ACC Roundup

In Saturday's ACC action, Maryland had no real trouble with Virginia Tech, winning by 20, Notre Dame survived BC in overtime, 76-73, Miami stepped out of conference to beat Norfolk State 64-49, Clemson took FSU 53-49, Georgia Tech knocked off Wake Forest by nine, and UNC bumped State by 14.

It wasn't much of a game. UNC kicked State around in the first half and while State was better in the second, it wasn't enough. TJ Warren was his usual self and Desmond Lee chipped in 18, but otherwise, only Cat Barber really had an impact, and he was just 6-15. State actually shot better than UNC, barely, at 40.9% to 40.6%.

UNC just hammered State on the boards, 52-36. James Michael McAdoo had 13, Kennedy Meeks had 10 and Brice Johnson had seven.

State's playing fairly well considering the personnel, but this is just a game to let go.

Wake's going to have a tougher time doing that. The Deacs lost to Georgia Tech, a team that had lost six of eight before playing the Deacs. Worse, star Codi Miller-McIntyre sprained his ankle and is listed as day-to-day, though he vows he's playing at Duke.

The game is going to bring out the anti-Bzdelik faction again. Even big man Devin Thomas said that Georgia Tech was "way too comfortable. I mean they were stepping into threes. They made six in the first half and 11 off second-chance points. We beat ourselves again. We can’t keep doing this. It’s getting old now."

Travis McKie had his career high in this game with 26.

Clemson is the latest team to knock off Florida State, a team which once seemed formidable. It was a Clemson Classic - the teams combined to score 102 points.

Now? The 'Noles have lost three straight and three of four. The schedule is favorable now - FSU gets Virginia Tech, at Maryland, Miami at home and then Wake on the road. But they'll be without Ian Miller for a while - FSU's best offensive player sprained an ankle against Clemson and will almost certainly be out for awhile.

KJ McDaniels was pretty spectacular: he had 26 points, seven boards, three assists and three blocks.

Miami knocked off Norfolk State, as expected, winning by 15 in a nice break from conference competition. Jim Larranaga is a tremendous coach but he doesn't have much to work with. That his team is over .500 is a minor miracle.

At the Syracuse game someone held up a sign saying (in essence) "Maryland, remember you're leaving this voluntarily."

True, and with a mediocre game by the Big Ten aspirant Terps, there's not much reason to talk about other than that. Beating Virginia Tech right now isn't very meaningful. We're sure the Hokies will find a way out eventually, but right now, they stink.

All things considered, after the show Duke and Syracuse put on Saturday night, and with Louisville on the way, losing Maryland doesn't seem like an unreasonable price.

On Sunday, just one game as Pitt welcomes Virginia to town and we can expect a defensively oriented game.

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