ACC Roundup - Virginia Goes Nuts From Three Point Range, Makes Syracuse Second Half Road Kill

Good thing it’s not tournament time yet: Virginia hit 18-25 three pointers against Syracuse Monday night, including some that were completely ridiculous. This game was 34-32 at halftime and was still a four point game with 12:07 left.

Then....KABOOM.

Virginia outscored Syracuse 29-10 the rest of the way.

The ‘Hoos hit seven three pointers and got easy shots including a layup, a dunk, another layup, another dunk and a tip-in.

In fact, Virginia’s outside shots were probably easier than their inside points. Here’s a great question: in what game in ACC and NCAA history was the biggest gap between three point shooting and overall field goal percentage. In this one it was 72 percent to 54.9 percent.

Part of it was that great three point shooting is death for a zone. On one shot, Ty Jerome was nearly in the Syracuse logo. That was a shot JJ Redick would have been proud of.

Honestly at halftime we thought Syracuse might be able to steal one. We didn’t expect Virginia to run away with it like that.

The only bad thing for the ‘Hoos is that that was a once in a lifetime outing and you don’t two of them in a row. It would have been great in the NCAA finals and no one is turning it down obviously. But it won’t happen like that again soon, if ever.

On the other hand, Virginia doesn’t rely on offense nearly as much as defense so they should be fine for a while.

It would have been a great win for Syracuse and would have helped their NCAA argument. Now the last game is at Clemson and that’s not a place that’s particularly friendly to visitors (although they are nice to elderly men with vertigo).

In Winston-Salem, Wake Forest made the departure of Ron Wellman and the arrival of John Currie official, and Wellman made one more thing clear: Currie will shadow him but Wellman will make the decision about Danny Manning.

Of course he could decide to not fire him and then Currie could make his own decision on Day 1 if he chose. But it was an interesting thing for Wellman to say. He’s holding on to his authority until he turns his keys in.

So for now, Manning waits. He could learn his fate after Wake exits the ACC Tournament, or in May. We don’t know anyone who actively dislikes him. He seems like a good man who has been perhaps a bad fit in his job.

Still, his boss, whoever it is, has to answer to people too.

On Tuesday, we see Wake playing at Duke in a game where Zion Williamson may dress and possibly play (still TBD), Virginia Tech and Florida State have an intriguing matchup, UNC heads up to BC for a possible trap game before Duke Saturday, and in the nightcap, Pitt gets some sunshine in Miami and a chance for a late win in a tough season as Jeff Capel’s rebuild awaits more talent.

In the Miami game, Ebuka Izundu will get to play in front of his mother for the first time in college. She’s flying in from Lagos and boy are her arms tired.

Seriously it’s a sweet story and we hope he has a great game for mom. But she’ll probably be more impressed in a few months when he gets his degree.

In this week’s poll (Coaches not AP), Virginia, UNC and Duke are all Top Five, 2, 3 and 4 respectively. FSU is #13, the Hokies are #16 and Louisville got 20 votes.

Wojo’s Marquette slips to #15.

• Ed Hardin: Wake Forest’s Wellman looks ahead, but the job isn’t finished
• Coaches at Wake Forest praised the work Ron Wellman has done over his 27 years at the school
• Ed Hardin: Wake Forest welcomes home one of its family as AD
• Wake Forest basketball faces a tough test against Duke. Here are five things to know about that matchup.
• Brownlow’s ACC Lowdown: Final double bye on the line, tricky Triangle road trips and more
• How the NCAA will value its new metric will impact all three Triangle teams
• ESPN Analysts Predict ACCTournament Winner
• No. 14 FSU basketball to honor highly successful senior class
• Best and worst from Syracuse basketball’s79-53 loss vs. Virginia
• The Hoos hit a season-high 18 threes en route to a dominating 79-53 blowout of Syracuse
• What’s missing from Pitt basketballmight not be all bad
• Fixing men’s hoops a top priority during Wake AD transition
• Double bye on the line when Virginia Tech visits Florida State
• Izundu to have special guest at UM’s final home game against Pitt
• BOZICH | Monday Muse: Who’s better, the Big Ten or ACC? Let’s argue
• Long ball propels No. 2 Virginia over Syracuse 79-53
• Cavaliers cream Orange with 3-pointers in second half
• UVa men’s basketball: Can’t-miss Cavs overwhelm Syracuse
• Double bye on the line when Virginia Tech visits Florida State
• Buzz Williams gives update on injured point guard Justin Robinson
• Syracuse basketball guard Tyus Battle shut down by Virginia’s ‘lottery pick’
• Second-half meltdowns against top teams hurt SU
• Virginia shoots the lights out, crushes Syracuse basketball