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ACC Roundup - UNC, Syracuse Win, But NC State and Wake Forest Fail In The End.

And Louisville is still winless

By JD King
/ new
Wake Forest v Wisconsin
 MADISON, WISCONSIN - NOVEMBER 29: Cameron Hildreth #2 of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons looks on during the second half of the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Kohl Center on November 29, 2022 in Madison, Wisconsin.
Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images

In Saturday’s ACC Action, Louisville lost again, 75-53 to Florida State, Syracuse zapped Georgetown 83-64, NC State fell to Miami 80-73, Wake Forest lost to LSU 72-70, UNC handled Georgia Tech 75-59, Pitt smoked Sacred Heart 91-66, Villanova took care of Boston College 77-56 and Loyola Chicago beat Clemson 76-58.

It’s long since stopped being funny for Louisville. Now 0-9, remember the Cards lost their first three games by just one point each.

Since then, it’s snowballed. Point guard play is erratic. Rebounding is erratic. Big man Sidney Curry played just nine minutes against FSU.

Maybe, if he has room, Coach Kenny Payne can get some JUCOs to transfer after the semester.

Otherwise, it’s hard to see any opportunities to win past Florida A&M, which comes up soon. Well, maybe Lipscomb. And Kentucky looms on New Year’s Eve.

There was a time that Georgetown vs. Syracuse would light the country on fire but it’s been a long time since either school was exceptional, let alone both of them at the same time.

Georgetown started well, going up 9-0, before Syracuse got going and seized control.

And the Hoyas just had no answers.

It’s nothing new - Georgetown had a dreadful year last season. Not Louisville dreadful but by most standards just awful.

Ewing has shown no particular skill in his current job and things have gotten bad enough that the Washington Post went after him earlier this week.

Barring a massive and shocking turnaround, it’s hard to see him staying on past this season.

NC State did really well against Miami early, but after halftime, the ‘Canes started competing harder, tying the game 67-67 with 5:22 left.

Obviously State was without Dusan Mahorcic, who injured his knee in the previous game, but Jack Clark, who has been pretty good so far, fouled out in just 11 minutes and with just three points.

Miami just had more fortitude, ultimately. Norchad Omier had another double-double with 11/11. Jordan Miller had 25 and Isaiah Wong 22 for the ‘Canes.

Jarkel Joiner had 26 for State on 10-16 shooting including 3-6 from deep.

Steve Forbes and his Demon Deacons might have trouble sleeping tonight: the Deacs were up 38-19 in the first half but couldn’t control the Tigers in the Holiday Hoopsgiving.

Just as bad as the comeback was the winning basket: the score was tied 70-70 when Justice Hill rolled into the lane and scored with 2.1 left.

They’ll be watching that tape for a long time. What a complete breakdown.

LSU’s KJ Williams had 10 boards and 35 points - in 37 minutes. Just an awful outing for Wake.

Armando Bacot returned for UNC and had 21 points and 13 boards against Georgia Tech. RJ Davis, quite a bit smaller, had 22 points and 10 boards.

UNC blew the game open in the first half with a 16-2 run. They also hit 18-24 on free throws and owned the boards 43-22.

Georgia Tech had just one offensive rebound for the game.

Nelly Cummings had 24 points, six rebounds five assists and four steals to pace Pitt past Sacred Heart.

Freshman Fede Federiko had his first-ever double-double with 17 points and 14 boards. John Hugley, who should be Pitt’s best big man, came off the bench for two points and five boards in 11 minutes.

Sacred Heart stuck around about seven minutes into the second half before Pitt took total control. With the win, the Panthers move to 7-4.

Kyle Neptune had a rough start at Villanova. Following a legend isn’t easy but it’s harder when you have injuries to overcome.

The win over Boston College pushes them back to .500. We’re sure that BC tried hard, but even wounded, they’re not in Villanova’s class right now. Kudos for playing them though.

Playing in the Holiday Hoopsgiving, like Wake Forest, Clemson held its own against Loyola Chicago for about 11 minutes, but then Loyola took charge. The Ramblers took a seven point lead into the half and Clemson could never really get back into it. They did cut the lead to eight at one point, but it didn’t matter.

Loyola held Clemson to 38.9 percent shooting and just 3-21 on threes (14.3 percent). PJ Hall had just seven points.

Just two games on Sunday as Virginia Tech tangles with Oklahoma State in the Hall of Fame Invitational while Marquette visits Notre Dame.

Sunday’s ACC Action

  • Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech || 2:00 || ESPN2
  • Marquette @ Notre Dame || 4:00 || ESPN2

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