ACC Roundup - Another Long Night For Syracuse

In Friday’s ACC play, Virginia predictably clocked Coppin State, 97-40, UNC kicked Tennessee Tech 108-58, Virginia Tech smacked Northeastern 88-60, Wake Forest downed CSU Fullerton 66-59, Louisville survived Vermont 86-78, Georgia Tech dumped ECU 79-54 and Syracuse lost to Oregon 80-65.

Syracuse took a major hit in the 2K Empire Classic, losing to a gutty UConn team and now Oregon.

At least the Beavers were ranked and they have an impossible matchup in Bol Bol.

Manute’s kid is nearly as tall as his dad (7-3 to 7-7) but grew up playing the game and has surprising skills for a guy his size and build. Not many guys can block shots like that and then hit threes.

He hit the ‘Cuse for 26 points and 11 rebounds, four blocks and three steals.

It’ll be interesting to see how Jim Boeheim adjusts. This is not the team we were told to expect, at least not at this point in the season.

For a change, Roy Williams was happy with his team’s defense as the Heels forced 22 turnovers and limited Tech to 35.9% from the floor and more than doubled them on the boards. It was a dominant performance.

If there was a concern here it’s that UNC shot just 21.7% from three point range.

Virginia Tech also played outstanding defense in beating Northeastern by 28.

They’ll play Purdue on Sunday for the Charleston Classic title. Certainly at this point they’re looking better than Syracuse did this week.

Wake did something it hasn’t done in awhile and finished strong with a 10-0 run to put the Titans away. Jaylen Hoard, one of Wake’s better recent recruits, hit for 15 as did Brandon Childress.

You may remember that CSU Fullerton took Bobby Hurley’s ASU team to double overtime a few days ago so it’s a nice win for the Deacs who are now 2-1 and probably feeling better about themselves.

Louisville is in transition and going through a lot, so struggling at times is to be expected. Still, the Cards were up big and nearly choked. They’ll get better but this game was disaster avoided.

Jordan Nwora is emerging as perhaps Louisville’s best player or at least its most consistent. He finished with 22 to pace the Cards.

Towson came in 0-3. Virginia is Virginia. What did you expect? This is a tuneup. The Cavs shot 60% - from three point range.

Virginia is fine. We’ll see more when they go to Atlantis.

By the way Towson’s coach? Former Maryland great Juan Dixon.

Georgia Tech is still down but not so far down that losing to ECU is an option.

Some schools are good at particular sports and not at others. ECU is now, and for the foreseeable future, a football school. Basketball is an afterthought.

Curtis Haywood had a career high 18 and despite a slow start, Tech had no real trouble with the Pirates.

Jose Alvarado had a nice line for a point guard with nine points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals. Watch as he emerges as Tech’s rock during the season.

On Saturday, most of the games are jokes but Pitt has a chance to move to 5-0 and for at team that finished last season at 8-24, that’s already a turnaround.

• Men’s Basketball Travels to ACC Foe Notre Dame on Saturday Afternoon
• Diakite helps UVa rout Coppin State
• Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim hopeful Frank Howard can return this week
• No. 4 Virginia routs Coppin State 97-40
• Syracuse basketball’s defense exposed in losses to Oregon, Connecticut
• Syracuse Leaves the 2K Classic With an 0-2 Record and More Questions Than Answers
• Roy Williams: ‘We did a much better job of playing defense’
• North Carolina’s freshmen making a splash of their own
• North Carolina forces 22 turnovers en route to 108-58 win over Tennessee Tech
• Deacons wake up in time to surge past Cal State Fullerton at Myrtle Beach Invitational
• North Carolina dominates Tennessee Tech 108-58