ACC Roundup - Syracuse And BC Have A Marathon & UNC Finally Tops Pitt

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09 Feb 2025 13:00

Feb 8, 2025; Syracuse, New York, USA; Syracuse Orange guard Jaquan Carlos (left) and forward Petar Majstorovic (6) with Boston College Eagles guard Joshua Beadle (7) look to see the call for the ball in the second overtime period at the JMA Wireless Dome. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

As the ACC sees its second triple-overtime thriller in the space of a single week

In Saturday’s ACC Action, Virginia Tech nipped Notre Dame 65-63, Louisville surfed past Miami 88-78, Syracuse beat Boston College 95-86, UNC survived Pitt 67-66, Wake clocked Cal 76-66, Georgia Tech fell at Virginia 75-61 and Stanford slipped by the Pack 74-73.

We still have faith in Micah Shrewsberry and that he’ll get Notre Dame turned around. It’s only Year II and he has a great class coming in next season.

But the offense is struggling. Against Virginia Tech, the Irish shot 39.3 percent. So did Virginia Tech actually. They’re not great either. But the Hokies got it done on the line late with Brandon Rechsteiner hitting seven in the last 32 seconds to seal the win.

Notre Dame only made six baskets in the first 19 minutes of the second half, according to ESPN.

Braeden Shrewsberry can run hot or cold but here he was ice cold, shooting 0-8. Tae Davis shot 6-10 for 18 points but Markus Burton was held to 8-18.

For the Hokies, Tobi Lawal had 15, Ben Burnham 10 and Brandon Rechsteiner had his seven late free throws which pushed him to 12. Former Blue Devil Jaden Schutt finished with seven.

Louisville started without Chucky Hepburn and during the game, James Scott accidentally got his face smashed on the floor and left the game bloody.

Even so, Louisville was better than Miami. Terrence Edwards had 27 points and 10 assists.

The ‘Canes played better than they have most of the season, at least on offense. Matthew Cleveland had 21 points. AJ Staton-McCray had 22. Lynn Kidd and Divine Ugohkukwu each had 10. A bit more defense and Miami might have pulled off a bit of a surprise: Louisville outscored them from three point range by 15. It was an impressive win considering the injury issues.

Triple overtime games are fairly rare but the ACC has had two in the last week. Following the Georgia Tech-Clemson marathon last Saturday, BC and Syracuse had one of their own.

Syracuse had to earn it, falling behind by 11 and trailing by seven in the second overtime, but they ultimately did it.

JJ Starling and Donald Hand both had 28. Hand was the marathon man here with 51 minutes but Eddie Lampkin pulled 49 which we didn't think he could do.

That’s bound to be exhausting. Syracuse plays Miami on Tuesday, which is a bit tight after a 55 minute game, while BC plays Notre Dame on Wednesday.

Speaking of Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets still had a basic six-man rotation and lost at Virginia on Tony Bennett Day.

Somewhere along the line, Virginia has learned how to shoot and Andrew Rohde, who last season looked way over his level, has improved a great deal.

Rohde had 11 points, nine assists and no turnovers. He also shot 4-9/3-6. Dai Dai Ames finished with 18 points while Isaac McKneely had 20. The walk-ons got on but for whatever reason, we don’t know why yet, Duke transfer TJ Power didn't play.

Capel Hill is no more: UNC has struggled with Pitt for the last few seasons but finally got one over on the Capel Brothers.

Not that it was easy. Jaland Lowe fouled out late and Pitt couldn’t find anyone to score with time running down. He couldn’t either actually, missing two shots before he left.

It’s not like Pitt didn’t have chances; they just couldn’t capitalize.

Guillermo Diaz Graham turned it over late which didn’t help either and then RJ Davis got a basket with :52 left.

Ven-Allen Lubin had a terrific game with 17 points on 8-12 from the floor and after his disastrous turn at Duke which saw even older former Tar Heels question him, Elliot Cadeau had just three turnovers to seven assists.

Bad news for Pitt: Damion Dunn fractured his elbow and that might be it for his Pitt career.

Wake Forest took care of Cal inside, shooting 79.3 in the second half and 57.7 percent overall. Cal hit just 34.8 percent. Cameron Hildreth had 23, Hunter Sallis 20 and Efton Reid had 19 which is really good for him.

Omaha Biliew, who hasn’t played for almost a month, got 10 minutes in his return.

Jeremiah Wilkinson had 21 for the Bears while Andrej Stokavic had 10.

NC State’s losing streak is now up to eight and the Pack has lost 10 of its last 11 (the win was over Notre Dame a month ago).

Stanford was without Duke transfer Jaylen Blakes, who hurt his head recently, but State was missing Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, who is out with an injury of his own.

Ben Middlebrooks fouled out trying to contain Maxime Raynaud, who had 25 points and 12 rebounds.

Close but no cigar: Trey Parker put State up with :17 left but Ryan Agarwal drove for the game winner with :08 to play. Then Parker had a chance to hit a corner three but it rimmed out. He’s a freshman. He’ll learn from this.

Parker finished with 19. Dontrez Styles had 18. Playing against his old team, Michael O’Connell didn’t score and had zero assists.

No games until Monday when UNC visits Clemson.

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ACC Roundup - Syracuse And BC Have A Marathon & UNC Finally Tops Pitt

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