Perhaps the nicest scene from Saturday’s final day of competition was seeing Florida State’s Braian Angola cry after being surprised by his mother on Senior Day. They’re from Colombia so it was quite a trip to get to Tallahassee. How could you help but love the kid after that?
Florida State won the game and Angola scored 21 - 19 in the second half. BC was in position to win but the Seminoles came back late. It was a two-point game with 1:35 left then FSU went on a 9-2 run to wrap it up.
BC finishes 17-14 and will have a winning season no matter what else happens. It’s good news for a program that has struggled in recent years.
Notre Dame played at Virginia and Bonzie Colson excelled for the Irish which brings us to this question: is he the single most important player to an ACC team this season?
In just his second game back, Colson finished with 24 points and 15 boards - and played 37 minutes. That’s pushing abnormal.
Notre Dame had a terrible run without it best player and second best for a time too, but the Irish showed they can play with anyone with a full roster. That team belongs in the NCAA field.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but Virginia has been vulnerable in its last two games and in more since the end of January. They are poised and win those games but they are not unbeatable. They’re not crushing people like Duke ‘99 and of course that great team was beaten in the end.
Syracuse needed a big win and got one, beating Clemson in the Dome, 55-52 but it was close: the Tigers had a crack at a three at the buzzer but Gabe DeVoe couldn’t convert.
It was a huge win for Syracuse but is it enough? Likely not. They’ll need to win some in Brooklyn to claim a bid.
Georgia Tech beat Wake Forest, not that it matters much. Wake’s dreary season is nearly over and while Tech had better reasons be optimistic, barring a miracle run, neither one is going to play after this week. So let’s let them get to recruiting and lawsuits.
There’s a subplot in the movie In Bruge where Colin Farrell encounters a small person and is in rapture (although he was soon disillusioned).
There’s a basketball equivalent with small players and the ACC’s latest is Miami’s diminutive Chris Lykes.
He’s only 5-7 but a huge talent. Watching him is like watching a Porsche at a truck stop. In the Virginia Tech game, Lykes nailed a couple of late free throws to give Miami a 69-68 win and a double bye in the ACC Tournament.
Keep in mind that this comes right after the big win over UNC that everyone forgot about after UVa’s stunning comeback against Louisville.
Miami could be hitting its stride at the perfect moment.
Finally, after a disappointing loss Georgia Tech this week, NC State meant business against Louisville and won 75-69. Omer Yurtseven had 13 points, five rebounds, five blocks and three steals.
He’s mastered the “aw shucks” aspect of American basketball too. Check it out: ”They just attacked on pick and rolls, and they thought they could get layups. All I did was protect the rim.”
The man did everything but tug at his forelock.
Tony Bennett’s probably going to get coach of the year, but Kevin Keatts should get some support. Bennett’s teams at least expect to win. State has sucked for a very long time and last season in particular was a disaster. In short order, Keatts has both developed a culture and won. We’re not minimizing Virginia’s brilliant season, but they've had those qualities for several years now.
While we’re thinking about it, the biggest surprise about Virginia, to us anyway, is that Ty Jerome has emerged as a brilliant point guard. We didn’t see that coming. We saw some potential last season, but he’s become a cold-blooded assassin at point guard and that we never saw coming. Watch him carefully. He looks like a gawky teenager but the guy is incredible in the waning minutes of a game. We didn't think Virginia could replace London Perrantes and they didn’t.
They got someone better.
- McFarling: No. 1 UVa dominated ACC while never straying from its system
- Ratcliffe: Cavaliers provide a fitting finish to a remarkable regular season
- Top-ranked Virginia celebrates its seniors with win over Notre Dame
- NC State pulls away in 2nd half, beats Louisville 76-69
- Deacons stumble to another end, finish 14th in ACC
- Rodd Baxley: Kevin Keatts flips NC State script with 21-win regular season
- NC State’s Abu thanks fans after Wolfpack victory
- NC State’s Keatts talks about NC State ‘stuff’
- NC State’s Keatts: ‘It is a special night’
- Kevin Keatts has NC State believing big things are possible
- UNC’s Roy Williams: “I thought Duke was entirely more aggressive than we were.”
- Syracuse basketball season mirrors Clemson win: ‘We had to struggle for everything’
- Virginia Tech Drops Tough Game at Miami 69-68
- Miami edges Virginia Tech with late free throw in regular-season finale
- Effort, defense lacking in Virginia Tech loss to Miami
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