The Confidential

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Archive for the tag “game review”

06 Jan 2012

The ACC Bowl Disaster

Yesterday, the Confidential noted that the ACC needed Miami and Florida State to return to King status soon.  As the bowl season comes to a conclusion, it is clear that something is just not right with the conference from a football standpoint.

The bowl season began with the optimism of the ACC landing two teams in BCS bowls–Clemson and Virginia Tech.  Virginia Tech was a surprise entrant into the Sugar Bowl and acquitted itself reasonably well in shutting down Michigan and only losing in overtime.  In many respects, Virginia Tech outplayed the Wolverines and deserved to win.  But they did not.  Another BCS loss for the ACC.

The hope on Wednesday night was that Clemson could do its part to carry the ACC by “taking care of” West Virginia in the Orange Bowl.  This is the same West Virginia team that beat 2-10 Maryland by 6 points.  The same West Virginia team that lost to Syracuse 49-23.  Clemson would have no trouble, right?

Wrong.

Instead, Clemson had one of the most embarrassing big stage performances in the history of the big stage, losing 70-33.  70 points.  35 in the second quarter.  A 99-yard fumble return.  589 yards of offense allowed.  The most points EVER scored by a team in a bowl game.  Conversely, Clemson allowed more points than any other team in bowl history has ever allowed.  And this was not to Oregon, Stanford, or Wisconsin.  This was not LSU or Alabama.  This was the West Virginia described above.  Utterly embarrassing.

According to CBS, the ACC has dropped to 1-5 in the last 6 Orange Bowl games:

ACC Champions in Orange Bowl
Year ACC Champ Result
2012 Clemson L, West Virginia 70-33
2011 Va. Tech L, Stanford 40-12
2010 Va. Tech W, Cincinnati 20-7
2009 Va. Tech L, Kansas 24-21
2008 Wake Forest L, Louisville 24-13
2007 Florida St. L, Penn State 26-23

4 different teams, the same dismal results.  In fact, according to ESPN, the ACC is now 2-13 in BCS bowl games.

In addition to the BCS games, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, and North Carolina also lost their bowl games.  Fortunately, North Carolina State and Florida State won its bowl games.  That leaves the ACC at 2-6, with Pittsburgh yet to face SMU.

Wait, Florida State won its bowl game?  If you believe that the ACC needs Florida State to be leading the charge for the ACC, that is about the only good news to come out of this bowl season.  Two straight 9-win seasons.  If Florida State can take it up another level, maybe the ACC can deliver on its promise to be home to great football.  That’s the closest to good news that ACC football will have until kickoff next year.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,
04 Jan 2012

Maryland Gets 10th Win, Defeats Cornell

Bouncing back from a disappointing 3-3 start to the season, Maryland improved to 10-3 with a 70-62 win over Cornell.  That makes seven straight wins for Maryland as it heads into conference play.

At one point, it was looking like the Terps basketball season might rival the football team.  While there is no shame in losing to Illinois or Alabama, the 26-point drubbing by Iona on a neutral court in November suggested that this would be a tough year.  But Maryland has gone a great run to get itself back into position for a spot in the Big Dance.

Against Cornell, Sean Mosely led the way with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.  Alex Len added 15 points and 9 rebounds.  Terrell Stoglin scored 14 points, but struggled to a 6 for 16 shooting night.  Maryland’s defense was also sound, holding the Big Red to 42.3% shooting from the field, including 23.3% from three-point range.  With the loss, Cornell drops to 4-9.

For Maryland, they enter ACC play on a hot streak.  But it quickly ends as they travel to North Carolina State on Sunday.  One of these teams is going to have to lose.  The Wolfpack are 10-4, having won 5 of their last 6 games–with the loss being to #1 Syracuse.  They also play Delaware State on Wednesday, so they have a decent chance of getting their 11th win before conference play kicks off.

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball and tagged , , , ,
03 Jan 2012

#21 Virginia Defeats LSU, Improves to 13-1

At the beginning of the year, the ACC only had two ranked teams–Duke and North Carolina.  Virginia has climbed into the rankings with a solid November and December.  Virginia’s January got off to a great start, as the #21 Cavaliers traveled to Baton Rouge to defeat LSU, 57-52, to improve to 13-1.

This game was a very close, defensive struggle as both teams shot less than 45% from the field.  It was tied at halftime, 26-26.  And, with five minutes to go, the Cavs trailed 47-46.  But Virginia was fairly clutch down the stretch with its free throw shooting and three-point shots to pull off the victory.

Virginia was led by Sammy Zeglinski’s 17 points.  Joe Harris added 14 points, while Mike Scott had 12 points and 9 rebounds.  Virginia opens the ACC schedule on Saturday against Miami.

Speaking of Miami, the ended the out-of-conference schedule with a 99-89 win over North Carolina-Greensboro.  Kenny Kadji scored led Miami with 30 points and 12 rebounds.  Three other Hurricanes finished in double-digits in scoring.

But the rest of the ACC fared poorly. Wake Forest lost some significant momentum by losing to Wofford, at home, 56-52.   Wake Forest had won 3 in a row and was looking to get its 10th overall win.  With the loss, Wake drops to 9-5 as it heads into conference play.

Meanwhile, Boston College continued to cement its position as the cellar-dweller in the ACC, losing to Rhode Island in double-overtime, 78-72.  The Eagles dropped to 5-9 with the home loss to the Rams (who improved to 3-12).  It’s going to be a very long season for Boston College.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball and tagged , , , , , ,
01 Jan 2012

ACC Basketball Recap: December 31, 2011

The last day of 2011 basketball games went very well for the ACC, as it won all three games.

Leading the way was Virginia Tech defeating Oklahoma State, 67-61.  If this matchup sounds familiar, it is.  The Hokies defeated Oklahoma State in the consolation game of the NIT Season Tip-Off in New York City.  This time, Virginia Tech traveled to Stillwater to defeat the Cowboys.  Although this is not a great Oklahoma State team (7-6), this is an important win for the Hokies, who seem to perennially be on the Big Dance Bubble.  With the win, Virginia Tech moves to 11-3.  Dorenzo Hudson led Virginia Tech with 18 points.  The Hokies begin conference play next Saturday by traveling to Wake Forest.

North Carolina State improved to 10-4 with its 82-55 win over West Carolina.  All five starters for the Wolfpack finished in double-figures in scoring, led by CJ Williams’ 21 points.  Richard Howell added 14 rebounds.  That’s four straight wins for NC State since losing to #1 Syracuse in early December.  They get Delaware State on Wednesday before their January 8th ACC opener against Maryland.

And Maryland improved to 9-3 by edging pesky Samford, 75-63.  It was the Terrell Stoglin show for Maryland, as he led the team with 24 points.  ESPN’s recap added:

Maryland (9-3) has won six straight and finished the month of December undefeated — the Terrapins’ last loss coming Nov. 29.

It was the ninth time in 12 games that Stoglin, the Atlantic Coast Conference’s leading scorer, scored 20 points or more. He hit six 3-pointers, a career best, for the second game in a row. Maryland was 9 of 17 (52.9 percent) beyond the arc.

Indeed, the Terps were only 3-3 at the end of November and looking to match their football team in terms of disappointment.  Maryland hosts struggling Cornell (4-8) on Tuesday as the final tune-up for its opener against NC State.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball and tagged , , , , , ,
30 Dec 2011

ACC Basketball Recap: December 29, 2011

December 29 was a tough night for the ACC, as two of its five teams in action suffered defeats.

Boston College lost to Harvard at home, 67-46.  That Boston College lost was not surprising, as Harvard is 11-1 on the year now and ranked in the top 25.  What is disappointing is that, according to CBS, it was “the fourth straight season that Harvard has beaten Boston College on the Eagles’ home court.”  That is how far things have fallen for the Eagles.  Losing to Harvard is part of a trend, not an anomaly.  With the loss, Boston College drops to 5-8 on the season.

Georgia Tech lost to Fordham, 72-66.   If there is a good news, it is that Georgia Tech did not lose at home.  Still, this is a Fordham team that is now 6-6 and has already lost to Monmouth and Lehigh.  There is no reason for an ACC school to lose a game like this.  With the loss, the Yellow Jackets drop to a disappointing 7-6.  Jason Morris came off the bench to lead Georgia Tech with 17 points.

Wake Forest had some serious trouble with Yale, before ultimately winning 72-71.  Actually, at one point, Wake Forest had a 19 point lead over the visitors.  And Wake Forest never trailed in the game.  Nevertheless, Yale rallied to close the gap during the second half to make for some antacid moments down the stretch.  With the loss, Yale drops to a respectable 8-3.  With the win, Wake Forest improves to 9-4.  CJ Harris led the Demon Deacons with 23 points.

North Carolina State also improved to 9-4 with its 87-81 victory over visiting Campbell.  Lorenzo Brown led the Wolfpack with 24 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists.  Richard Howell had 17 points and 17 rebounds.  Yes, that is not a misprint…. 17 rebounds.  In fact, North Carolina State outrebounded Campbell 40-22.  They also went an impressive 28 for 31 from the free throw line.  Only Campbell’s hot shooting–50.9% from the field and 64.3% from three-point range–kept this game close.

Finally, #5 North Carolina improved to 12-2 by defeating overmatched Elon, 100-62.  No surprises here.  The Tar Heels held Elon to 33.3% shooting, outrebounded them 57-31, had a 25-5 free throw attempt advantage, and only committed 8 fouls en route to a blowout win.  The usual suspects did the early damage, as Tyler Zeller had 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Harrison Barnes added 18 points.

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball and tagged , , , , , ,
28 Dec 2011

North Carolina State Takes Home the Belk

North Carolina State finished the 2011 season with an 8-5 record, after defeating Louisville in the Belk Bowl by a 31-24 score.   Junior quarterback Mike Glennon led the way for the Wolfpack, passing for 264 yards and three touchdowns.

The good game for Glennon was all the more necessary as Louisville was able to shutdown North Carolina State’s ground game.  James Washington was held to 45 yards on 16 carries.  But the passing attack allowed North Carolina State to jump out to a 21-10 lead at halftime.  TJ Graham was the other offensive star, converting 7 receptions into 116 yards and two touchdowns.  Of course, the defense did its part too, scoring on a 65-yard interception return in the third quarter to improve the score to 31-10.

Give credit to Louisville and its coach Charlie Strong.  The Cardinals rallied in the second half to narrow the score after relying on trick plays, such as a fake punt and onside kick.  And freshman quarterback Teddy Bridgewater made it interesting with his 274 yards passing and three touchdowns of his own.  But the damage was done in the first three quarters as North Carolina State got the big lead and held on to the victory.

For the Wolfpack, the season ends on a high note.  After being upset by Boston College, North Carolina State defeated Clemson, Maryland, and Louisville to finish with an 8-5 record.  That’s two bowl wins in a row, following last year’s defeat of West Virginia in the Champs Bowl.

 

 

 

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Game Review and tagged , , , , ,
19 Dec 2011

Weekend ACC Basketball Recap: December 19, 2011

While the big news of the weekend was Syracuse defending its #1 ranking on the road against North Carolina State, there were plenty of other noteworthy results.

On Saturday, Miami survived a double-overtime thriller against Florida Atlantic, 93-90.  The big news for Miami was the return of Center Reggie Johnson, who made his season debut after undergoing right knee surgery in June, and filled up the box score: 15 points, nine rebounds, five blocks and five assists.  Three other players chipped in 15 points or more for the Hurricanes, led by Kenny Kadji’s 21 points.  With the win, Miami nudges up to 6-4.

Surprisingly, the next closest game of the day on Saturday was #5 North Carolina’s 97-82 victory over Appalachian State.  To be fair, the Tar Heels jumped out to a 16-point lead at halftime and coasted to the win.  Tyler Zeller scored 31 points and added 10 rebounds.  North Carolina is now 9-2.

In other Saturday games, Clemson improved to 5-4 by defeating Winthrop 60-40.  Virginia Tech defeated Campbell 85-60 to get to 8-3 overall.  It should also be noted that future ACC member, #15 Pittsburgh, defeated South Carolina State 69-55.  The Panthers are now 10-1.

On Sunday, the ACC went 4 for 4.  The big game was Virginia’s 67-54 road victory over Oregon.  The Ducks went into the game with a 6-2 record, with losses to only BYU and Vanderbilt.  But the Cavaliers continued their good early season performance by holding Oregon to 42.6% shooting.  Virginia also dominated the boards, capturing a 39-24 edge.  Mike Scott led Virginia with 17 points and 13 rebounds.  Virginia is now 9-1 on the season and poised to move into the top 25.

Florida State improved to 8-3 with a 77-61 victory over Loyola Marymount.  Once again, the ACC team dominated the boards as the Seminoles crashed the boards for a ridiculous 49 to 32 edge.  The teams helped those numbers by shooting below average, 49 for 123 between the two teams.  Bernard James led the Seminoles with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

In other Sunday action, Wake Forest defeated Gardner-Webb 67-59 to get to 7-4.  And how about those Boston College Eagles, who got their fourth win on the season with a 20-point romp over Bryant, 75-55.  That’s two wins in a row.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
11 Dec 2011

Hoops Recap: Sunday Improvement for the ACC

Yesterday, the ACC struggled to a 3-3 record among current conference teams.  Sunday got much better as the league went 4-0.

Florida State improved to 7-3 with a 75-60 over North Carolina-Greensboro.  The Seminoles’ defense did the job, allowing only a 35% shooting percentage.  However, the offense struggled to the tune of 26 turnovers.  Overall, Florida State has a balanced attack, with none of the 9 players to get action to exceed 30 minutes.  Michael Snaer led the way with 14 points.

Virginia Tech also improved to 7-3 with its 73-60 win over Norfolk State.  The score was a bit misleading, as CBS noted:

The Spartans (6-4), who have quality victories over Drexel and Texas Christian and lost to Marquette by just two points, kept the game close throughout and cut the lead to 65-59 on Chris McEachin’s 3-pointer with 2:58 left in the game. But Virginia Tech’s Dorenzo Hudson hit a free throw with 2:05 left to make it 66-59. After McEachin missed a 3-pointer for Norfolk State with 1:40 to go, Eddie put the game away, draining his final 3-pointer with 1:07 remaining to push the Hokies’ lead back to 10.

But the Hokies were able to fend off this surprisingly tough foe, led by Jarell Eddie’s 24 points.

In its final tune-up before hosting Syracuse on Saturday, North Carolina State defeated North Carolina Central, 65-60.  The Wolfpack held a 10-point lead at halftime, but were never able to put away the Eagles.  C.J. Williams led the way for North Carolina State with 21 points.  Credit the team board work too; although no individual put up gaudy rebounding totals, North Carolina State held a 41-30 advantage in that category.

Finally, the ACC’s day was so good that even Boston College nabbed a rare win.  The Eagles were able to defeat Stony Brook soundly, 66-51.   Patrick Heckmann came off the bench to lead Boston College with 18 points.  With the win, Boston College improves to 3-7.  A win is a win is a win.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
11 Dec 2011
1 Comment

Hoops Recap: Saturday Not Kind to the ACC

Although future ACC member Syracuse was able to win and likely grab onto to #1 in the next polls, the current ACC did not fare as well–splitting its 6 games on Saturday.

Actually, another future ACC member, #15 Pittsburgh, did its job with 74-68 win over 6-3 Oklahoma State.  As is typical, the Panthers were outstanding defensively and on the boards.  The Cowboys were held to 40.9% shooting and were outrebounded 37-23.  Ashton Gibbs led Pitt with 17 points, while Lamar Patterson was a box score stuffer with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists.  With the win, Pitt moves to 9-1.

And #7 Duke certainly did its part, defeating a surprisingly tough Washington Huskies squad, 86-80.  Although the Blue Devils opened strong with a 14-point halftime lead, Washington made it interesting late.  This was particularly impressive as the Huskies had been in New York all week, starting with a Jimmy V Classic loss to Marquette.  But credit Duke for starting strong and doing enough at the free throw stripe down the stretch to win.  Duke had 7 players play 20 minutes, and 6 of them contributed at least 8 points.  Austin Rivers led Duke with 18 points, allowing Duke to get to 9-1.

Similarly, #4 North Carolina was able to fend off upstart Long Beach State, 84-78.  This one was the opposite of the Duke game, with Long Beach State controlling the first half before succumbing to the Tar Heels talent advantage in the second half.  While the knee-jerk reaction is to wonder how North Carolina was not able to destroy a 4-5 team from California, recall that Long Beach State upset Pitt on the road and only narrowly lost to Kansas too.  The North Carolina quartet of Harrison Barnes, John Henson, Reggie Bullock, and Tyler Zeller scored 78 of North Carolina’s 84 points.  But credit Kendall Marshall too–he dished out 16 assists, the fourth time this year he has had 14 assists or more.  North Carolina is now 8-2 on the season.

In a test game for Wake Forest, they lost to Seton Hall on the road, 68-54.  The Demon Deacons were unable to stop Herb Pope, who scored 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the host Pirates.  While nobody was expecting a win over 9-1 Seton Hall, this game  certainly was not one where Wake Forest was going to be overmatched from a talent standpoints.  Overall, Seton Hall figures to little more than a middle-of-the-pack Big East team.  But that was still too much for Wake, which falls to 6-4.  Wake Forest was led by Travis McKie’s 17 points.

In another ACC-Big East matchup, West Virginia handled Miami, 77-66.  Bob Huggins’ Mountaineers were coming off a win over Kansas State on Thursday, but had enough in the tank to defeat the visiting Hurricanes.  Truck Bryant led West Virginia with 27 points, including 5 three-pointers.  Miami was led by Malcolm Grant’s 17 points.  Although the early season started with great promise, the Hurricanes have now lost 4 of 5 in this very tough stretch of non-conference games.  Fortunately for Jim Larranaga, the difficulty eases up a bit before conference games start.

Clemson provided the third loss for the ACC on Saturday, falling to 7-3 Arizona, 63-47 in Tucson.  For the 4-4 Tigers, a trip to 7-3 Arizona was always going to be quite a test.  Unfortunately, only Andre Young was able to score effectively, as he led the Tigers with 17 points.  The team as a whole shot 31.7% from the field–which will never get it done.

Finally, Georgia Tech defeated Savannah State, 65-45.  While the Yellow Jackets deserve credit for being willing to travel to an in-state opponent of this caliber, this was never going to be much of a contest.  Brandon Reed and Daniel Miller combined to go 12 for 13 from the field, as Savannah State was simply overmatched.  With the win, Georgia Tech gets to 6-4.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
09 Dec 2011
1 Comment

Another Hoops Loss for Boston College

The Boston College Eagles dropped to 2-7 with a 64-57 loss to the Providence Friars on Thursday evening.  About the only good news is that Boston College were not blown out by the hosts.  After all, Providence is 8-2.

It is no secret that the Eagles were going to have a rebuilding season.  CBS noted as follows regarding the turnover between last year’s Eagles win and this year’s Eagles loss to Providence:

Only two players who scored against the Friars last season played for BC in this year’s matchup. After losing 10 letter winners from last year, the Eagles’ top four scorers Thursday were all freshmen.

That is a lot of turnover.  All in all, it is not surprising that Providence avenged last year’s loss.

The issue here is just how bad the start of the  season has been for Boston College.  The Confidential certainly gets that losing 10 players means starting over.  However, with the exception of this loss, just look at the teams that have beaten Boston College on the early season:

  • Holy Cross (3-6) by 18
  • UMass (7-3) by 16
  • St. Louis (8-1)  by 11
  • New Mexico (6-2) by 8
  • Penn State (6-4) by 8
  • Boston University (4-5) by 14
  • Providence (8-2) by 7

While not an embarrassing slate, this is far from the competition that other major conference school teams are facing in tournaments.  And yet only 9 teams in the 6 major-conferences (70 total teams) are under .500.  At 2-7, only Utah has a worse record among the major conference teams.  This is the time of year for these teams to feast on lesser opponents before failing victim to the brutal conference schedule.

But perhaps the REAL issue is that there is a reason to be hopeful.  The Confidential can think of several reasons why Eagles’ fans should keep the faith:

  1. Perhaps the Eagles are road warriors, as Providence was the first road game and the closest margin of loss!
  2. The loss margins are on the improve.  Setting aside the Boston University debacle, there has been consistent improvement in the margins of loss.  And, really, the margins of loss have not been that bad.  Better teams have been blown-out by much more this year.
  3. There may not be any final four teams on the schedule, but there are no patsies either.  A lot of midmajors that will be making some noise in March.
  4. The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores, Al McGuire once said.  When you have 10 freshmen, you have 10 future sophomores

So, while there are few reasons to cheer right now, there is no reason for utter despair.  In fact, Boston College fans need only look to their football season.  After starting 1-7, the Eagles rallied to finish 4-8.  If the basketball team can show that much growth in the final portion of the season, there will be much reason for optimism heading into 2012-2013.  That does not help today, but should not be forgotten.

 

 

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

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