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ACC Roundup: NC State Wins An Epic 4 OT Game In The ACC/Big Ten Challenge

Talk about crazy

By JD King
/ new
North Carolina v Michigan
ANN ARBOR, MI - NOVEMBER 28: Coby White #2 of the North Carolina Tar Heels drives the ball to the basket as Zavier Simpson #3 of the Michigan Wolverines defends during the first half of the game at Crisler Center on November 28, 2018 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan defeated North Carolina Tar Heels 84-67.
Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images

The ACC/Big Ten Challenge is over and without question the highlight game was NC State vs. Nebraska. Probably not the one anyone picked out of the bunch, but four overtimes makes it kind of automatic.

Aside from the overtimes, this game was notable for a brilliant performance by Dereon Seabron. The 6-7 sophomore has already been playing at an All-ACC level but he bumped that up on Wednesday with a brilliant effort against Nebraska. He finished with 39 points on 11-22 shooting and hit 17-20 from the line.

More importantly he played with an incredible energy and was just relentless. It’s one thing to play that way for two 20-minute halves; Seabron did it for nearly three.

Not that it was a great performance - both teams made tons of mistakes - but that took guts and tons of heart. Great win for the Pack. It continues a hot streak that started with the insane win over UNC football on Saturday and a huge commitment earlier Wednesday when Robert Dillingham picked the Pack over Kentucky and Kansas.

UNC had a great win too, just ripping Michigan to pieces. We incorrectly thought this one was at Ann Arbor rather than Chapel Hill but we still would have taken Michigan.

Big mistake.

UNC blew this open in the second half, building a 25 point lead at one point, ultimately winning 72-51. Caleb Love had 22 on 9-16 and 4-7 on threes, four boards, four assists and three steals.

UNC’s defense finally showed up, holding Michigan to 31.3 percent on threes and 35.1 overall.

Virginia Tech had to come back to beat Maryland and the Terps shooting 1-13 on threes didn’t help. But the Hokies controlled the last five minutes to get some separation. Maryland also had 15 turnovers.

Maryland is off to a 5-3 start and the fans are not happy: they chanted “Fire Turgeon” at the end of the game. The UCLA of the East, promised by Lefty Driesell in 1970, has yet to arrive.

We didn’t see the whole Georgia Tech-Wisconsin game but we think the Yellow Jackets could become a pretty good team by the end of the season. They lost, but you can see the potential.

We didn’t think that Louisville had a shot at Michigan State and that one was about right. Although the Spartans continue to struggle with turnovers - 19 in this one - they got to the line 23 times and converted 17. The Cards managed just 7-11 and had 16 turnovers of their own.

Louisville coach Chris Mack is back but given what we know about him now that might not be so great: last season he threatened to yank scholarships from poorly performing players and he followed that up with the Dino Gaudio fiasco, which led to his six-game suspension.

After the nightmare against Alabama, Miami played much better against Penn State. Miami had four starters in double figures and hit 9-25 on threes. Penn State was probably a really good opponent. They presented some challenges but not insurmountable ones. All things considered, a solid night for Miami.

The Big Ten won but Virginia and Pitt lost by just one.

No games until Friday when ACC play begins with Notre Dame at BC and Pitt at Virginia.

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