We were pretty much on the money with our analysis of Virginia Tech and FSU, saying that it would be a toss-up and should be about a four point game.
As it turned out, it was precisely a four point game, and Tech had the chance to tie with a minute to go. But Erick Green, who had pulled them back into the game with eight straight points, missed a 10 footer and Florida State iced the game on the line.
Florida State punished Tech defensively, blocking 15 shots and limiting the Hokies to 30.5% from the floor. They were just 2-12 from three point range.
Here's the most shocking stat of the game: guess who was the leading shotblocker? Deividas Dulkys, the 6-5 Lithuanian guard! He finished with five blocked shots. Big men Bernard James and Xavier Gibson managed three each.
Once again, FSU made their life tough with 19 turnovers, but they had enough to pull this one out.
We thought the UNC-Miami game might be equally competitive, but missed on that one. Part of the problem was that Reggie Johnson, clearly, is nowhere near the sort of shape he needs to be in.
Naturally, part of that is because of his injury, but he looks heavy. The guy is going to fight a weight problem for his entire life. We're not saying that to be cruel; he's just built for it. Though he went for 30 minutes and scored 12 points and grabbed nine boards, our sense was that he's a few weeks away from being truly back.
We did feel good about our suggestion that Miami would be able to defend Harrison Barnes: UNC's star forward was limited to 6 points on 2-12 shooting.
Miami got absolutely crushed on the boards, with UNC getting 45/15 to 22/5 for the 'Canes.
Almost everyone shot miserably except for Kenny Kadji, who was 7-11 although he grabbed only two boards, Reggie Johnson, who was 6-10, and UNC's backcourt, which was 12-16. Oh, and Tyler Zeller was 6-11.
On Wednesday, Wake Forest visits the Terps and Tech heads up to Raleigh to take on the resurgent Wolfpack.
They're both intriguing matchups.
Maryland probably has more talent but Wake may be playing better as a team right now. That's a tough one to pick; both teams are still finding their identities.
Still, Alex Len changes things. He got muscled a bit at State; Wake doesn't really have the players to do that.
Mark Turgeon rightly says his season really began with Len's eligibility.
We'll take Maryland here.
We don't think Tech-State is very tough. We expect the Pack to continue their improvement and to win. Tech played with a lot of heart against Duke, but they are still very much up and down and not as far along as State is. CJ Leslie is greatly improved - really, the entire team is, individually and collectively.
One of the things that's been really impressive about State is how well the players have adapted to Mark Gottfried and how well he has adapted to State.
When he was hired it seemed like, well not exactly a gamble but maybe somewhat like settling. State's culture and tradition are built on Indiana roots, via Everett Case and Norm Sloan.
Their obvious connection now to the Hoosier state is shooting ace Scott Wood.
Gottfried, indirectly, is another: when he was at UCLAÂ he spent time with Indiana-born John Wooden and absorbed a lot, much of which he's incorporating now at State.
Interesting circle.
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