ACC Roundup - Miami Nips Notre Dame

Notre Dame is missing Bonzie Colson, DJ Harvey and now Rex Pflueger had to sit out the Miami game after injuring his back against Boston College.

You can overcome a lot and Notre Dame very nearly won anyway, losing by just three. Realistically though it was just too much to overcome as Miami won 77-74.

You have admire the effort though. Mike Brey’s kids competed as hard as they could and nearly overcame all the bad luck the Irish have had this year.

No one gave more than point guard Matt Farrell, who had this to say afterwards:

“Hard; very hard. Lot of different emotions. Sucks. It is what it is...We lost. We don’t make excuses. Whoever’s on the floor is on the floor. We lost. This one’s going to hurt all week. They hit big shots; they hit tough shots. We were there then. It’s been that way all year. We just can’t finish it. It’s a terrible feeling.”

Freshman Lonnie Walker as at times spectacular for the Hurricanes. He hit some very big shots and was nearly impossible to defend.

Junior big man Ebuka Izundu also really hurt Notre Dame and especially at winning time. He may have had his best game ever at Miami.

Notre Dame’s path to the NCAA tournament is really narrow now and the ACC Tournament may not be viable. The Irish have limited depth and would have to play four days in a row to reach the finals. Would that do it?

We’ll have to wait and see.

Well-meaning North Carolina state officials recently put up signs to celebrate UNC’s championship including one fairly near the PNC Arena. Given the passions of the rivalry and the proximity to NC State we wouldn’t expect it to last all that long. It’ll be in a dorm room soon enough.

Kevin Keatts says that State is not involved in the latest stage of the FBI probe into college basketball.

It’s a bit of a mystery to a lot of people how NC Natives and BC Eagles Ky Bowman and Jerome Robinson got away from the Big Four and maybe Clemson and Virginia. The N&O takes a look at that here.

Speaking of BC’s dynamic backcourt, the Eagles will visit State Tuesday night for what could be a really interesting game. It pits that superb backcourt against State’s rising confidence and superior depth.

Finally, ACC congratulations are in order as Virginia’s Kyle Guy is engaged. We wish him and his fiancee the very best and no matter what happens, we’re sure that there will be a bunch of Guys at the wedding.

• Another close, home lose leaves Notre Dame men’s basketball with ‘terrible feeling’
• UNC’s Theo Pinson directs some tarmac traffic
• Can ACC Basketball put 10 teams in NCAA Tournament this season?
• ACC Notes: Eagles playing for more than family time
• Athlon Sports: Mike Krzyzewski, David Cutcliffe form best ACC coaching duo for sixth straight year
• Miami basketball: Hurricanes get much-needed win at Notre Dame
• Scattershooting: Virginia two wins from perfect ACC road record
• Our eight days of UVA basketball wandering are almost over
• Teleconference takeaways: Guy gets engaged during Cavaliers’ break
• Wake Forest represents Pitt’s last best chance for ACC win