ACC Roundup - UNC Finally Breaks Through

With a key win over UCLA

In Saturday’s ACC Action, Oregon beat Stanford 76-61, San Diego State handled Cal 71-50, Clemson clawed Wake Forest 73-62, SMU walloped Boston College 103-77, Syracuse took a beating from Maryland, 87-60, Saint Joseph’s crushed Virginia Tech 82-62, Pitt rolled over Sam Houston 110-78, Louisville zapped Florida State 90-76, Mount St. Mary’s shocked Miami 78-74 in OT and UNC knocked off UCLA in the Garden, 76-74.

And that’s a big one.

At just 6-5, UNC was already a marginal tournament prospect. The win over #18 UCLA changes things - but as it so often has been the case this year, it was a close shave.

UCLA was cruising, up 16 with 12:50 to go, when Tyler Bilodeau picked up his fourth. UNC kicked off a run that would ultimately cut the lead to three with 5:15 to play.

RJ Davis finally put the Heels up with 13 seconds left to secure the win. He finished with 17 points but Ian Jackson led the team with 24.

The front court was again unproductive with Ven-Allen Lubin, Jalen Washington and Jae’Lyn Withers combining for seven points and six rebounds. Cade Tyson was also unproductive, hitting just two free throws.

On the downside, UNC had 18 turnovers, led by Elliot Cadeau’s five.

Speaking of turnovers, Clemson forced 19 by Wake Forest, including nine from the starting backcourt. Toss in a 10-3 advantange in three pointers and the die was cast. Three starters barely scratched for Wake - Davin Cosby was blanked, Tre’Von Spillers had two and Efton Reid seven. The bench wasn’t much better, producing just 12 points.

Pat Kelsey promised a three-point happy offense for Louisville. It hasn’t always worked, but it did Saturday: Louisville hit 15-29 and also had a big advantage from the line at 19-23 to 10-14 for FSU.

We don’t know if Kelsey has enough talent to have a major impact this year, but things are looking up for the Cards.

Chucky Hepburn had another good game with 16 points and eight assists. Terrence Edwards surpassed him slightly with 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Louisville assisted on 18 of 28 made shots.

We thought St. Joe’s in the Palestra was a reach for the Hokies and it turned out it was, not least of all for Jaden Schutt, who played 27 minutes but shot just 2-6/1-4 for five points.

Want to sum it up?

Okay: St. Joe’s hit 15 threes, had nine steals and eight blocks. You’re welcome.

The Hokies kept it close in the first half but in the second, the Hawks dominated Virginia Tech, outscoring the visitors by 18.

This team needs some help but we’re not sure where it’ll come from.

We didn’t expect Pitt would have much trouble from Sam Houston and they didn't get much, winning by 32. Zack Austin and Ishmael Leggett had 23 each. Cam Corhen appears to be a big help inside: he put up 15 points and had six boards. He’s much stronger than the Diaz Graham twins for one.

With the win, Pitt moves to a very respectable 10-2.

Poor Miami. The ‘Canes, so potent in recent seasons, are falling off a cliff. Losing at home to Mount St. Mary’s? That’s brutal.

Miami had a 10 point lead but Mount St. Mary’s began to press them and the momentum changed. Nobody shot well for Miami other than Lynn Kidd, who hit eight in the second half on 4-8 shooting.

Syracuse was awful against Maryland and was never in the game. Adrian Autry called it “embarrassing.” His players said they were never really in it. The less said the better, honestly. It was an awful outing.

SMU had a feast at BC’s expense, winning by 26 on the road. Homeboy Matt Cross had 20 points and eight rebounds while Boopie Miller finished with 18 points and seven assists.

Donald Hand had 22 points for the Eagles while Dion Brown added 20. It just wasn’t a great game for BC by any means.

On the other hand, SMU is new to the ACC and currently 10-2 and 2-0 in ACC play. Not bad.

As for the West Coasters, predictably both Stanford and Cal lost in the San Jose Tipoff. Stanford appears to be the better team of the two but #10 Oregon is legitimately tough and the loss was no surprise.

Former Blue Devil Jaylen Blakes had a poor outing with five points, three assists and three turnovers. He shot just 2-9.

All name candidate: Oregon’s Supreme Cook.

Cal meanwhile led for nearly nine minutes but when San Diego State got going there was no stopping them. The Aztecs shot poorly - just 37.3/34.6 percent - but forced 18 turnovers and held Cal to 25.5 percent.

Andrej Stojakovic had 10 points while Jeremiah Wilkinson came off the bench to score 13.

It’s going to be a long winter for Cal.

Three games on Sunday as Virginia hosts American, NC State welcomes in Rider and Notre Dame plans to feast on LeMoyne.

Sunday’s ACC Action

• American @ Virginia || 2:00 || ACCN
• Rider @ NC State || 4:00 || ACCN
• LeMoyne @ Notre Dame || 6:00 || ACCN

• ACC Standings

• UNC men’s basketball completes second-half comeback to earn first top-25 win
• UNC men’s basketball fueled by do or die attitude to earn first ranked win against UCLA -
• Don’t count out North Carolina after a comeback victory vs. UCLA that could be the spark the Tar Heels need
• No. 18 UCLA gives up 16-point lead, losing to North Carolina in a heartbreaker
• Clemson suffocates Wake Forest in 73-62 ACC victory
• Turnovers, defensive lapses doom Wake Forest on road vs Clemson 73-62
• No. 25 Clemson opens big early lead to start ACC play 2-0 with a 73-62 victory over Wake Forest
• What Pat Kelsey, Louisville Players Said After 90-76 Win at Florida State
• TheOsceola: Florida State Seminoles Football & Basketball Recruiting
• Takeaways, notes from Louisville’s win over FSU
• Battle-tested Louisville basketball beats Florida State for Pat Kelsey’s first ACC win
• Hokies Men’s Basketball Can’t Withstand Saint Joseph’s Sharpshooting
• Saint Joseph’s squashes Virginia Tech men at The Palestra
• Austin, Leggett pace Pitt with 23 points each in 110-78 rout over Sam Houston State
• Pitt goes into holiday break with 10 wins after pounding Sam Houston
• Pitt Handles Sam Houston in Non-Conference Finale, 110-78
• Analysis: Pitt forwards Cam Corhen, Zack Austin show improvement in blowout win over Sam Houston
• Mount St. Mary’s comes from 10 down in 2nd half, upsets Miami 78-74 in OT
• Mount St. Mary’s rallies for overtime upset of Miami
• UM loses 78-74 in OT to Mount St. Mary’s, drops to 4-8 for season. Here’s what happened
• Maryland thrives on both ends of the floor in decisive win over Syracuse
• Fizz Report Card: Maryland trounces Syracuse 87-60 in Gotham Classic
• What to do about Syracuse’s ‘embarrassing’ loss to Maryland? ‘Nobody can quit, throw in the towel’
• Maryland’s defense sets the tone in lopside win over Syracuse: ‘We got our butts kicked’
• Beverly’s Matt Cross leads SMU men’s basketball over Boston College
• Eagles Drop ACC Home Opener to SMU
• Streaking SMU’s big offensive showing beats Boston College
• SMU Dominates Boston College, 103-77, in Historic Offensive Display
• No. 10 Oregon takes down Stanford 76-61 at San Jose Tipoff
• No. 23 Men’s Hoops Set to Face California at the San Jose Tip-Off on SaturdayFor the 15th time in program history, San Diego State
• Aztecs handle Cal Golden Bears, 71-50 to win San Jose Tip-Off
• No. 23 SDSU shuts down Cal for fifth consecutive win
• No. 10 Oregon beats Stanford 76-61 in a matchup of former Pac-12 foes
• Kwame Evans Jr. helps No. 10 Oregon dispatch Stanford