ACC Roundup - Clemson Dominates Syracuse & Georgia Tech Impresses Despite Being Shorthanded

The Yellow Jackets really had to overcome a lot to win this one.

Wednesday’s ACC Action went about as we expected: Stanford clobbered Miami 88-51, Clemson squeezed Syracuse 86-72, Georgia Tech got by Virginia Tech 71-64 and Cal beat FSU 77-68.

Miami-Stanford went about as you might expect, with Stanford rushing out to a 25-5 lead. The Hurricanes led once, 1-0, and that was it. It was a blowout after that.

Former Blue Devil Jaylen Blakes finished with 12 points, four assists, three steals and two rebounds. Big man Maxime Raynaud racked up 28 points and 12 rebounds.

It’s a lost season for Miami. Matthew Cleveland had 23 for the ‘Canes and Lynn Kidd had 10 but no one else but Paul Djobet (with nine) scored more than two points.

That’s right.

Miami shot 35.1 percent overall, 13.3 percent from behind the line and had 15 turnovers.

Georgia Tech is really limited by injuries, but earlier this week, coach Damon Stoudamire said that that just meant they had to double down and do better.

Well, they did it - and one of the missing was leading scorer Lance Terry.

The Yellow Jackets got 14 minutes of bench play - 10 from Ryan Mutombo and four from Darrion Sutton - which makes it even more impressive.

Georgia Tech held the Hokies to 37.3 percent overall. Though they were bound to be tired, they didn’t foul much - Virginia Tech got just 10 foul shots (they hit nine). And this is impressive - Georgia Tech forced turnovers on five of the last nine possessions.

Former Blue Devil Jaden Schutt has worked his way back into the starting lineup, scoring six points and grabbing four rebounds.

Baye Ndongo, now back inside again, shot 6-8 for 14 points. He also grabbed nine rebounds, have four assists and five steals.

Syracuse hung around for about 10 minutes before their offense basically died. Down 20-19 with 10:43 left, Clemson had a devastating 28-10 run that put them up 48-29 at the half. Syracuse actually outscored the Tigers in the second half, 43-38, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

Syracuse actually shot really well - 53.8/52.4 percent to 56.4/45 percent for Clemson - but the Tigers shot 15-21 from the free throw line to 5-6 for the Orange.

JJ Starling finished with 25 points and Eddie Lampkin had 14 points and nine rebounds. Those two accounted for 17 of Syracuse’s 28 made shots, only eight of which were assisted.

Chase Hunter had 23 points and three steals to lead Clemson. Ian Schieffelin had 11 points but just five rebounds, well below his traditional level. Viktor Lakhin had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Duke transfer Christian Reeves got two minutes off the bench and grabbed a rebound.

FSU went to Cal and, not surprisingly, lost. Cal led basically all the way other than a very early lead for the ‘Noles.

Neither team shot well, but Cal picked up 23 offensive rebounds (FSU had 20 which ain’t bad either) and killed the ‘Noles at the line. Cal shot 19-22 while FSU only had five attempts, hitting three.

This was even more impressive since Andrej Stojakovic had to sit this one out with the flu. Freshman Jeremiah Wilkinson took his spot for his first career start and finished with 18.

Jamir Watkins had 18 for FSU and Taylor Bol Bowen had nine points, seven rebounds and an impressive five blocks. Florida State had nine total blocks against the Bears.

No games until Saturday when we’ll see some interesting matches, including Pitt at Syracuse and Notre Dame at Virginia. The best game though is likely to be Duke at Wake Forest.

• FINAL: Miami drops late-night road contest versus Stanford 88-51
• Maxime Raynaud helps Stanford hand Miami eighth straight defeat, 88-51
• Stanford’s Maxime Raynaud nearly unstoppable in rout of woeful Miami
• Maxime Raynaud helps Stanford hand Miami eighth straight defeat, 88-51
• Turnovers Doom Virginia Tech Men’s Basketball Late At Georgia Tech
• Jackets down Virginia Tech 71-64 without leading scorer Terry
• Cal men beat Florida State as defense takes the wheel from struggling offense
• West Coast swing starts with a thud for FSU men; ‘Noles fall at Cal, 77-68
• Cal, minus top scorer, runs away from Florida State
• Cal wins offensive boards, makes late run as FSU falls flat on road
• Syracuse suffers blowout loss at Clemson
• Clemson makes easy work of Syracuse thanks to Chase Hunter’s strong effort
• Syracuse basketball again falls flat against a quality foe, Clemson wins by 14 points
• Dominant First Half Paces Tigers Past Syracuse