ACC Roundup - Deacs Surge, Heels Shudder

To be clear, LSU is not Kentucky and beating the SEC’s Tigers isn’t the same thing.

Still. Wake Forest laid a considerable whipping on LSU, winning by 34, and that’s not something Wake’s done much of lately.

And it was mostly a second-half thing as Wake led by just five at the break, 43-38.

Wake Forest just exploded in the second half. According to the Winston-Salem Journal, “the Deacons scored on 18 of their first 21 second-half possessions and knocked down their first eight attempts from behind the 3-point line in the final 20 minutes before cruising to a season-high 34-point victory.”

Dinos Mitoglou had 28 including eight threes.

All five starters finished in double figures and Mitchell Wilbekin added 10 from the bench.

Wake shot nearly 60% for the game.

It’s a great game for Wake Forest heading into ACC play.

Over in Raleigh, the Pack pounded McNeese State 89-57. Dennis Smith had 23 points to pace State.

State rolled to its fifth victory but got just 16 points from its frontcourt although Ted Kapita grabbed nine boards. Omer Yurtseven had seven but foul trouble limited the Young Turk to 19 minutes and just four points.

When your backcourt players come up with 61 points though it’s not quite as important.

Georgia Tech had to work to beat Wofford and barely did it, but they managed.

Until the talent is upgraded that’s going to happen. The main thing is winning and Tech is a bit better now than we expected, the loss to Georgia aside for the moment.

After the game Josh Pastner praised his team’s defense, saying that "[w]e're guarding . . . we're flat-out guarding. Our defense hasn't been the issue."

Of course Brian Gregory’s teams defended well too. He just never got his team scoring either.

By the way, Ben Lammer’s is now the national leader in blocked shots.

Miami beat George Washington 72-64 behind a nice game by Davon Reed who scored 17.

After a poor game against Iowa State, freshman Bruce Reed has scored in double figures in every game since. Since then he’s averaging 12.8 ppg and 8.1 rpg. That’s good for anyone but exceptional for a freshman.

The big news of the day, aside from Grayson Allen which we cover elsewhere, was UNC’s new LOA from the NCAA.

Basketball is back in the crosshairs, along with football. This clearly angered UNC, which thought it had put the Crown Jewels out of harm’s way.

A.D. Bubba Cunningham said this: "We've worked collaboratively with the NCAA enforcement staff for more than two years. We have serious concerns about the process that led to the third notice of allegations based on the principle that all member institutions should expect fair and consistent treatment. We will continue to work cooperatively with the NCAA and remain fully committed to seeking a fair outcome."

Fair and consistent treatment means acknowledging that UNC engineered an outrageous advantage by giving away grades and that Illinois, national runners-up in 2005, and Michigan State, national runners-up in 2009, are just the most prominent victims.

We repeat the question we’ve asked previously: at one point during his career, Sean May talked about how independent study classes made his life much easier.

UNC basketball hired him - after the scandal - and it’s fair to ask if he has a legitimate degree since most universities will not hire a coach without a degree (see: Sidney Lowe and NC State for exhibit A).

If not, and UNC surely knows the truth about it, then it’s just one more case of UNC sneering at the putzes who actually play by the rules.

New deadline for UNC’s response: March 13. That’s the day after the Selection show. One guess what the lead story will be, particularly if UNC issues another arrogant and defiant response.

• Stephen Schramm: Dennis Smith Jr. flashes form he showed at Trinity Christian
• UNC’s challenge to the NCAA’s authority provoked a stronger response – DeCock
• Latest NCAA allegations against UNC broaden the scope of potential penalties
• 'Canes hold off George Washington to pick up fifth straight win
• ORANGE IS THE NEW BAD: SYRACUSE BECOMING ACC’S BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
• UGA assistant fined for involvement in ‘WakeyLeaks’ scandal
• Jackets hold off Wofford
• Senior shooting guard Curtis Haywood commits to Georgia Tech
• Tadric Jackson is ‘good enough to be an All-ACC player’
• Canes overcome furious GW rally, win 72-64
• Mitoglou scores 28, Wake Forest rolls past LSU