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ACC Roundup - Two Thrilling Endings And A Dud

Miami is looking like a real tough out

By JD King
/ new
NCAA Basketball: Virginia at Miami (FL)
Dec 20, 2022; Coral Gables, Florida, USA; Miami Hurricanes guard Bensley Joseph (4) and Miami Hurricanes forward A.J. Casey (0) celebrate after defeating the Virginia Cavaliers at Watsco Center.
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

In Tuesday’s ACC Action, Virginia and Syracuse both mounted comebacks that came up just short while Louisville’s win streak ends at two with a loss to Lipscomb out of the ASun.

We didn’t take them overly seriously but they gave Notre Dame and Michigan really good games. They’re better than we realized.

But Louisville still should have won. Lipscomb made 30 baskets and 18 of them were layups.

After the game, Cards Coach Kenny Payne said “I knew it would be hard for us to come out if we didn’t focus and be desperate defensively and disciplined defensively, and we just couldn’t mentally get it. We couldn’t mentally play with the energy that we needed to fight for a win.”

Apparently not.

And when they had a chance to make it. two-point game, El Ellis lost the ball. Lipscomb, not surprisingly, scored another layup.

That’s an embarrassing loss but at this point, that’s old news for Louisville. It’s just going to take some time to clean up the basketball equivalent of Three Mile Island.

Reece Beekman, who was not a big factor in the Houston game due to his hamstring injury, had a chance to tie the game for Virginia but like Ellis, he too had butterfingers.

However, Beekman, was just a play or two away from a triple double with 10 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.

We weren't sure how Norchad Omier would do against Jayden Gardner and, to a lesser extent Kaden Shedrick, but he did just fine: Omier had 10 points and eight boards, while the Cavalier duo had 10 points and three rebounds.

Don’t look now but at 3-0, Miami is all alone in first place in the ACC.

Pitt isn’t far behind. The Panthers moved to 2-0 in the ACC and 9-4 overall. They’ve nearly matched last season’s win total of 11 and it’s not even the New Year yet.

Not that it was easy.

Pitt took the lead at 12-10 at 14:43 in and built a 20 point lead at 72-52 with 10:45 to go. Syracuse got serious with a 30-12 run but Judah Mintz’s three bounced out as time ran out on the Syracuse comeback.

If you’re not paying attention to Pitt’s well-traveled Blake Hinson, you should be: he’s had 12 double-doubles so far and finished this one with 25 points and 13 boards. Looks like he’s found a home.

Pitt has won eight of its last nine and, intriguingly, gets UNC next Friday. Pitt hit 13-32 from behind the line, incidentally.

Back to Virginia for a minute - Tony Bennett and company picked up a mid-season transfer when former Hoya Dante Harris chose UVA. He has three years left.

Some good games Wednesday as Virginia Tech visits BC, Michigan travels to Charlotte to take on UNC, Clemson heads down to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech while Notre Dame hopes to get back on track at struggling FSU.

Okay, so one good game.

Maybe.

Normally the best thing about the end of non-conference play is that we can focus on ACC play. This year, the best thing is that we won’t have to read about any more embarrassing losses to bad non conference teams.

Wednesday’s ACC Action

  • Virginia Tech @ Boston College || 6:30 PM || ACCN
  • Michigan vs. UNC || 7:00 PM || ESPN
  • Clemson vs. Georgia Tech || 7:30 PM || ESPN2
  • Notre Dame vs. Florida State || 8:30 PM || ACCN

ACC Standings

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