ACC Roundup - Forget Sunday, Look To Monday

Only one ACC game Sunday night as Georgia Tech fell to Notre Dame, again failing to crack 60 points.

Jose Alvarado is a solid point guard but not a natural scorer. He’s being asked to do it though and hasn’t been able to do it very well. He’s in a major slump and hasn’t scored in double digits in five games now (he had just five points in South Bend).

For the Irish, Terrence Gibbs had 20 and DJ Harvey had 19.

With the win, Notre Dame moves to 13-11 overall and 3-8 in the ACC while Tech falls to 11-13 and 3-8.

Okay on to meaningful basketball.

Virginia travels to UNC for a quick turnaround after the Saturday loss at home to Duke. Our initial impulse was to think that Virginia is going to be tired and that could be true. Ty Jerome is not 100 percent yet and it’s not clear whether or not Mamadi Diakite will be ready after taking a hard blow to the noggin on Saturday from teammate De’Andre Hunter.

On the other hand, this is a smaller UNC team and one with a freshman point guard. Coby White has been extraordinary but Virginia’s defense is designed to frustrate and usually does. Nassir Little is also highly talented but likely to get his deficiencies thoroughly exposed.

Luke Maye has played against Virginia four times and had one good game. Last year Virginia held UNC to 49 and 63 points, both losses for the Tar Heels.

The ‘Hoos are likely to be a bit tired from the Duke game but we don't see UNC running this game up into the 70s or 80s. It’ll be at Virginia’s pace. Whether UNC can win a game like that, with this team, remains to be seen.

And of course if Virginia wins, Duke is firmly in the driver’s seat in the ACC regular season race.

• NCAA tournament Bubble Watch: Good news for the ACC
• Josh Pastner feels ‘awful,’ but ‘we’re going to get there’
• Georgia Tech loses fifth in a row, this time to Notre Dame
• Dan Bonner, the Tall Virginian, is as respected as they come in the ACC
• Noie: Much-needed ACC win all that matters for Notre Dame
• Quick turnaround: UVA basketball turns attention to North Carolina
• Potential Wake Forest Basketball Hire: The Wes Miller Tier
• After loss to Duke, Virginia has quick turnaround against surging North Carolina
• UVa forward Diakite’s status unclear for UNC game
• After loss to Duke, Cavs face brutal turnaround at UNC
• With BC dismissed, Syracuse faces a difficult finish; Tyus Battle sees only opportunities