ACC Roundup

In Wednesday night ACC action, Carolina survived a rough trip to Atlanta to beat Georgia Tech 78-65, Syracuse topped Wake Forest 67-57, NC State got by Florida State, 74-70 and Maryland nipped Miami 74-71.

We weren't really sure what to expect from Syracuse's visit, but the bottom line is that despite getting pounded on the boards (50-34), despite shooting just 27% and despite Codi Miller-McIntyre and Coron Williams shooting a combined 3-14, Wake gave them a game.

The Deacs managed to hold Syracuse to 36.2% and just 3-14 from three point range.

When push came to shove, Tyler Ennis took over the game. Syracuse's sensational freshman point guard continues to build a justified reputation.

State keeps surprising. A win over FSU wasn't impossible but unlikely? That's likely.

Yet State pulled it out and did so after TJ Warren picked up his fourth foul with just under seven minutes to go.

Warren finished with 30. Desmond Lee tossed in 11; no one else scored more than nine.

FSU's defense, which not too long ago seemed formidable again, has fallen off lately. The 'Noles were forced to turn to zone rather than man-to-man.

Okaro White had 20 for FSU, while Ian Miller put up 17 and Aaron Thomas had 12. That's 49 for three players and 21 for the rest of the team - not the ideal. You wonder what Florida State might do if, say, Devin Bookert was further along or there were an offensive minded post player.

With the loss, Florida State has now lost three of its last four.

Despite a rough trip, Carolina thumped Georgia Tech and got stronger as the game went on: UNC scored 52 points in the second half and shot 60% after the break. The Tar Heels appear to be pulling themselves together. The next three games are winnable - State, Maryland and Notre Dame - before Duke and Pitt come to UNC back to back and three days apart.

If UNC goes into the Duke game 16-7 and 7-4 in the conference, then things will look quite different.

You'd think a win would be good news, and of course in the big sense it always is. Nonetheless, Miami is truly a bad team and has tried hard to keep games in the 50s.

Maryland allowed Miami to score 71 points and to carry the game to the final seconds. Miami is pretty good at hanging around - better at that than winning in fact - but still. Maryland could have lost this game. At home.

Worse still, the Terps had a 10 point lead with 150 seconds to go and couldn't hold it.

This game is like the dog that didn't bark. You won't hear about Miami hitting 50% and 42.9% from three point range.

In fact, if Miami hadn't been erratic from the line, the 'Canes would have almost certainly won: Miami gave up 10 points on 18-28. Obviusly, say, 23-28 would have changed things.

It's nice for BC to win a game easily. Previously: FAU was a three point win, Washington, surprisingly in retrospect, an 11 point win, Seton Hall was by eight but took overtime, D-II Philadelphia was a meaningless 17 point win, and the first Virginia Tech game was a three pointer.

Virginia Tech, on the other hand, has lost seven straight. It's shaping up to be an ugly season for the Hokies.

No games until Saturday when Duke and Syracuse will be the headliner.