In Saturday’s ACC Action, Stanford took care of Colorado 77-68, Syracuse put Northeastern on a leash 91-83, Virginia Tech clipped Elon 82-81 in overtime, Georgia Tech got by Lafayette 95-81, Louisville
smote Montana 94-54, Virginia reminded Maryland that the ACC is better, 80-72 and UNC escaped a gutty effort by Ohio State 71-70.
This was a really good game that also marked the return of Seth Trimble. Trimble played 36 minutes and got 17 points in his return, but at the end, with UNC down 70-69, disaster nearly struck: Trimble stumbled and the ball popped loose. Luckily for him Henri Veesaar picked it up and dunked it with :07 left to play. The Buckeyes could not score and that was that.
Veesaar finished with 17 points and 10 boards while Caleb Wilson got 20 and 15. It’s a tough matchup for anyone.
With Trimble’s return someone had to sit and UNC Bingo pointed to Jarin Stevenson.
Bit of a surprise: the Tar Heels hit just 7-13 free throws.
Maryland played Virginia without center Pharrell Payne. Add that to 19 turnovers and it was too much to overcome. Even more interestingly, Virginia got bupkus from Thijs De Ridder (1-8 for 5 points and 4 rebounds). It wasn’t a great game for Johann Grunloh either, but he did get 8 points and 8 rebounds. Dallin Hall had 2o points on 8-8 from the floor. Jacari White had 15 points including this highly impressive slam.
Buzz Williams is an interesting but not great coach. His career winning percentage is .623 (377-228) and he has a policy of leaving town before things get sour with a fan base. Accordingly he spent six years at Marquette, five at Virginia Tech and six at Texas A&M. So around 2030 or so, he should be checking out of College Park.
Speaking of Virginia Tech, the Hokies nearly had a disaster as Elon took them to overtime and Virginia Tech won by just 1 point.
What the heck?
Well, there were reasons. First, Tobi Lawal is still out. Second, so were Neoklis Avdalas, who is sick, and Antonio Dorn left after four minutes with a back issue.
Still, we never thought Elon would have a 19 point lead in Blacksburg. The Hokies caught up though and with :04 left, Izaiah Pasha missed a pair from the line but then blocked Elon’s last second shot.
Former Blue Devil Jaden Schutt finished with 10 points off the bench.
Speaking of injuries, Louisville went without point guards Mikel Brown (back) and Kobe Rogers (concussion protocol).
Didn’t matter.
J’Vonne Hadley got the nod as the Cards went big. Center Sananda Fru scored 18 on 9-11 and every other starter hit double figures. Montana is just not on the same level as Louisville, not even close.
However, Louisville has a tough trip to the Bay Area after Christmas, and that plane flight will not help Brown if his back is still trouble. Moreover, while Cal and Stanford got used to the ACC last year, this year they know what to expect and they’re both better. Expect some West Coast upsets this season.
Speaking of Stanford and another injury, Ebuka Okorie returned as the Cardinal took care of Colorado. Okorie scored 32 points and set a freshman record in his return, including 18-21 from the line. Benny Gealer finished with 13 and Chisom Okpara 11.
Incidentally, former Wake Forest coach Danny Manning is now back at his comfort level as an assistant coach. He’s never done well as a head coach but he’s a great big man coach and he’s got an interesting kid to work with in Bangot Dak.
As Barry pointed out this week, Syracuse has really struggled from the line this season, but not so much against Northeastern: Nathan George alone hit 12-14 and collectively, the ‘Cuse hit 34-48 (71%). William Kyle, who’s been better than we expected, was 6-12 on his attempts.
However, coach Adrian Autry was disappointed in his team’s defense as Syracuse allowed 52 second half points. Autry is getting some pressure and this sort of thing won’t help.
Georgia Tech played without Baye Ndgongo for the third straight game and has won all three. Jaeden Mustaf has missed the last two. Didn’t matter against Lafayette. Kowacie Reeves had 20 points and 9 assists while Lamar Washington appears to be settling in at point with 20 points and 10 assists. Georgia Tech assisted on 21 of 30 baskets and hit 56% of their threes and 50% overall. It’s Lafayette, but they’re missing a lot too. Pretty solid.
Sunday’s a busy day with Pitt playing Penn State, undefeated Vanderbilt at Wake Forest, Ole Miss and NC State playing in Greensboro, Central Arkansas at SMU, Purdue-Fort Wayne at Notre Dame, Clemson and Cincinnati tangle in Greenville, Miami hosts North Florida and Columbia visits Cal.
Some quick notes: huge opportunity for Wake as the Deacs have shown they can play with elite teams. Will NC State respond to Will Wade’s tirade about effort and consistency? Finally, Wes Miller is on the hot seat and Miami is playing its first game since Marcus Allen was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
- AJ: The Trimble Effect Carries Plenty of Weight
- Taking a Deep Dive into UNC’s Performance from its win over Ohio State
- Seth Trimble talks return from injury, Jarin Stevenson talks big plays for UNC vs Ohio State
- No. 12 UNC men’s basketball survives Ohio State, 71-70, in CBS Sports Classic
- North Carolina leaves Atlanta facing a challenge
- Jarin Stevenson Embraces New Role, Delivers For UNC Vs. Ohio State
- Takeaways from Maryland men’s basketball’s 80-72 loss vs. No. 23 Virginia
- No. 23 Virginia defeats Maryland, 80-72, in renewed rivalry
- Virginia Tech basketball: Shorthanded Hokies survive Elon’s upset bid
- Christian Gurdak scores last and Virginia Tech edges Elon 82-81 in overtime
- Three Takeaways From Virginia Tech Basketball’s 82-81 Overtime Comeback Victory Over Elon
- Big man leads Louisville to 94-54 romp over Montana
- No. 11 Louisville rebounds from loss with 94-54 romp over Montana
- Louisville basketball, paced by big man Sananda Fru, routs Montana
- Fru, Cards make Montana pay for their bad loss to Tennessee in 94-54 rout
- What HC Pat Kelsey, Louisville Players Said After 94-54 Win vs. Montana
- Okorie Breaks Freshman Record, Card Downs Colorado
- 3 takeaways as Colorado’s offense gets stifled by Stanford’s zone in loss
- Ebuka Okorie nets 18 free throws as Stanford edges Colorado
- Naithan George’s season-high 22 points help Syracuse beat Northeastern 91-83
- Northeastern Huskies 83 – Syracuse Orange 91: Final score, results, recap, box score, stats
- Syracuse’s consistency problem persists in win vs. Northeastern
- Syracuse’s defense goes missing in win over Northeastern: ‘Not to our level’
- Syracuse men’s basketball: Orange hold on for 91-83 win over Northeastern
