ACC Roundup

If Clemson were a stock, the short orders would be flying in: the Tigers have now lost two straight to Big South teams, and lost to Gardner-Webb because the Tigers called too many time outs.

To his credit, Brad Brownell took responsibility for that screw-up.

Freshman Donte Grantham was the guy who called it; he no doubt feels awful.

If Clemson should be shorted, people are buying futures in Miami. That's a different team now, as demonstrated again by the 'Canes 79-51 thrashing of Akron.

Of course an ACC team should be Akron. Point is, last year Miami struggled to beat anyone. And now, to date, Miami is winning by an average of 21.2 ppg. That's a huge turnaround.

It's led by Angel Rodriguez, who shot 6-9 for 15 points, had nine assists, eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

Who the hell is this guy? We knew he was well regarded when he left Kansas State, but he's playing incredibly well.

Also playing well: Tonye Jekiri, who had 16 boards, seven offensive. Sheldon McClellan had 17 and Manu Lecomte 14.

Jekiri averaged 5.5 boards last year; so far this season, he's pulling down 12 per game. With the exception of the Florida game, his rebounds have gone up every time out. And the Florida game is also the only one where he's been less than double figures on the boards.

We have immense respect for Jim Larranaga, but for Miami to be this improved? Incredible.

Syracuse survived Iowa, 66-63, but not before nearly surrendering a 15 point lead.

Chris McCullough saved the Orange though, making a steal to with 8.4 seconds left and the 'Cuse up just one. Free throws finished Iowa off.

McCullough had 20 points and nine boards; Rakeem Christmas finished with 18 points and six boards.

Trevor Cooney had 14, while Kaleb Joseph had seven points and eight assists.

Clemson appears to have hit rock bottom, but BC? The Eagles are playing like a credible team.

Just eight days ago, BC struggled to get past New Hampshire. Thursday, the Eagles knocked off New Mexico, and Friday, nearly took down West Virginia.

Actually, like Syracuse, BC was in control and couldn't maintain the lead. In the latter case, though, West Virginia finished the comeback.

Still, this suggests real progress for BC under new coach Jim Christian.

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Georgia Tech had a tight game with IPFW (Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne if you were curious) before a 12-1 run broke things open late.

Demarco Cox had 12 points and seven boards. Charles Mitchell, who was inconsistent as a Terp, had a weak outing here, with six points, four boards and four fouls in just 16 minutes.

Stringbean Quinton Stevens, who averaged just 3.6 ppg last season, is up to 14.5 now. Pretty big turnaround.

Wake Forest fell to Iona, 85-81. Danny Manning demoted Madison Jones and put Mitchell Wilbekin in at guard.

Three point shooting was the difference; Iona hit 13 and Wake six. Iona took a lot more but that's a big difference.

Worth mentioning: the Deacs had a whopping 55 rebounds, including 18 by Devin Thomas.

Louisville had an off night but the defense came through and helped down Marshall.

The Thundering Herd managed just 36.5% overall and had 50 rebounds. It wasn't enough.

A special word for Marshall: we have immense respect for Marshall fans. They're loud and rowdy and travel well. It's a phenomenal sports culture.

Late game, big disappointment: Pitt fell to Hawaii, 74-70. Pitt's trademark defense was absent as Hawaii shot 52.9% and had just seven turnovers.

Pretty clearly, the Rainbow Warriors weren't very concerned with whatever Pitt was doing.