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ACC Roundup - ‘Hoo’s In First? Not Virginia!

As Boston College pulls off a magnificent upset.

By JD King
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COLLEGE BASKETBALL: FEB 22 Virginia at Boston College
 CHESTNUT HILL, MA - FEBRUARY 22: Boston College Eagles guard Makai Ashton-Langford (11) reacts after making a three point shot during a college basketball game between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Boston College Eagles on February 22, 2023, at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA.
Photo by Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In Wednesday’s ACC Action, Clemson popped Syracuse 91-73, NC State took out Wake Forest 90-74, UNC nipped Notre Dame 63-59 and - wait, hold the phone - Boston College knocked off #6 Virginia 63-48.

Court-storming and the whole nine yards. It’s the biggest win of the Earl Grant era and one of the biggest wins for Boston College in some time.

And the thing is, it wasn’t like BC kept pace and just scored last.

Nope.

BC took the lead at 17-15 and...kept it. And for a change of pace, BC shot really well and Virginia just didn't.

We’ve talked before about how Grant is building a culture. This is the best example of that to date. It’s nice to see BC generate some excitement. Couldn’t be happier for them.

Notre Dame looked primed to upset UNC. The Irish held the Heels to 19 points in the first half but couldn't quite pull off the win.

Aside from holding UNC to 19 points, Notre Dame also held them to 18.5 percent before halftime and limited them to four points in the final eight minutes before halftime.

After halftime, UNC turned to offensive rebounding and came back to win. Armando Bacot finished with 16 points and 11 boards.

Still, the Tar Heels shot just 8.7 percent on threes, which is pretty dreadful.

We can’t be the only ones who notice that Nate Laszewski, who is 6-10 and 230 lbs, tends to disappear against superior competition. He did have nine boards Wednesday night but only attempted five shots, hit just one and picked up four fouls.

There are only a few games left in Mike Brey’s Notre Dame career now. We hope they can win one of them.

Wake Forest kept up with NC State for most of the first half but the Pack built a slight lead at 52-46 and just started pull away after halftime.

Jarkel Joiner has been just killing it lately. In his last four games he’s put up 26, 15, 29 and 29.

Terquavion Smith added 13 points but shot just 5-14 to do it. DJ Burns hit 8-11 for 21 points as the big man just keeps rolling.

Tyree Appleby hit 19 to pace Wake Forest.

Unfortunately for State, Jack Clark went down hard after a dunk attempt, landing on his shoulder. No word on how bad it may or may not be yet.

By most accounts, Clemson is still a marginal NCAA team, but no one can argue this: the Tigers are having one of their best conference seasons ever: the win over Syracuse put them up to 12-5 in the ACC, which tops an 11-win season previously in the ACC and one in the old Southern Conference as well.

Hunter Tyson had a great game with 29 points on 10-16/6-12 and also grabbed 10 boards.

PJ Hall hit 8-11 for 16 points. Ian Schieffelin, who is a complementary player who doesn’t score very much, was within shouting distance of a triple double - 10 points, eight boards and six assists.

It also makes you wonder what Jim Boeheim said to his team afterwards, because if Schieffelin is doing that, your defense is pretty awful.

It’s the second straight game you could say that though, since Duke hit 54.5 percent last time out.

Judah Mintz again led the way for the ‘Cuse, scoring 23 on 8-1/4-4. Jesse Edwards kicked in 12 points and 10 rebounds.

With Virginia’s loss, Miami now moves into first place. Pitt and Virginia are a half-game behind. Miami plays Florida State on Saturday while Pitt gets Syracuse at home and a pissed-off Virginia stops by Chapel Hill.

ACC Standings

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