0 - 0 The ACC went 3-1 on Thursday with the only loss being Georgia Tech dropping a game to Dayton who is ranked in the top 25. Virginia bounced back nicely after an opening loss, while Miami continues to look sharp, and UNC held on after allowing Ohio State to get back into the game.
ACC Now recaps UNC's 77-73 win over Ohio State (Box Score):
North Carolina coach Roy Williams said his team didn't get very good leadership during its lackadaisical victory over Valparaiso last Sunday. Obviously, that stuck in senior Marcus Ginyard's craw - and he stuck it to No. 15 Ohio State.
Led by Ginyard's defense, determination and timely buckets, the sixth-ranked Tar Heels (4-0) survived a late-game surge by the Buckeyes, 77-73 Thursday night at Madison Square Garden in their first real test of the season.
They will play Syracuse, which topped No. 13 California in the earlier game, Saturday night at approximately 7:15 p.m. in the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic.
Ginyard, particularly peeved by his performance against Valpo, was particularly intense from the outset. Matched up with OSU wing-turned-point-guard Evan Turner, he forced the junior to travel on the Buckeyes first possession, dove into the Tar Heels' bench to try to get to a loose ball on another, then drew a second foul from him with 11:30 left in the first half by drawing an offensive charge.
Bleacher Report recaps Georgia Tech's loss to Dayton in a back-and-forth game (Box Score):
So, it wasn't really an upset. Tell it to the fans. Tell it to the boosters. See if they'll listen.
No. 23 Georgia Tech fell 63-59 to the best of the Atlantic 10, the No. 18 Dayton Flyers in the opening game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off today.
But the way in which they lost is not going to calm the fans that are growing a bit weary of losing with the immense talent that Hewitt has recruited in his years at Tech.
This is supposed to be the do-or-die year for Hewitt and a loss to Dayton, while excusable, is not an auspicious start to the campaign.
The Daily Progress recaps Virginia's win over Rider (Box Score):
Bub Evans. Tom Jonke. Thomas Kody. Doug Browman and Solomon Tat.
For those keeping scoring at home, that’s a freshman, three walk-ons and a little-used senior. With less than three minutes to play on Thursday night at John Paul Jones Arena, it was the unit that Virginia coach Tony Bennett had out on the floor — and this was a good thing. Virginia, behind 17 points and nine rebounds from Mike Scott, 12 points from Sammy Zeglinski and a spark off the bench from walk-on Will Sherrill, led Rider almost from wire to wire and notched the first blowout win of the Bennett era — a 79-46 dismantling of the Broncs.
“Even the walk-ons were taking us off the dribble and making shots,” Rider coach Tom Dempsey lamented. “We just got our butt kicked.”
Southern Ledger recaps Miami's 74-54 win over Tulane (Box Score):
Dwayne Collins had 23 points and 14 rebounds as Miami overpowered Tulane 74-54 Thursday in the first round of the Charleston Classic.
Collins made all eight of his shots from the field, and eight of his rebounds came on the offensive end.
"He played like a man today," Miami coach Frank Haith said. "It was a really good effort. We shared the ball, had 19 assists, and I thought our Defense exerted itself in the second half, and we got on the offensive glass."
Notes
- After taking a leave of absence from the team, Jamil Tucker will re-join Virginia when the team returns from their tournament in Cancun.
- Busy night tonight with 6 ACC games including Georgia Tech, UNC, and Clemson featured on National Television. Check out the ACC schedule to get the details. We will also feature our exclusive live tempo-based stats for the Maryland game tonight. Check out the NCAA scoreboard for that game and many more.
