clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

ACC Roundup - Some Very Interesting Games Saturday

One more interesting than the rest though

By JD King
NCAA Basketball: Gardner-Webb at Virginia Tech
 Dec 15, 2019; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies head coach Mike Young instructs guard Jalen Cone (15) during a timeout against the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs in the second half at Cassell Coliseum.
Michael Shroyer-USA TODAY Sports

In Saturday’s ACC action, NC State goes down to LIttlejohn, Florida State jets up to Louisville, Virginia Tech buses over to Charlottesville to play the ‘Hoos, Notre Dame braves the cold at Syracuse, UNC hosts Georgia Tech, and Wake Forest plays Pitt.

And does so shorthanded: Wake has suspended sophomores Sharone Wright and Michael Wynn for “failing to uphold the standards of Wake Forest Basketball.”

It’s a term we’ve seen a bit much of recently. Danny Manning has been at Wake Forest long enough to have guys who uphold standards.

It’s an interesting contrast of programs Saturday because Manning has been at Wake Forest since 2014 and there isn’t much of a sense of progress in Winston-Salem.

Capel meanwhile is starting his second season at Pitt and there’s a palpable sense of optimism, of things being set right, of a bright future unfolding. People are already talking about locking him up for the future.

Win or lose, it seems like these are two programs going in opposite directions. It feels like a game Pitt should win though.

NC State should win at Clemson too. The energy there is all going to football now and it’s at a fever pitch. And State has been playing pretty well while Clemson’s offense is not that great so far.

Is Louisville soft? Can Florida State handle a difficult defense and make good decisions at winning time? Good questions. We have no idea. Our instinct is to bet on FSU here though.

Notre Dame should be able to beat Syracuse. The 2-3 works better with long athletes, which Syracuse doesn’t really have, and the big guys are pretty skinny too.

It could turn into a three point binge fest but Notre Dame’s John Mooney has been sensational this year and we don’t think Syracuse has a direct answer for him, although they may have a counter in Elijah Hughes.

It won’t be easy for Georgia Tech to win in Chapel Hill but might they? Well, yeah.

UNC has some serious issues, including the absence of star Cole Anthony, and the one thing that the Yellow Jackets do very well is defense. We’d expect a low-scoring game and in that situation, Tech could win.

Finally, the most interesting game of the day is in C-ville with the Hokies bussing over to take on the Cavs.

We’re not really sure what to think. We’d normally bet on Virginia’s defense but Mike Young has his team doing amazing things on offense. His three point shooting stretches defenses away from the basket and the Hokies are brilliant at using the three point shot to knock teams off balance and getting chippies around the basket.

It’s a bit early to say this but Young may be as good on offense as Tony Bennett is on defense.

If you just watch one game all day, we’d suggest this one.

One thing that might give the Hokies an advantage: size. Virginia Tech is very small and Virginia at least has some size inside.

Saturday’s ACC Action

  • Wake Forest @ Pitt || 12:00 || ACCNX
  • NC State @ Clemson || 12:00 || ACCN
  • FSU @ Louisville || 2:00 || ESPN2
  • Virginia Tech @ Virginia || 2:00 || ACCNX
  • Notre Dame @ Syracuse || 4:00 || ESPN2
  • Georgia Tech @ UNC || 6:00 || ACCN
  • Duke @ Miami || 8:00 || ESPN

More From Duke Basketball Report