In a game we're sure Coach K watched for two reasons (one to scout Virginia, two to study Jim Boeheim's zone for the national team), Virginia lost at home to the Orange, 70-68, behind a strong performance by Donte Green. Dave Leitao said his team "had a lapse for most of the second half," and that'll pretty much kill you. Columnist David Teel says that Virginia can't win if it just settles for three point shooting. In fairness to Virginia, Sean Singletary was ill.
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| ACC Standings | |||||||||||||
| Clemson | 0-0 | .000 | 8-0 | 1.000 | |||||||||
| Duke | 0-0 | .000 | 8-0 | 1.000 | |||||||||
| North Carolina | 0-0 | .000 | 8-0 | 1.000 | |||||||||
| Miami | 0-0 | .000 | 7-0 | 1.000 | |||||||||
| Boston College | 0-0 | .000 | 6-1 | .857 | |||||||||
| Florida State | 0-0 | .000 | 8-2 | .800 | |||||||||
| Virginia | 0-0 | .000 | 6-2 | .750 | |||||||||
| Wake Forest | 0-0 | .000 | 5-2 | .714 | |||||||||
| NC State | 0-0 | .000 | 4-2 | .667 | |||||||||
| Maryland | 0-0 | .000 | 5-3 | .625 | |||||||||
| Virginia Tech | 0-0 | .000 | 4-3 | .571 | |||||||||
| Georgia Tech | 0-0 | .000 | 4-4 | .500 | |||||||||
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Brought to you by Chris O Brion, who is |
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In the other meaningful ACC game of the night, Wake went to Vandy, a notoriously difficult place to play, and the young Deacs almost pulled it out, losing 83-80. Wake could have won it but the young Deacs made some critical mistakes down the stretch. Call it a learning experience.
Clemson went to ECU, something you don't see ACC teams do (although State is going to follow them this weekend) and handled an improving ECU team with no problem. Terrence Oglesby did a reasonable impersonation of J.J. Redick, going 6-7 from behind the line, with the miss being a half-court buzzer beater. Obviously a lot of freshmen are getting more attention, but he's turned into a very pleasant surprise for Oliver Purnell.
ECU has never beaten an ACC team, and with State being somewhat erratic, that may be their best opportunity for the near future.
Speaking of erratic, Georgia Tech beat Georgia State, but not by much, 72-67. Florida State beat this team by 30, for what that's worth. At 4-4, six of the games Tech has had have been on the road, although an Atlanta "road trip" shouldn't be a big deal. But their next home game is this weekend, with Kansas coming to visit, and that'll be a load.
The only Thursday ACC game is between Morgan State and Maryland. Maryland better show up: Morgan State ain't bad. They gave UConn a game before losing, 65-69, beat St. Francis, a school a step above them in the pecking order, and American, also a step above, and almost took out early surprise Miami before losing 51-55. They're a long way away from the glory days of the Human Eraser, but they're not bad. Also, this is Todd Bozeman's chance at redemption, and after eight years in the wilderness, he's more than ready for his comeback. Could the Terps lose this one? You'd have to argue yes.
In a bit of football news, Jim Grobe is leaving Wake Forest for Arkansas after the greatest era in the history of Wake football. Best of luck to him there. His time in the ACC was remarkable. Wake athletics has been brilliantly administered, so we're looking forward to seeing how they handle this hire.