clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

ACC Roundup - Virginia Pulls Off An Eye-Opening Win At Louisville

Rick Pitino couldn't believe his eyes.

If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Helpless.
Helpless.
Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

The best part of the Virginia win over Louisville - and we don't mean this maliciously - was Rick Pitino's faces and body language. It was like a sideline opera.

If you're going to shop Amazon please start here and help DBR
Drop us a line at our new address

And Pitino had every reason to be distraught because Virginia stripped his team down and took away every pretense it had.

At the half, Louisville had 14 points. Fourteen! For a Pitino team, that may be a first and it was the worst loss Louisville has had in the Yum! Center.

The guy is, legitimately, a great, great coach, and his teams have always been built around pressing, running and scoring in bunches. He was one of the first coaches to realize how effective the three point shot could be.

None of it worked against Virginia. There was no fiery comeback, not barrage of three pointers - Louisville shot just 4-11 from three point range and hit just 32.7% overall.

Pitino's face was a study in agony. But he said it was no surprise.

"Unfortunately, I saw this day coming. I'm not too pleased with it, but I saw it was going to happen. Not quite as bad as the way we played tonight but I did see it coming, just by the way we played defense against Virginia Tech.

"We turned the ball over too much and you can't do that against a Virginia team."

Probably don't want to do it against a Carolina team either: Louisville plays UNC on Monday. Fortunately it's a home game.

UNC had no trouble with BC Saturday, not that that's a surprise. BC is the least likely team in the ACC to pull off a major upset. BC had 23 turnovers. We're not sure about where the line is, but we're sure that there is a turnover total that no one has overcome. Someone has probably won with 23 turnovers but it's not easy to do.

Marcus Paige broke out of his slump, hitting three threes and shooting 4-9 overall. We're not sure BC had any particular positives Saturday.

State did though: the Pack had a big win against Miami.

It was, by far, State's best game of the year. Not only did State offer Cat Barber some offensive support - Abdul-Malik Abu had 19, Caleb Martin had 13, Cody Martin had eight while Maverick Rowan had nine - State defended well. Miami shot just 39.7%.

Jim Larranaga wasn't very impressed: "They were able to do what they wanted to do, and we didn't show much resistance."

Georgia Tech pushed Syracuse to the limit but again couldn't quite pull off a win.

It was another loss for Tech and at 12-9 the Yellow Jackets are drifting perilously close to .500 and also towards the end of the Brian Gregory era.

Clemson's luck ran out at Florida State with the Seminoles prevailing 76-65.

Dwayne Bacon says getting back to basics - for him attacking the rim - made all the difference. He finished with 21 points and seven boards. Malik Beasley added 16.

FSU turned the tables on Clemson defensively, holding the Tigers to 33.3%.

On Sunday, Wake has a shot at Notre Dame, especially if Demetrius Jackson is still out.  And we think Virginia Tech has a chance of catching Pitt napping.