Last night, two of the ACC's top four teams won games they should win last night. Virginia survived a poor first 20 minutes and Joe Harris and Mike Scott's big second halves carried them to a 65-61 victory. North Carolina found itself tied with Wake Forest midway through the 1st half, but UNC's defense carried them to a 68-53 victory in Winston-Salem.
As David Teel puts it, Virginia is a team walking a "fine line". While the Cavaliers are a top 20 team in both polls, they are not a team that can simply outscore you, yet. They have to show up and play defense everynight, but let's take a look at that "yet" in the last sentence. In the second half against Clemson, Virginia was really good for a ten minute stretch. In that stretch Joe Harris and Sammy Zeglinski were knocking down shots and Mike Scott was dominating the interior. The Virginia Cavaliers went from down 4 to up 11 in a matter of minutes. If Virginia can put together just one stretch like that a game, it might be enough to win games.
UNC fans won't be real pleased with last night's victory, but I'd argue they should be thrilled. UNC put together a defensive effort for the majority of the game last night. On a night that the Tarheels shot poorly, they still won easily. That is a big win for UNC in my book.
Tonight, we get 3 ACC matchups. At 7, FSU hosts Georgia Tech and at 8 we get two games, NC State goes to Boston College and Maryland travels to Miami. Let's assume FSU takes care of business and wins at home. NC State has a really big game and can't take Boston College lightly. The Eagles have shown they will give you a tough game at home and force you to be disciplined defensively. If I'm Mark Gottfried I'm pressing BC early to see if I can force the tempo a bit. In the Miami/Maryland game, the winner will move to 4-3 and start to look more like a NCAA tournament team.
ACC Top 5 Plays from January
| Team | Conf | Pct | Overall | Pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNC | 6-1 | 0.857 | 19-3 | 0.864 |
| Duke | 5-1 | 0.833 | 18-3 | 0.857 |
| FSU | 5-1 | 0.833 | 14-6 | 0.700 |
| Virginia | 5-2 | 0.714 | 18-3 | 0.857 |
| NC State | 4-3 | 0.571 | 15-7 | 0.682 |
| Maryland | 3-3 | 0.500 | 13-7 | 0.650 |
| Miami | 3-3 | 0.500 | 12-7 | 0.632 |
| Clemson | 3-4 | 0.429 | 11-10 | 0.524 |
| Boston College | 2-5 | 0.286 | 7-14 | 0.333 |
| Wake Forest | 2-6 | 0.250 | 11-11 | 0.500 |
| Virginia Tech | 1-5 | 0.167 | 12-9 | 0.571 |
| Georgia Tech | 1-6 | 0.143 | 8-13 | 0.381 |
Links
- Cavaliers tame Tigers
- Ratcliffe: Another nailbiting win for Virginia
- Cavaliers to refocus on rebounding
- Virginia vs. Clemson: Scott sparks Cavs in 65-61 win over Tigers
- ACC: Anyone Can Contend
- ACC first-year coacheshave mid-major pasts
- Fans not lining up in ACC
- James gives FSU leadership it needs on climb up ACC ranks
- Miami Hurricanes’ Jim Larranaga, Maryland’s Mark Turgeon are …
- More on Florida State’s recent basketball improvements
- Teel Time: UVa walks “fine line” again
- North Carolina finds positives in ugly win
- Wolfpack finds little room for error in pursuit of ACC goals
- Cold Deacons fallto chilly Tar Heels
- Struggling N.C. State to visit young BC
- Strelow: Heels not exactly setting nets on fire
- Shots falling or not, Maryland’s Stoglin not short on confidence
- UNC 68 Wake Forest 53
Yesterday's Games
| Matchup | |
|---|---|
| Clemson 61 @ Virginia 65 | Box |
| UNC 68 @ Wake Forest 53 | Box |
Today's Games
| Time | Matchup | TV | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7:00:00 PM | Georgia Tech @ FSU | RSN/ESPN3 | Preview |
| 8:00:00 PM | NC State @ Boston College | ACCN/ESPN3 | Preview |
| 8:00:00 PM | Maryland @ Miami | ACCN/ESPN3 | Preview |
