty Walker, Wake Forest & Ryan Anderson, Boston College   11 rebounds

Travis McKie, Wake Forest & Sean Mosely, Maryland   10 rebounds

 

Assists

Lamar Patterson, Pittsburgh & Scoop Jardine, Syracuse   7 assists

Tony Chennault, Wake Forest   6 assists

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , , , ,
21 Jan 2012
1 Comment

Syracuse Finally Loses

After starting the season 20-0 and enjoying the #1 ranking for six straight weeks, Syracuse has finally lost.  Notre Dame was able to control the game tempo and hit a number of big three-pointers to win at home, 67-58.

Give credit to Notre Dame coach Mike Brey who was able to get his team to do what so many of Syracuse’s prior victims would not–control the tempo.  So far this season, Syracuse has been dynamic in using its defense to convert turnovers and then scoring in transition.  Notre Dame played a much more deliberate game–forcing Syracuse to defend for 25 seconds and then taking a good shot.  The strategy worked perfectly.

Syracuse was also hampered by playing without starting center, sophomore Fab Melo.  Melo is not on the current road trip, which includes the games against Notre Dame and Cincinnati.  With Melo, Syracuse was not a very good rebounding team.  Without him, they were terrible as Notre Dame had a 37-24 edge.

The player of the game was Junior Jack Cooley, who used the voice in the middle to his advantage with 17 points and 10 rebounds.  Six of those rebounds were offensive rebounds.  Notre Dame also hit 8 of their 16 three-pointers. With the win, Notre Dame improves to 12-8, including a 4-3 conference record.

In contrast, Syracuse hit 30% of their three-pointers, en route to a 34% shooting night.  Despite it all, Syracuse kept the game within striking distance.  James Southerland led Syracuse with 15 points.  With the loss, Syracuse drops to 20-1 and will fall out of first place in Monday’s polls.  They play Cincinnati that night, so there will be little time to regroup.

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

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