As you have probably gathered, we're not big UNC fans, but that doesn't mean we don't respect some of their players. Of the current lot, we have a sincere respect in particular for Kendall Marshall and Tyler Zeller.
Aside from his on-court talents, Zeller is an outstanding student. The Maryland game was his Senior Night, and he didn't disappoint, scoring 30 and grabbing eight boards. He hit 20 points from the foul line (20-23), which basically suggests that Maryland gave up on defending him and just smacked him around as much as you can smack a guy that big around.
It was a nice way to go out, although UNC really blew it by having the stupid Nike one-time unis for Senior Day. Whose bright idea was that? Theirs were, if possible, uglier than Duke's.
John Henson had 19 points and nine boards, while Harrison Barnes had 10 and Reggie Bullock added 12. Kendall Marshall had eight assists and broke Ed Cota's single-season assist record.
James Padgett had a nice double-double for the Terps (13/13) while Nick Faust, who said after the game that he was getting the hang of college basketball, had 17.
Earlier Wednesday, we wondered if State had given up on the season, and figured that if Miami kicked their cans that was the death rattle.
Well, not yet! State, after a tough stretch, gave Miami a fine game and won in the closing seconds.
State broke a four-game losing streak which started with the Duke game and breathed some life back in their season. They have Virginia Tech left on the road and if they win that and do some damage in the ACC Tournament, who knows? They might still get a bid. A lot depends on upsets in conference tournaments which is, of course, beyond their control, and their RPI won't help: currently it's 72.
As for Miami: what gives? They trash Florida State without Reggie Johnson and lose to State with him? That doesn't really make sense.
They wrap up the regular season with B.C., which should be relatively easy, especially at home.
BC has shown some flashes lately though, and on Wednesday knocked off Georgia Tech to escape the cellar, though they had to hold on tight after blowing most of a 17 point lead.
Still, they prevailed, and now can claim wins over Tech, Clemson, Virginia Tech and most impressively Florida State. They were very close in three others. Lots of work to do, but there's potential too.
With just a handful of games left, it's time to start looking at the tournament.
Well no, it's not. There are too many variables still. Duke and UNC still have to iron out 1 and 2, while 4-8 still have a lot of room to change and 9-12 may see some tiebreakers too.
But it'll all be clear by Sunday night.
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