ACC Roundup

The basketball may not have been beautiful, but when you think about it, Monday was an extraordinary night in ACC hoops.

Consider: Virginia continues to rise with a slow, pressure filled offense and a defense that's like trying to tackle Butterbean. UNC falls to 1-4 for just the second time in ACC history. Maryland, with a fair amount of talent and a homecoming for Dez Wells, came into the game hoping for an "inefficient" game from TJ Warren, who didn't play at all after suffering an injury at Duke. Lennard Freeman played hurt. The Pack got just two points, four boards and one block from Jordan Vandenberg and just seven points and six boards from the bench. Maryland outrebounded State 50-31 overall and 22-10 offensively.

And somehow, still beat Maryland on the Terps' final visit to Raleigh.

After the fiasco at Duke, State had just eight turnovers - and without Warren.

So what happened?

We're sure that before the game was even over some Maryland fans were pointing to fouls - State had a 13-23 advantage - and claiming a conspiracy.

Whatever. No one forced Maryland to shoot 38.5% from the line. Yes, that's correct.

State, by contrast, hit 14-22 for 63.6%. Not a golden age or anything, but good enough in this brickfest, where Maryland shot 31.4% and State, after a truly dreadful first half, worked up to 40.4% from the floor.

Just imagine if anyone besides Dez Wells had hit a free throw. That's right: the entire team, other than Wells, whiffed from the foul line.

At the end, State fans, no doubt awaiting another cruel twist of fate before their team stepped up, enjoyed taunting the Terps with a chant of "ACC! ACC! ACC!" Which one suspects will dog them at every conference loss from now on.

At 11-8, Maryland's NCAA hopes are fading, barring a big turnaround.

Things don't get any easier right away. Next up, in order: Pitt at Pitt, a surprisingly tough Miami, Virginia Tech for a possible breather but on the road, Carolina in Chapel Hill, FSU, at Virginia and then at Duke.

If it weren't for the whole stick-it-to-Maryland thing, we'd figure the Terps might win at Carolina, because UNC is just stinking it up. Thing is, Maryland is, too.

In the big picture, Maryland's loss to crippled State is far worse than UNC's loss to ascending Virginia.

How could anyone to have picked UNC to win here? You are going to have to either outrun Virginia or hit some outside shots.

With UNC scoring just 61 points and losing by 15, the Heels obviously didn't outrun Virginia. And the Heels shot just 41.3% from the floor and hit 26.7% from three point range. The good news there, as far as it goes, is that while Marcus Paige was just 1-7, Leslie McDonald hit two and JP Tokoto hit one. Has it happened at all this year that Paige wasn't the leading three point shooter?

Like the nightcap, there was a large disparity in foul shots here, with UVA shooting 16-29 - 55.2% would have killed them in a close game - and UNC getting just 12 and hitting just five for a wretched 41.7%. The primary culprit (again): James Michael McAdoo, who was 1-5.

The good news, for UNC, insofar as there is any, is that Tokoto continues to develop. He won't be All-ACC this year, but he might be next year. Like State's Anthony Barber, the talent is undeniable. Unlike Barber, he's been there long enough to see definite progress.

On Tuesday, three games. The undercard (or should be, anyway): Georgia Tech at B.C. Tech is 10-8 but without the injured Robert Carter, while BC is playing poorly enough to generate some conversation about Bruce Pearl returning to his alma mater.

Notre Dame gets another dose of ACC intensity with a visit to Tallahassee. You can't completely rule the Irish out, but a win seems unlikely. A loss drops Mike Brey's team to 11-8 overall and 2-4 in conference. Things might be easier if FSU wasn't coming off a frustrating loss to Virginia.

But the most interesting game is Clemson at Pitt. To an extent, Pitt has muscled the ACC so far, and it's worked.

It may not work as well on Clemson. The Tigers are as close to a mirror image program to Pitt as anyone in the ACC. Where Pitt might have an advantage is on offense. Brad Brownell has done a great job with his team but it's still limited offensively.

Still, if you can suppress the other team, you always have a chance, even with an erratic offense. So: opponent points since December 14th: 35, 66, 50, 56, 59, 56, 53.

Pitt's offensive output lately: 43, 73, 58, 74, 79, 80, 81, 54.

Something's got to give.

One important injury note: Syracuse big man DaJuan Coleman will miss the rest of the year due to a leg injury. He'll be having surgery presently.