:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45148364/usa-today-8311217.0.jpg)
Saturday was a pretty good opening day for the ACC: two double overtime games, one near upset, and all three Triangle teams rolled.
State kicked things off, routing Pitt by 18. Pitt was pretty thoroughly outplayed by the Pack, and a lot of the progress the Panthers had made seemed ephemeral by the end.
State held Pitt to 32.7% from the floor, shot 51.9% on their end, won the rebounding battle and just generally left a sense of futility for Pitt. Michael Young:
"They just simply outplayed us. Home, away, it didn’t matter, they outplayed us. If we would have played that exact game on our home court, it would have been the same result. …It is really frustrating. We had a great week of practice coming off a six-game winning streak, intensity was high, defense, we executed well on offense — we kind of laid an egg here."
Pretty much.
Syracuse nearly matched it in Blacksburg.
In the first half, the 'Cuse was rolling and took a 19 point lead to halftime.
Jim Boeheim thinks his team felt overly secure. Didn't last long: Virginia Tech ripped off a 21-7 run and by the end, was a three point shot away from a shocking comeback.
Keep in mind that the Hokies played without Joey van Zegeren (suspended) and Jalen Hudson, who is injured.
It was a near miss, but come on: it should have been a blowout. Virginia Tech should come out of this game with a ton of confidence. It was a really impressive effort and speaks well of progress under Williams.
Notre Dame's schedule has been pretty lame to date and Georgia Tech was ready for this game but despite a great effort, it wasn't enough.
In the second OT, Pat Connaughton took over and had five points, two boards, a steal and a block. Notre Dame outscored the Yellow Jackets 14-7 in the last OT.
The game will likely be remembered for one play though: Jerian Grant's amazing dunk.
So Grant is listed at 6-5. The rim is 10 feet off the ground. We're just guessing but his head was 3-4 inches above the ground. That means a vertical of roughly 50 inches.
That's not the end-all and be-all: Joey Johnson had a vertical of 50" which was way better than, oh, Michael Jordan's.
He disappeared and the only trace of Joey left is at Arizona, where his son, Nick, says he's learned from his dad's failure to master the nuances of the game (Joey made sure of it).
Still, watch it a few times. It's a mesmerizing leap.
Like Syracuse, Virginia blew a 19 point lead. Malcolm Brogdon fouled out, and in general, Miami must have been feeling pretty great near the end of regulation, particularly when Virginia fouled Angel Rodriguez on a three point jumper and down three points with one second left.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
London Perrantes, who has been a pass-first point guard and averages just 3.1 ppg, had 26.
Miami had a four point lead in OT, then Virginia got going.
| Shop Amazon and help DBR |
Angel Rodriguez was on the foul line again with :20 left in the first OT and put Miami back up by three.
Justin Anderson tied it up on another three, and in the final period, London Perrantes hit nine of ten free throws and made the assist on two jumpers.
After the game, ESPN's Shane Battier wandered in the locker room and Anderson, saying he had wanted to meet him for a long time, got to shake his hand.
Down in Clemson, Ol' Roy Williams, who had said he was "worried" about his team's progress, got a chance to relax a bit as UNC took it to Clemson, and especially on defense.
Basically the Tigers tanked (sorry), shooting just 28.3%. The pun was hard to pass on. It was more UNC than Clemson. For the Heels, it was a great game to build on. This team hasn't exactly shown enormous heart so far this season. It showed a fair amount against Clemson.
On Sunday Louisville makes its ACC debut at Wake Forest.
Rick Pitino is saying all the normal coach-speak stuff about Wake Forest: "Wake Forest is a team that is continually getting better. They're a very difficult team to play against. They're very good in transition, and they're a very good half-court defensive team because they pack it in … They'll be a challenge for us."
Well, maybe. Wake is a team low on talent, going through a coaching transition and still trying to find its stride.
Being the 21st century, and with AAU ball being so prevalent, a lot of these guys have known each other for years. Montrezl Harrell, Aaron Rountree, Cody Miller-McIntyre and Andre Washington were AAU teammates. Harrell and Miller-McIntyre also played together at Hargrave Military Academy.
By the way, guess who hates AAU ball? Kobe Bryant.
This game may or may not be great - we half expect Louisville to send Wake into low earth orbit - but the matchup between Harrell and Wake's Devin Thomas should be fun. Both guys tend to get wound up and with them leaning and shoving in the paint, things could get intense.
And not suprisingly, they've played together as well, for the U.S. on the Under-19 World Championship in 2013.