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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 , , , , ,
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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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
1 Comment

Signing Day Update

According to MaxPreps, the ACC had five teams pull in top-25 recruiting classes.  Most of the school names on the list are the ones that you would expect–Alabama, Texas, Ohio State, and Michigan.  And it is no different with the ACC teams that made the list–especially the top 4 of Florida State, Miami, Clemson, and Virginia Tech.  Impressively, Virginia cracked the list as well.

Florida State edged out Miami to have the 6th best overall class and the best class in the ACC.  Both schools were probably disappointed to see Florida take the 5 spot ahead of both of them.  For Florida State, it is yet another great class to build on its young foundation and bright future.  But, at #7, Miami showed that the off-field issues are not going to stop the talent from flowing in.

At #11, Clemson took advantage of its nice season.  Again, however, the Tigers finished behind in-state rival South Carolina in these rankings. Even the disappointing (and then some) Orange Bowl performance did not prevent the class from being outstanding.

Virginia Tech landed in at #16, which is pretty much what the Hokies are expected to do most years.  Perhaps more surprising is that in-state rival, Virginia, cracked the top 25.  After a great rebound season under new coach Mike London, the Cavaliers look to challenge Virginia Tech each season.

Obviously, these rankings do not mean much in the big picture.  Texas, Ohio State, and Notre Dame have all had issues in recent years converting top 5 recruiting classes into top 5 seasons.  But it’s all fans have to go by right now.

So congratulations to these five schools and their new recruits.  And congrats to all the future ACC players that signed letters of intent today.

 

 

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football and tagged , , , , , , ,
30 Jan 2012
1 Comment

ACC Basketball Rankings: January 30, 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 (22-1)  While weaker minds will blame the Syracuse win on the referees, West Virginia had every opportunity to win the game–including the ball in the half court with 6+ seconds to go.  That they chose to shoot an off-balance three pointer instead of trying to use their advantage down low is not the referees’ fault.  Just sayin’.

2. Duke (18-3)  Duke keeps the #2 spot.  After losing to the Seminoles, Duke went on the road and beat a very good Maryland team.  And then a tough out-of-conference foe in St. Johns gave them a tough test at home.  Narrowly above North Carolina.  Will these two teams EVER play?

3. North Carolina (18-3)  Look out for the Tar Heels.  After the embarrassing blowout loss, North Carolina is on a roll.  North Carolina State did not provide much of a test though.  Upcoming two game road trip to Maryland and Wake Forest.

4. Virginia (17-3)  Rebounded nicely from the Virginia Tech stunner to defeat Boston College at home.  Even more impressive was the win at North Carolina State.

5. Florida State (14-6)  Another road win–this time over Wake Forest by a comfortable margin of 23.  If the Seminoles can get by Georgia Tech on Wednesday, the focus will shift to the visiting Cavaliers on Saturday.

6. North Carolina State (15-7)  Tough week for the Wolfpack, as they had to travel to Chapel Hill and then host Virginia.  Despite the two losses, still 4-3 in conference play.

7.  Maryland (13-7)  Maryland kept its record at .500 in conference by edging Virginia Tech on Saturday.  Nice bounce-back after losing to Duke.  Up next?  A trip to Miami.

8.  Miami (12-7)  The Hurricanes are up to 3-3 in conference play with wins over Georgia Tech and Boston College.  Both were significant margin victories on the road.  Return on home Wednesday to host Maryland.

9. Clemson (11-9)  3-3 in conference after beating Wake Forest on Saturday.  Next up is a trip to Virginia to play both schools in road games.  Doesn’t get any easier.

10. Pittsburgh (13-9)  The Panthers are starting to warm-up a bit.  On Saturday, they got their second win in a row with a victory over #9 Georgetown.

11. Wake Forest (11-10)  Tough call between Wake Forest and Virginia Tech.  The Demon Deacons have the extra conference win to provide the edge.

12. Virginia Tech (12-9)  The Hokies looked good in 2011, but 2012 has been very unkind.  They are now a dismal 1-5 in conference play.  Next up?  Duke.  Gulp.

13. Georgia Tech (8-13)  Georgia Tech cannot buy a win right now.  After traveling to red-hot Florida State midweek, Boston College comes to town.  That’s a must win for the coaching staff.

14. Boston College (7-14)  Doesn’t get any easier for the Eagles.  They host North Carolina State on Wednesday–a Wolfpack team that has lost to North Carolina and Virginia in its recent games, and really really needs a win.

Agree?  Disagree?  Let us know!

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Rankings 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 , , , , ,
23 Jan 2012

ACC Basketball Rankings: January 23, 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 16, 2012:

1.  Syracuse (20-1)  The Orange finally lost–to Notre Dame on the road.  The absence of Fab Melo was crucial, but the team did not play like a top 25 team, much less a #1 team.  Still, it’s just one game and nobody below them has played better on the season.

2. Duke (16-3)  The loss at the buzzer to Florida State was very disappointing.  Duke is accustomed to defending its home court.  No real shame in the loss overall.

3. North Carolina (16-3)  North Carolina rebounded against Virginia Tech.  Big test this week against North Carolina State.

4. Virginia (15-3)  Dominating win at Georgia Tech early in the week.  Stunning loss to Virginia Tech.

5. North Carolina State (15-5)  North Carolina State is still on a roll.  It will be interesting to see how they do at North Carolina this week.

6. Florida State (13-6)  Beating Duke, Maryland, and North Carolina is a definite plus for the Seminoles.  Still, with 6 overall losses, Florida State is not ready for the top 5 yet.

7.  Virginia Tech (12-7)  Week began by having to deal with an angry North Carolina squad.  Ended with a very nice win over Virginia.

8.  Maryland (12-6) Losing to red hot Florida State on the road and Temple on the road makes this a tough week.  Still viable for the Big Dance though.

9. Wake Forest (11-8) Took care of business at Boston College.  Unfortunately, they get to host streaking Florida State next.

10. Miami (10-7)  Finally got that first conference win.  That it was against Clemson makes it slightly less impressive.  Going to need to string together some wins very soon.

11. Clemson (10-9)  Beating Georgia Tech salvaged a difficult week, which began with losses to Duke and Miami.  Next up?  Miami.

12. Pittsburgh (11-9)  0-7 in Big East play says it all.  As tough as they played against Syracuse, they could not overcome Louisville at home.

13. Georgia Tech (8-11)  Two more losses for the Yellow Jackets, who are seeing their post-season hopes slip away.

14. Boston College (7-12)  After getting some momentum, the Eagles are back to their losing ways.  Not looking good for post-season play.

Agree?  Disagree?  Let us know!

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

ACC Basketball Recap: January 19, 2012

There were several big games on Thursday, January 19, 2012, for the ACC.  Importantly for the ACC’s reputation, the favored team won all four games.

In the most anticipate game, #8 North Carolina rebounded from its debacle at Florida State by traveling to Virginia Tech to beat the reeling Hokies, 82-68.   It wasn’t easy for the Tar Heels, who trailed by four at halftime.  But a 19-0 second-half run turned made all the difference.  Harrison Barnes led North Carolina with 27 points, while Josh Henson contributed 16 points and 16 rebounds.  Erick Green was one of four Hokies in double-figures, leading the team with 17 points.  With the loss, Virginia Tech falls to 11-7 and 0-4 in conference.  With the win, North Carolina improves to 16-3.

In Durham, #4 Duke toppled Wake Forest 91-73 to maintain its perfect conference record.  Andre Dawkins led the Blue Devils with 21 points, but Ryan Kelly and Austin Rivers each added 20 points.  Kelly also added 10 rebounds.  Wake Forest was overmatched by Duke’s depth and size.  But four of its starters scored in double-figures, led by CJ Harris’s 20 points.  With the loss, the Demon Deacons drop to 10-8 and 1-3 in conference.  Duke improves to 16-2 overall, including 4-0 in conference play.

The other ranked ACC team, #15 Virginia, traveled to Georgia Tech and won big, 70-38.  The Cavs suffocating defense held Georgia Tech is under 30% shooting on the night.  They also out rebounded their hosts, 41-22.  As usual, Mike Scott led Virginia with 18 points and 7 rebounds.  Georgia Tech falls to 1-3 in conference and a disappointing 8-10 overall.  Virginia improves to 15-2 overall, including a 2-1 conference record.

Finally, North Carolina State improved to 14-5 on the season by beating visiting Boston College, 76-62.  Although Boston College struggled in non-conference play, the Eagles had some momentum heading into the game with a 2-1 conference record.  But the Wolfpack and its home court advantage were too much.  Scott Wood led North Carolina State’s balanced attack (6 players with 8 or more points) with 16 points.  Richard Howell had 11 points and 16 rebounds–alone providing for North Carolina State’s 44-28 rebounding advantage.  Boston College drops to 2-2 in conference play and 7-11 on the season.  North Carolina State in now 3-1 in conference play.

 

Individual Leaders:

Scoring:

Harrison Barnes, UNC, 27 points

Andre Dawkins, Duke, 21 points

Ryan Kelly, Duke, 20 points & Austin Rivers, Duke, 20 points

 

Rebounds:

Josh Henson, UNC, 16 rebounds & Richard Howell, NCState, 16 rebounds

Ryan Kelly, Duke, 10 rebounds & Travis McKie, Wake, 10 rebounds

 

Assists:

Lorenzo Brown, NC State, 11 assists

Tyler Thornton, Duke, 8 assists & Kendall Marshall, UNC, 8 assists

Erick Green, Va Tech, 5 assists & Jontel Evans, UVA, 5 assists

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Basketball, Game Review and tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
16 Jan 2012
3 Comments

ACC Basketball Rankings: January 16, 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 16, 2012:

1.  Syracuse (19-0)  The Orange just keep on rolling.  Things get a bit tougher schedule-wise with Pittsburgh on Monday and then a trip to Notre Dame.

2. Duke (15-2)  Neither win was dominating this week, but the Blue Devils won.  That is something that North Carolina cannot say.

3. North Carolina (15-3)  It’s one thing to lose, but to get blown out by Florida State was unfathomable.  Too much talent to be this erratic.

4. Virginia (14-2)  Hard to penalize the Cavs for losing on the road to Duke.  Had they won, they might be #2.

5. North Carolina State (13-5)  Close call between Maryland and NC State after the Georgia Tech loss.  But the Wolfpack and Terps played head-to-head and NC State won.  Slight edge for now.

6. Maryland (12-4) Recovered nicely from the loss to NC State.  But not enough to leapfrog them, obviously

7. Florida State (11-6)  Beating Virginia Tech on the road was impressive.  Destroying North Carolina was even more impressive.  That is worthy of a 5 spot jump.

8.Virginia Tech (11-6)  Losses to Florida State and Boston College make this a tough week.  If anyone else below had shown signs of life, the Hokies would be lower.  May be playing their way right off the bubble–and in the wrong direction.

9. Wake Forest (10-7) Absolutely destroyed by North Carolina State.  Just not a very consistent team.

10. Miami (9-6)  No conference wins yet.  The opportunity comes this week when they host Clemson.

11. Pittsburgh (11-7)  0-5 in Big East play against a weak schedule so far.  Things get tougher with a trip to Syracuse, although Pitt always gives the Orange fits.

12. Clemson (9-8)  Looked very good against Florida State, but then lost to Boston College.  Loss to Duke was close though.

13. Georgia Tech (8-9)  Nice upset win over NC State, but loss to Maryland made it a split for the week.  There is the potential to slide upwards here.

14. Boston College (7-10)  With wins over Clemson and Virginia Tech, Boston College is now 2-1 in conference.  The way the bottom several teams are playing, the Eagles could end up with a .500 record in conference, which would be a nice recovery.

Agree?  Disagree?  Let us know!

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

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