ACC Roundup - Time To Get Excited

Notre Dame crushed LSU Tuesday to reach the Maui finals. How good were the Irish?

Basically midseason good. LSU is rebuilding to be sure, but this was a statement game.

TJ Gibbs had 26 to pace the Irish. Matt Farrell had 17 points and seven assists. Bonzie Colson had 12 points and 11 boards.

It was just a crushing defeat and a huge victory for Mike Brey’s Irish. Next up: Wichita State in the finals.

Louisville, perhaps settling in under David Padgett in the post-Pitino era, beat SIU by 42 points. Louisville’s inside game is solid, especially defensively, but the guards picked it up too. We expect Pitino would have been pretty happy. Keep an eye on Darius Perry as a solid sub who helps Louisville’s D.

Fellow freshman Jodan Nwora had 18 to lead Louisville.

After a horrible 31 point loss to Penn State, Pitt’s bound to be happy with a 73-67 loss to Oklahoma State, or at least as happy as you can be with a loss.

Freshman Marcus Carr came on nicely with 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Panthers can use some help.

Houston Baptist isn’t much of a gauge but Virginia Tech hit 16 threes in the 99-73 win.

Virginia Tech shot 64% overall and 61.5% from three point range. It’s a confidence game maybe but don’t read too much into it since odds are you didn’t hear of Houston Baptist before this game.

Still, here’s an eye popping stat: Justin Bibbs hit 11-13 from the floor and is hitting 73% for the season. He’s not playing three feet from the basket either.

Okay!

Holiday play is in full gear and while there are several ACC games Wednesday, there are two that merit particular interest: State-Arizona and Notre Dame-Wichita.

Notre Dame-Wichita will get more attention because Wichita is going to be good and Notre Dame is doing what it usually does - melding guys who waited their turn with young players who are willing to do the same.

That game is going to be fascinating.

And whoever scheduled Arizona, whether it was Mark Gottfried (we’re betting not) Kevin Keatts (more likely), kudos! State can never move up without playing the big dogs and that means some losses along the way.

It’s a great chance to measure the Pack. They might take a real whipping. Then again, as Keatts’ system takes hold, we’ll see a different State, one more like what we saw from Wilmington the last couple of years. Arizona will almost certainly win, but a tough show by State would mean a lot of credibility.

• NCSU coach Kevin Keatts calls Arizona (not Duke) ‘the No. 1 team in the country’
• NCSU to hang ‘74, ‘83 basketball title banners. Where have they been all these years?
• UNC’s Jalek Felton is ‘that guy’ for coach Roy Williams
• NC State's Kevin Keatts says Arizona is the top team in the country
• Championship Bound: Irish Dominate LSU 92-53 In Maui Invitational
• Chris Mueller: Pitt basketball program has sunk to unthinkable depths
• Playbook: Wake Forest vs Quinnipiac
• Pitt basketball falls to Oklahoma State in Legends Classic, 73-67
• Virginia Tech's Lunch Pail vs. UVa's Pack Line — a study in dominating defenses
• Scoring help on the way for Ga. Tech basketball
• Kennedy Meeks learning new skills, showing some hidden talent
• Kevin Keatts rebuilding NC State just like he did UNC-Wilmington