ACC Roundup - Syracuse, Georgia Tech And BC Win

First a correction: we misread the schedule and looked at the wrong days and didn’t see Wednesday’s schedule. As far as those games go, the misery continues for Florida State, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech as those teams fell to Syracuse, Georgia Tech and Boston College respectively.

Joe Girard, who has been an erratic offensive presence for Syracuse after smashing the New York high school scoring record, racked up 26 here. Big man Jesse Edwards had 18 points, 12 boards and three blocks. Judah Mintz, who is certainly a contender for ACC Rookie Of The Year, had 16 and almost all of them in the final 13 minutes.

Florida State did lead at the half and pushed Syracuse in the second. It was a one-point game at 55-54 with 9:56 to go and then Syracuse started to pull away. A 16-2 run tends to do that.

After the game, Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said this: “There were so many simple mistakes we made, turning the ball over here, turning the ball over there, not cutting hard enough. Enough that you gave a team with a couple of outstanding guys on their team (opportunities).”

Hamilton is always stoic on the sideline, but you know this must be killing him.

There’s really no particular reason why Georgia Tech should have beaten a veteran team like Miami, but Notre Dame’s season has been more or less a disaster.

Well, more than less.

Georgia Tech limited Notre Dame to 1-11 down the stretch and even though they only hit 2-8 during that time, it was enough.

Mike Brey, who is going to retire after the season, skipped the post-game presser, sending assistant Hamlet Tibbs instead.

What could he really say? It was an awful performance by the Irish.

In the last game of the night, Boston College got Virginia Tech, 82-76.

Now 12-13, as we’ve said before, you can’t underestimate this team because they will work harder than just about anyone else. Match it or you’re probably going to lose. And that’s what happened to Virginia Tech Wednesday night.

BC severely limited Virginia Tech’s entire perimeter, holding Michael Collins to just one shot. Sean Pedulla was held to 4-13 and Hunter Cattoor just 2-10. The three of them combined to score just 20.

One of the best ACC stories of the year is the relatively late emergence of Quinten Post. He had an injury early and since his return, Post has been one of the best big men in the ACC. He had 24 points and 10 boards against Virginia Tech.

At 14-10, the Hokies are now firmly in NIT territory.

Now we’ll repeat our mistake from Tuesday, but correctly this time: no more games until a full slate Saturday when, intriguingly, Notre Dame will get Virginia Tech at home.