In year's past, in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, you would have predicted that Duke, Maryland and Georgia Tech might have won while Clemson, Miami and Virginia would have lost.
If you had this time, you would only have been right on Miami.
Maryland could have beaten Illinois, something we really saw as a long shot before the game. They were into it well into the second half, before they faded. Nick Faust took back-to-back threes, both ill-advised. A few dumb turnovers later and the Terps were doomed.
Still, they were in it, and for this team, with a bench full of walk-ons, that's an accomplishment.
James Padgett was solid with 16 points and five boards, all offensive, while Terrell Stoglin had 25 on 8-17 from the floor.
It feels a little mean to say this, but it's been a while since someone's ACC career has regressed as much as Sean Mosley's has. He had the potential to be a really solid player, but he's just not. Not anymore. When Pe'Shon Howard is back, and healthy, Mosley will finish his career as a reserve.
Perhaps verifying Mark Turgeon's complaint about immature and selfish play, the Terps had just five assists for the game.
As we expected, Michigan found Virginia's pack-line defense immensely frustrating. They did hit 10-22 from three point range, but got to the foul line just seven times, hitting just four of those.
We're not surprised by the Northwestern-Tech game, although we hoped for better from Tech. They've shown some signs, but the sophisticated offense Northwestern borrowed from Pete Carrill was too much for Tech's limited talent and time under Brian Gregory. The best news for Tech is long term: recruiting is going very well and help is on the way.
Miami didn't start anyone over 6-6 and Purdue just pounded the ball inside.
Nice to see Robbie Hummel with a solid game after his knee injuries: he scored 17 points and grabbed five boards.
Miami was led by Malcolm Grant and rookie Shane Larkin, both with 16.
Clemson rolled over Iowa without too much trouble, with Andre Young leading the way with 19 points. Tanner Smith had 14 boards - extraordinary for a 6-4 guard - and eight assists. TJ Sapp had 13 off the bench.
The ACC is down 2-4 after the first day of the Challenge. On Wednesday, we expect UNC will beat Wisconsin, and Florida State may well beat Michigan State. Beyond that, it's hard to be certain of much.
Virginia Tech has some advantages over hard-luck Minnesota and we're really impressed with Dorian Finney-Smith as you have probably noticed. He's like a basketball Inspector Gadget with a tool for most jobs other that don't require muscle.
We're assuming B.C. is going down, but Penn State has always been a basketball black hole and they don't have Talor Battle anymore. We loved that guy.
Like State, Indiana has been quite down for some time, but also like State, they are recovering. Unlike State, they appear to have a truly remarkable center in rookie Cody Zeller, who has just been astonishing to date.
Wake Forest is also considerably improved over last year, but they could've brought back the stars of the '80s and done that. Last year was a nightmare.
They aren't getting much out of the post, but overall, the Deacs are certainly improving.
The ACC has a chance to win all of these games. Not that they will, but it will hopefully be a better night than Tuesday.
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