In Thursday night ACC action, BC had a stirring performance against #16 Baylor before falling short, Virginia Tech outran VMI, and State had its way with Penn State.
| Teams | Times | TV | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wake Forest vs. Connecticut | 6:30 p.m. | CBS SN | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BYU @ Florida State | 7:00 p.m. | TruTV | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clemson @ Furman | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jacksonville @ Miami | 7:00 p.m. | RSN | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long Island @ Maryland | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Carolina @ Long Beach State | 11:00 p.m. | ESPNU | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dayton vs. Boston College | 2:30 | ESPNU | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NC State vs. TBD | TBA | ESPN2/ESPNU/ESPN3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Particularly impressive were freshmen Rodney Purvis and TJ Warren, who finished with 12 and 22 points respectively. Warren also shot 9-12 and had eight rebounds, suggesting that he may be even better than people expected.
But before we get carried away, consider: Penn State's starters are Jon Graham who is 6-8, Ross Travis, 6-6, Jermaine Marshall, 6-4, Tim Frazier 6-1, and DJ Newbill, 6-4. Sasha Borovnjak, 6-9, got just 11 minutes. Donovan Jack, 6-9, put in 11 minutes and Brandon Taylor, 6-8, got 11 minutes.
When we tuned in, the radio crew said that Richard Howell was on the bench because of foul trouble and Warren, to be sure, filled in brilliantly.
But this is a short and punchless Penn State. The Wolfpack will play, in order, UMass, UNCA, Michigan and UConn. During exam break, they'll play Stanford.
Asheville doesn't belong with the rest, but they are very ably coached by former State star Eddie Biedenbach who is, if we're not mistaken, the last coach State produced who was recruited by Everett Case (Case's health forced him to retire in 1964; Biedenbach started at State in 1965) and who can claim any direct ties to the Silver Fox.
We'll know a lot more soon. If they can mow down UMass, Michigan, UConn and Stanford, and either avoid significant foul problems for Richard Howell or CJ Leslie, or else work around them, then they're a legitimate threat.
In the ACC, they'll still have to deal with Mason Plumlee, Reggie Johnson, a suddenly imposing Charles Mitchell and some other imposing big men.
Nonetheless: Warren's performance, even though it wasn't against a serious team, gives State cause for optimism.
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In Blacksburg, James Johnson, who has been saying for some time that the Hokies would run despite a real lack of depth, has kept his word. VMI is the not the most famous running team in the country, but they do run and they run very well.
Not as well as Virginia Tech though. Tech shot 53%, hit 45.8% and put all five starters in double figures. They also got 25 from their bench, which was not really expected at the beginning of practice.
What does this tell us? One thing for sure: Johnson has done a great job of getting his guys into prime condition.
Erick Green led the way with 23; Cadarian Raines had 14 points and 10 boards.
Both State and Virginia Tech were impressive in their wins, but arguably BC was more impressive in defeat: they may have found a star in sophomore forward Ryan Anderson, who hit Baylor for 25 points (on 9-16 shooting and 2-4 from three point range) after abusing FIU for 29/17.
If you're keeping track, in his first two games, he's scored 55 points and grabbed 23 rebounds or 27.5 ppg and 11.5 rpg.
Most impressive.
He's going to need some help though. Dennis Clifford only had two points. Freshman Oliver Hanlan had 14, and, in a bit of a surprise, Andrew Van Nest, who never did much at Harvard, had 13.
Clemson got a tough break when ace freshman Jaron Blossomgame announced he will redshirt. Presumably his game will blossom next year.
On Friday, there's a full slate: BC gets Archie Miller's Dayton team (they lost to Colorado in the Charleston Classic Thursday), State gets UMass, Wake gets a significant challenge in UConn, Florida State hosts BYU, Maryland faces LIU Brooklyn, Clemson welcomes in-state rival Furman, Miami risks another disaster with Jacksonville and UNC makes their semi-traditional stop at Long Beach State before heading out to Maui.