ACC Teams That Filled It Up This Season

There are all sorts of ways to measure offensive prowess in basketball. The more authoritative rules of thumb are usually attributed to kenpom.

But for a quick, rough measure of offensive effectiveness , take a quick look at how often a team makes at least half its field goal attempts. This is no small feat, especially in an era when players supposedly lack sufficient dedication to developing skills.

In fact, 9 of 15 teams in the ACC (60 percent) have hit in excess of half of their shots in at least 10 games this season. The surprising leader, with 13 such efforts in 28 outings, is NC State.

Maybe the Wolfpack’s shooting acuity is not all that surprising, considering that it has to shovel shots as fast as it can in light of its No. 15 standing in scoring defense and 3-point defense, and No. 12 rank in field goal percentage defense.

At the other end of the spectrum are Georgia Tech, a doing-what-it-can-with-limited-talent team, and Notre Dame, known for finesse and for leading the ACC in 3-point accuracy.

Of the 136 contests in which an ACC hit half or more of its shots, opponents likewise broke the .500 barrier on 31 occasions – 22.8 percent of the time. This past Saturday, the ACC saw three such games: Notre Dame at NC State, Virginia Tech at Louisville and Wake Forest at Duke.

ACC teams won 85.3 percent of the time (116) they hit at a 50 percent or better clip from the floor. Five of their 20 defeats belong to the Wolfpack.