Since the ACC Tournament expanded, Day 1 has frequently been a watered-down joke. Well, not this year, as two out of three games were really good.
Pitt nipped Stanford at the buzzer, 64-63, and Wake Forest got Virginia Tech in overtime, 95-89.
In the only easy game, SMU didn’t have much trouble with Syracuse, winning 86-69.
As for Pitt and Stanford: wow.
Pitt really went after Ebuka Okorie hard, giving him a bloody lip at one point.
It’s a drag for Okorie, of course, but c’mon: the guy is 6-2/185. He’s
also highly effective. People will try to beat him up, which Pitt did.
Did it work?
To an extent, yes: Okorie was held to just 14 points, well below his average of 23.1.
Still, the game wasn’t decided until the last seconds: Okorie converted a three-point play with 26.2 seconds to play, and then Pitt got a chance for the last shot.
Damarco Minor fired off a three that missed…but then he grabbed the rebound and put it back in with just 0.1 on the clock. He shot just 1-9 before the winning basket. Pitt moves on.
Two ACC tournaments for Stanford, and two devastating defeats: last season, Chucky Hepburn got a last-second putback to give Louisville a 75-73 win.
You have to feel a bit for Mike Young. Yesterday, we linked to a story about his despair at Virginia Tech not being able to get over the hump. Well, it happened again as Wake Forest took them to overtime, winning by six.
Wake has really struggled with inside play, but this time, they got 17 points from Omaha Biliew and Cooper Schwieger.
Virginia Tech killed Wake on the boards (21-5 offensive and 45-28 overall), but it didn’t help. Neither did limiting Juke Harris to just 10 points on 3-18/0-6 from the floor.
It didn’t help that Ben Hammond fouled out and Tobi Lawal had 4.
Fortunately for Young, his AD has already said he’ll be back next year, hopefully with a bit less frustration.
Finally, SMU toyed with Syracuse for most of the game, winning with ease. Nate Kingz had a great game with 25 points, and Tyler Betsey had 15 off the bench, hitting 5 threes.
But all five SMU starters finished in double figures, and all scored at least 12. Boopie Miller had 25 and 11 rebounds. Samet Yigitoglu and Jaden Toombs both finished with 11 rebounds, as the Mustangs dominated the boards, 44-31/19-10.
Syracuse’s season ends at 15-17 and with wide expectations that Adrian Autry will be dismissed – and that’s from Syracuse fans and local writers.
In a bit of good news, we understand that a new chancellor has been named, and that a new AD will be named soon, which should make finding a new coach easier.
On Wednesday, Pitt plays NC State, SMU and Louisville tangle, Cal faces a hot Florida State, and Wake Forest gets Clemson in the nightcap.
Could Pitt pull off another upset? Well, given how NC State has closed out the season, why not? The Pack hasn’t won since mollywhopping UNC almost a month ago, and Will Wade isn’t overly impressed with his team. So who knows?
Looks like Mikel Brown is out for the ACC Tournament, which is a drag for Louisville. The Cardinals should have the advantage anyway, but this team is highly erratic. These teams split, with SMU winning when Brown played, scoring 29, and Louisville winning when he was out.
That’s a weird one. Call it a toss-up.
Jon Scheyer deservedly won the ACC Coach of the Year, but Luke Loucks has done a really impressive job, and Florida State is not a team anyone should take lightly. Cal has had a really good season too, but we like the ‘Noles here.
In the nightcap, we again see a team that’s struggled late in Clemson, and a team that might be catching fire in Wake Forest. Clemson is a lot more hard-nosed than Virginia Tech, but this team nearly let weak Georgia Tech steal the regular season finale, so we’d give them about 65% confidence here. And Juke Harris will almost certainly play better than he did against the Hokies.
Wednesday’s ACC Tournament Action
- Pitt vs. NC State || 12:00|| ESPN2
- SMU vs. Louisville || 2:30|| ESPN
- Cal vs. Florida State || 7:00 || ESPNU
- Wake Forest vs. Clemson || 9:30 || ESPN2
