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ACC Roundup - Monday Night Could See Some Compelling Basketball

Struggling teams can sometimes put on tremendous displays

By JD King
/ new
Clemson v Louisville
LOUISVILLE, KY - FEBRUARY 19: Noah Locke #0 of the Louisville Cardinals brings the ball up court during the game against the Clemson Tigers at KFC YUM! Center on February 19, 2022 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images

Three games Monday night and two of them are interesting: Georgia Tech at Syracuse is probably not one of them. But Florida State at BC should be and Louisville at UNC as well.

Syracuse will probably win although without the injured Jesse Edwards they won't have as big of an advantage as they would have had. But they have enough firepower to overcome Tech’s occasionally excellent defense so we’ll take the Orange here with a caveat: it’s a very quick turnaround from Saturday to Monday for a thin team. It’s no different for Georgia Tech though, since they played Pitt on Saturday.

Florida State really gave Duke a great game before their legs gave out. We really admire what Earl Grant is building at BC. His team plays tough, intelligent basketball. He just needs some help.

If FSU gets RayQuan Evans and/or Caleb Mills back, that might tilt things more in their favor. But not necessarily. It’s hard to do what Leonard Hamilton does with so many of his best players out. It just is.

Louisville and UNC are both historical powers that have hit a rough patch this year, in both cases related to a coaching transition but for very different reasons. Both have struggled but UNC has gotten better and Louisville may be.

Yet both are still vulnerable. So what will we see Monday night? It’s hard to say for sure. Caleb Love has really come on lately. Brady Manek has become more than a three point shooter. Armando Bacot has been a really good big man for the most part.

On the other hand, Louisville is coming off a long, historic seven-game losing streak, broken only by Saturday’s win over Clemson. And that, well, you can’t say it’s tainted, but it was certainly made easier when PJ Hall went out quite early with a foot injury. Louisville is 2-10 since January 8th.

It’s hard to make an argument for Louisville other than UNC’s season-long tendency to implode.

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