ACC Roundup

In ACC action, Thursday night, three games stand out, so first the
pedestrian: UNC trounced Rutgers, as expected, 87-48; Tech (unless
otherwise noted, on DBR Tech is Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech as the newcomer
will be called Virginia Tech. Same principle for State and Florida State) ran
Troy out, 85-55, Virginia beat American
91-70, and Maryland thumped Mount St.
Mary's, 91-50, partly because the Mountaineers tried to zone Maryland and
the Terps just shot them out of town.

Now on to the fun stuff.

State had a big tussle with ECU before winning 64-57. They had to
overcome a 15 point deficit to win, so kudos to El Sid's bunch.

B.C. was upset by Duquesne, but it's not as severe an upset as it looks,
since B.C. was playing without Jared Dudley and John Oates.
Sean Williams had a sensational game with a triple double (19 points, 10 boards,
and 13! blocked shots), but ultimately probably blew the game with a foolish
late technical and then an unnecessary intentional foul, both in the last 1:05
of overtime. Duquesne scored five points out of his mistakes and then got
the ball back as well. You'll recall that Duquesne had pretty massive
trauma earlier this year when several members of their team were involved in a
shooting. This win must make them feel great.

And then there's Clemson.

They have their traditional share of cupcakes, at least eight by our count,
but they are in first place in the SEC with three wins against that conference
(please don't send us e-mail, it's an intentional comment), and defeated
Minnesota out of the Big Ten as well. That's not something you typically
see out of the Tigers.

But the win against Georgia is important.

Clemson is a dead cinch to go to 14-0 - we'll be shocked if they don't
- and with three vulnerable ACC opponents in a row could go to 17-0. FSU
is improved but still not lighting the world on fire. Tech is young and
struggling defensively. State is game but thin.

After that, they face Maryland, a tough but winnable game - and don't forget
Clemson has more or less had Maryland's number lately - meaning it's not
inconceivable that Clemson could roll into the UNC game at 18-0.

It's also conceivable they could lose to UNC, B.C., and then Duke. But
we're getting ahead of ourselves. 13-0, soon to be 14-0, is very
impressive. These are not your father's Tigers.

Friday night, Wake faces South Florida, and the Bulls, who say they aren't
playing well, are
wary.

• The
  record may go, but the coaches will come
• Tigers
  roll past Georgia
• NC
  State rallies by Pirates
• Wake
  Forest, South Florida similar
• With
  its coach in the hospital, Duquesne gains a gutty 98-93 Win.
• No.
  25 Clemson remains unbeaten
• Ellington's
  3-pointers help UNC cruise over Rutgers
• N.C.
  State 64, East Carolina 57
• Frasor's
  recovery has hit a setback, Williams says
• Pack
  pulls through against Pirates
• UNC
  freshmen classy in rout of Rutgers
• <!h2>Eagles
  fall in OT

Here's an interesting bit of news: former Blue Devil Tony Barone, a guard
from the Bubas era, has
taken over the coaching job at Memphis after the Grizzlies fired Mike
Fratello. He's an interim hire, but who knows? Incidentally,
he and former Memphis coach Hubie Brown go back to mutual Duke roots. He's
a very nice man and here's hoping he makes the most of his opportunity.

Bob Knight lost to UNLV in his first attempt to break Dean Smith's career win
record. We're guessing the locker room was not a lot of fun. Despite
his public comments otherwise, we're pretty sure a man with an ego as healthy as
his is would desperately want this record. John Feinstein wrote the
definitive book on Knight. In Friday's Post, he
has another great piece on the man.