ACC Roundup - A Dull Wednesday, Other Than Notre Dame’s Win Over Stanford
And sadly, for the first time ever, NC State will not be in the ACC Tournament
In Wednesday's ACC Action, Clemson beat Boston College 78-69, Louisville took care of Cal 85-68, NC State handled Pitt 71-63 and Stanford fell at Notre Dame 56-54.
Boston College gave Clemson a better game than we thought they could or would. In the second half, BC got to within two points at 62-60. Clemson was coughing the ball up too.
In the end though, the Eagles couldn’t score late and Clemson went on a 6-0 mini-run in the last 5:32.
There’s been a lot of talk about Duke’s imposing season and Louisville’s amazing turnaround, but Clemson has had a great year too. The Tigers are now #13 in the country and they’re 9-1 on the road, which is sensational, even in a bad year in the ACC.
The Tigers close on Saturday at home with Virginia Tech and we’d almost be willing (almost being the key word here) to bet big money that Clemson wins that one.
Cal hung around with Louisville for most of the first half before the Cardinals pulled away behind a 35 point game from Terrence Edwards. Chucky Hepburn had 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists for another impressive outing.
Cal shot just 29.6 percent for the game.
Bit of potential bad news for the ‘Ville as Reyne Smith hurt his right leg in the first half. No word yet on how serious it is.
There will be no postseason miracle from NC State this year: despite beating Pitt, the Pack won’t be in the ACC Tournament after Notre Dame beat Stanford.
It’s quite a fall from last spring’s emotional highs.
The Pack took control of the game early and kept it for the rest of the game. State’s offense has been an issue all season but on Wednesday, it wasn’t terrible. Four starters finished in double figures and Marcus Hill had 10 off the bench.
For Pitt, Zack Austin continued his up-and-down season, finishing with six points on 1-5 shooting. Jaland Lowe picked up 20 points while Cameron Corhen had 13.
The best game of the night though was probably in South Bend, where the Irish hit a big three late to give the Irish a 56-54 win.
Notre Dame had a 15-0 run to go up 52-46 before Stanford pushed back with an eight point run of their own.
Stanford was back up 54-52 on a Jaylen Blakes three when Tae Davis hit one of two free throws with :59 left. Stanford’s Oziyah Sellers missed a shot then Cole Certa hit a three with :18 left to put Notre Dame up 56-54. Stanford had one last shot to tie or win but missed and that was that.
The regular season ends on Saturday with NC State at Miami in the most depressing game of the year, Stanford taking on Louisville, Georgia Tech zipping up to play Wake Forest, SMU and Florida State tangling in Dallas, Cal vs. Notre Dame, Virginia Tech at Clemsonw, BC playing at Pitt, Duke bussing down 15-501 to challenge the Tar Heels and Virginia and Syracuse closing things out in the Dome.
*****
The women’s tournament started Wednesday and there were three games there, with Boston College surviving Syracuse 76-73, Virginia knocking off Pitt 64-50 and Clemson blowing by Stanford 63-46.
On Thursday, BC takes on #14 UNC, the two Techs tangle, Virginia gets Cal and Clemson faces Louisville.
- Jaeden Zackery returns to BC and scores 21 to lead No. 11 Clemson to 78-69 win
- Clemson Defense Locks Down in Final Minutes to Beat BC
- Clemson basketball moves a step closer to ACC title share with Boston College win
- 5 takeaways from Clemson basketball’s 78-69 road win at Boston College
- No. 14 Louisville steamrolls Cal for 8th straight win
- Louisville’s Reyne Smith leaves game with lower leg injury in game against Cal
- BOZICH | Edwards joins 30-point club as Louisville handles Cal, 85-68
- NC State is Officially Eliminated from the 2025 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament
- Marcus Hill Announces Plans to Return to NC State Next Year, Utilizing Extra Year of Eligibility from JUCO Ruling
- After 71-63 loss to N.C. State, Pitt’s losing streak reaches 4 for the 3rd time this season
- Paul Zeise: The path out of Pitt’s current state of basketball mediocrity is not as simple as paving it with money