Week 4 of ACC Men’s Basketball play is in the books and we’re back with The ACC with JP to bring you everything you need to know after another fun week of hoops! This week’s schedule features a Monday game and it’s a particularly big one so get ready. Just as a reminder we’re going to be using the NET ratings released by the NCAA as a major factor for our tournament outlook. Top 50 is usually the cut-off for an at-large bid to the dance and the higher you are the better your seed typically is!
- Duke Blue Devils 18-1 (7-0)
Last week: Won 90-69 vs Wake Forest
Duke stays undefeated in ACC play with an emphatic 21-point win against Wake Forest on Saturday where despite trailing early the result was never in doubt. Duke shot just 7-25 from deep but 24-37 from 2 point range in an overwhelming offensive effort. Cameron Boozer had 32 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals and looks like an easy ACC, if not National, Player of the Year award winner. Duke is favored in all but one game the rest of the season on KenPom but have a huge test awaiting them at home vs a Louisville team that just got Mikel Brown Jr. back from injury, who missed Duke’s victory against the Cardinals earlier in January. Then on Saturday the Blue Devils will travel on the road to face Virginia Tech in Blacksburg where the Hokies have won 5 of the last 7 meetings. Schematically Duke will be playing against two very similar teams (who combined for 29 made 3s in their game against one another on Saturday) led by good coaches with some very talented players. But this Duke team has risen to occasion time and time again this season and I am very excited to see them clash with the Cards Monday night.
Upcoming schedule: January 26th vs Louisville 7pm ESPN, January 31st @ Virginia Tech 12pm ESPN
Tournament outlook: #3 NET, Inner circle 1 seed convos
- Clemson Tigers 17-4 (7-1)
Last week: Lost 80-76 (OT) vs N.C. State, Won 77-63 @ GT
Clemson’s run amongst the unbeatens in conference play ended on a Tuesday night in LittleJohn as Will Wade’s Wolfpack got their first big win of the season. Clemson turned the ball over 13 times and shot 15-24 from the FT line and struggled shooting just 9-28 from downtown, but all of those factors resulting in a 4-point Overtime loss has to be a silver lining for Brad Brownell and company. The Tigers bounced back from their first ACC loss with a resounding effort in Atlanta leading by as many as 16 points en route to a comfortable victory against Georgia Tech. Clemson shot nearly 40% from 3 and over 50% from 2 in an incredibly efficient day at the office. The loss to N.C. State was tough but barely registered on Clemson’s tournament résumé and it was huge to take care of business the way they did right after that game. The Tigers get a reprieve with no game during the week before a home tilt with the walking disaster that is the Pitt Panthers.
Upcoming schedule: January 31st vs Pittsburgh 12pm ACCN
Tournament outlook: #31 NET, Take care of business heading into that Duke game and…
- Virginia Cavaliers 16-3 (5-2)
Last week: Lost 85-80 vs North Carolina
For a little over 25 minutes Virginia looked like they were well on their way to an impressive dismantling of UNC. Then Seth Trimble and Caleb Wilson arrived. Virginia led by as many as 15 and were up with under 5 minutes to go but a 16-6 run to end the game gave North Carolina the victory. The Cavaliers shot just 2-12 from 3 in the 2nd half as Thij De Ridder’s 20 point performance just wasn’t enough to help the Hoos hold on. It’s far from a bad loss but any blown lead stings especially one in a classic ACC showdown such as this. The schedule lightens up this week as Virginia takes a trip through the Holy See with road games against a floundering Notre Dame and downright bad BC team.
Upcoming schedule: January 27th @ Notre Dame 7pm ESPN2, January 31st @ Boston College 1:30 The CW
Tournament outlook: #14 NET, Take care of business
- Miami Hurricanes 16-4 (5-2)
Last week: Lost 65-63 vs Florida State, Won 85-76 @ Syracuse
Miami followed up the loss to Clemson by playing sluggish and sloppy. Shooting 4-16 from 3, turning the ball over on over 20% of their possessions and allowing FSU to score at will in the paint. They still had a chance to take the lead with 2 Free Throws down 1 with twenty seconds left but Malik Reneau missed the first only managing to tie it while Tre Donaldson committed a foul with just a second to go to let FSU hit the FTs they needed to get their first ACC win. A demoralizing loss at home to their biggest rival set the stage for a road trip to the Carrier Dome where Miami had lost in four of their last five trips. The Hurricanes never trailed, shot over 50% from 3, and outrebounded Syracuse by 15 in a controlling effort to break a two game skid. Now Miami turns their attention to a two-game homestead vs the west coast teams. These are the kinds of wins that are really nice to have and picking up two of them in the same week could go a long way in Miami’s quest to return to the dance, as well as improve their potential seeding as they stack Q1 and Q2 wins. Miami’s defense will be tested by two of the top scorers in the conference as Ebuka Okorie of Stanford and Dai Dai Ames of Cal will go against one of the best defenses in the nation.
Upcoming schedule: January 28th vs Stanford 9pm ACCN, January 31st vs Cal 4pm ACCN
Tournament outlook: #37 NET, No more Florida States and you should be good
- North Carolina State Wolfpack 14-6 (5-2)
Last week: Won 80-76 (OT) @ Clemson, Won 81-72 @ Pittsburgh
It is hard to overstate just how important that win in Clemson is to N.C. State’s résumé. Their first Q1 of the season in a have to have it game against a rival on the road is hard to top but even more important was keeping that momentum going in their second road game of the week against Pitt. Will Wade’s squad didn’t overlook the Panthers and a 2-0 week has done a lot of work to right the vibes-based ship in Raleigh. Against Clemson the Wolfpack defense forced Clemson into a 9-28 night from downtown while on offense they protected the ball with just 7 turnovers and really pounded the paint. The Pack shot exactly 50% from 2 and got to the line 25 times knocking down 22 of those while Clemson missed 9 FTs. Ven-Allen Lubin had 22 points and 6 rebounds while Darrion Williams and Paul McNeil hit 3 3s each in their best win of the season. Then against Pitt the Wolfpack struggled to find their feet for the first nearly 30 minutes before a 21-6 run put N.C. State out in front to handle the Panthers. Four players scored in double figures but the Pack were crushed on the boards 52-31 which played a large part in their early struggles. This week gives more opportunities for N.C. State to get the train rolling against a very bipolar Syracuse team and a Q1 road game opportunity against rival Wake Forest. Both games will feature top scorers in Syracuse’s Donnie Freeman and Wake’s Juke Harris so the defense is going to have to be stout for the Pack.
Upcoming schedule: January 27th vs Syracuse 7pm ESPNU, January 31st @ Wake Forest 3:45pm The CW
Tournament outlook: #27 NET, More weeks like this and you’re golden
- North Carolina Tar Heels 16-4 (4-3)
Last week: Won 91-69 vs Notre Dame, Won 85-80 @ Virginia
North Carolina bounced back from that west coast disaster in just about the best way they possibly could have. First off they dispatched Notre Dame in a wire-to-wire victory punctuated by a massive run in the first 10 minutes of the second half and forcing the Irish to shoot 19-50 from 2. Then in Charlottesville with their backs up against the wall the Tar Heels came alive, once again in the second half, with a huge 16-6 run to end the game in a comeback win against the Cavaliers. These two games this week were the first time the Tar Heels held an ACC opponent to under 10 made 3s and they did it against teams who love to make and take 3s. Five UNC players scored in double figures against UVA with Seth Trimble putting up 16 with just one missed FG, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals to go along with it. The Tar Heels end January with a road trip to Atlanta to take on a Georgia Tech team that is, for lack of a better term, built to be extremely annoying. With just two games between UNC and a home date with Duke the Tar Heels can ill afford to look ahead of anyone.
Upcoming schedule: January 31st @ Georgia Tech 2pm ACCN
Tournament outlook: #23 NET, Don’t. Lose. To. Georgia. Tech.
- SMU Mustangs 15-5 (4-3)
Last week: Won 91-79 @ Wake Forest, Won 83-80 vs Florida State
Since dropping back to back games against Clemson and Duke the Mustangs are winners of three of their last four and did so this week in odd fashion. In their third Q1 win of the season they absolutely demolished Wake Forest on the road with 24 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 6 steals from BJ Edwards with SMU assisting on nearly 72% of all made baskets on the night in an overwhelming effort. Then at home vs, well, Florida State the Mustangs found themselves out in front early and led by as many as 14 points before a massive 18-3 Seminole run brought them right back into the game and even leading 72-69 at the U4 media timeout. Boopie Miller struggled shooting just 3-12 from the field but the aforementioned Edwards with 19 and Jaron Pierre with 28 points were right there to pick him up as SMU retook the lead and held on to win. If SMU can find this consistent scoring behind Miller as well as getting Boopie back on track this team could become very dangerous. The road trip to Louisville will feature one of the most exciting ACC Guard duels of the entire season as a newly healthy Mikel Brown Jr. will take on Boopie Miller and SMU in what is a huge game for the Mustangs tourney hopes.
Upcoming schedule: January 31st @ Louisville 2pm ESPN
Tournament outlook: #33 NET, Beat Louisville and you are in amazing shape
- Louisville Cardinals 14-5 (4-3)
Last week: Won 85-71 vs Virginia Tech
Speaking of which boy do the Louisville Cardinals have a big week ahead of them don’t they! Before we get to that though, there was the game Saturday where Mikel Brown Jr. dropped 20 points and 6 assists in his return as Louisville and VT combined for 19 3s as Virginia Tech tried to comeback but were met shot for shot by Louisville. 53.9% of Louisville’s field goal attempts on the season are from 3 which is first in the entire nation and they’re going to need some hot shooting to translate this week as they travel to Cameron Indoor before hosting SMU. Against Duke it is going to be interesting to see if we get the same script from all three meetings between Pat Kelsey and Jon Scheyer where Louisville starts out hot and takes a lead into the break before slowly acquiescing in the second half. A win at Duke would obviously be the King’s ransom of the ACC and maybe the entire nation right now and would instantly change Louisville’s season. But if the Cards can’t get it down they cannot afford to mope about and let it carry into their next game because Boopie Miller and SMU come to town for a huge game to dictate pecking order in the ACC standings.
Upcoming schedule: January 26th @ Duke 7pm ESPN, January 31st vs SMU 2pm ESPN
Tournament outlook: #17 NET, Hello Mikel Brown Jr.!
- Virginia Tech Hokies 15-6 (4-4)
Last week: Won 76-74 @ Syracuse, Lost 85-71 @ Louisville
The ACC’s premiere bubble team had a decent week overcoming a 10-point deficit in Syracuse despite making just 4 3s to get a road conference win. Then against Louisville the Hokies fell down by as many as 20 points before catching fire from behind the arc but just couldn’t string together enough stops for it to matter as Louisville matched them nearly shot for shot down the stretch. The opportunity for a season changing week lies ahead for VT as they get a home game against the plodding Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech before playing host to Cameron Boozer and Duke for a noon tip on Saturday. If VT shoots like they did against Louisville on the road anything could be possible against the Blue Devils, but the Hokies were crushed on the boards by the Cardinals and will face one of the best glass cleaning squads in the nation this Saturday which will leave virtually no margin for error as second chance point opportunities will likely play a huge factor. Hokie freshman Neoklis Avdalas has struggled heavily in ACC play after emerging on the scene in the non conference and this would be as good a time as any for him to regain that form.
Upcoming schedule: January 27th vs Georgia Tech 8pm ACCN, January 31st vs Duke 12pm ESPN
Tournament outlook: #51 NET, Right there on that cutline gotta get one of these big wins
- California Golden Bears 15-5 (3-4)
Last week: Won 78-66 @ Stanford
Cal’s defense locked Ebuka Okorie and the Stanford offense in general in a box and made their lives absolutely miserable in the second half of a comeback rout in Stanford. Cal went on runs of 21-3 and 17-2 to really throw the hammer down after trailing by 16 with 6 minutes to go in the first half. Ebuka Okorie shot just 1-16 from the field while Stanford as a whole was 6-31 from 3 and only made 18 total Field Goals. It was a complete effort from the Golden Bears as they had four starters score in double figures with John Camden putting together a 25 point 10 rebound performance. Now the newly rejuvenated Cal team will hit the road to the Sunshine State to take on the Seminoles and Canes where if they manage to go 2-0 they could find themselves rocking up the bracketology and ACC standings. Taking care of business against the Noles will be vital but we could be in for a really neat defensive battle in Coral Gables as two of the ACC’s top units go to battle while the matchup between both teams guards on both ends will likely decide things.
Upcoming schedule: January 28th @ Florida State 7pm ACCN, January 31st @ Miami 4pm ACCN
Tournament outlook: #54 NET, 2-0 this week and we’re really talking.
- Stanford Cardinal 14-6 (3-4)
Last week: Lost 78-66 vs Cal
I mean that was just one of the worst offensive disappearances I have ever seen in my entire life. Stanford led 29-13 with around six minutes to go in the first half and were outscored 65-37 the rest of the way. Ebuka Okorie couldn’t get going in any facet of the game, making just one FG, and still ended up with 14 points thanks to going 12-14 from the line. This team misses Chisom Okpara in a major way as outside of Okorie there just is not many guys to rely on for consistent scoring and when Okorie has a night like this it is just over. The goodwill from the UNC win has quickly faded as two straight losses in embarrassing fashion lead Stanford to Florida where they have a shot to nab their 5th Q1 victory of the season which would be 2nd in the entire ACC. Their tournament hopes depend on getting hot in weeks like this and taking care of business against teams like Florida State.
Upcoming schedule: January 28th @ Miami 9pm ACCN, January 31st @ Florida St. 6pm ACCN
Tournament outlook: #72 NET, Gotta start winning again
- Syracuse Orange 12-8 (3-4)
Last week: Lost 76-74 vs Virginia Tech, Lost 85-76 vs Miami
Syracuse has now followed up their three game winning-streak with a three game losing-streak as an 0-2 week has put the season on the brink for the Orange. Against Virginia Tech Donnie Freeman struggled shooting just 2-14 but despite that Syracuse led by 10 with about two minutes to go to halftime before Virginia Tech just turned it on. Syracuse turned the ball over on nearly 20% of their total possessions and they really struggled from 2 in the whole game. Against Miami Syracuse never led or threatened as despite getting a much better version of Donnie Freeman the Orange shot just 6-21 from 3 and shot 67% from the line. It is very much a slipping feeling watching Syracuse stack losses and Adrian Autry is gonna need to push all the buttons to right the ship in a midweek road game with the hot Wolfpack of N.C. State before coming home to face old Big East foe Notre Dame.
Upcoming schedule: January 27th @ N.C. State 7pm ESPNU, January 31st vs Notre Dame 6pm The CW
Tournament outlook: #79 NET, Fading fast
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 11-9 (2-5)
Last week: Lost 77-63 vs Clemson
Georgia Tech was unable to build off of the N.C. State win for a full 40-minutes as despite an early lead and never quite letting Clemson pull away until the end the Yellow Jackets fell to 2-5 in ACC play. Only two players scoring in double figures is hardly a winning strategy. This week GT will travel to face off against Virginia Tech before hosting North Carolina so Damon Stoudamire’s penchant for throwing wrenches into other teams’ résumés and seeding is very much on the table this week.
Upcoming schedule: January 27th @ Virginia Tech 8pm ACCN, January 31st vs North Carolina 2pm ACCN
Tournament outlook: #145 NET, We’re so close to college baseball guys
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons 11-9 (2-5)
Last week: Lost 91-79 vs SMU, Lost 90-69 @ Duke
The wheels have officially come off the Demon Deacon ridden motorcycle in Winston-Salem after a horrid week giving up 90+ points twice and just looking generally disinterested in both games. Juke Harris continues to be amazing scoring 27 points vs SMU and 23 points against Duke but the team around him is playing at a horrific level. They led early at Duke but really there was never a point you thought they even remotely had a shot. They do have the slimmest of hopes remaining due to a good start to the season and with a 2-0 week this week *could* find themselves back in position to be in position. Maybe.
Upcoming schedule: January 27th @ Pittsburgh 6pm ACCN, January 31st vs N.C. State 3:45pm The CW
Tournament outlook: #66 NET, Metrically far from dead but boy they need to turn on the jets
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish 11-9 (2-5)
Last week: Lost 91-69 @ UNC, Won 68-64 vs Boston College
I’m not sure the vibes for Notre Dame could have possibly been any worse than at around 7:20 eastern on Saturday as the Irish were following up a listless effort in Chapel Hill by trailing by 13 at home to Boston College. Against UNC Notre Dame missed approximately one billion shots and despite keeping it close-ish for the first half conceded a giant run to open the second half and just packed it in. Against BC the Irish once again just couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn and an actually decent crowd began to grow weary of a team that had long looked “cooked”. Then the Irish flipped the script and went on a second half run of their own with a 19-6 span to take their first lead of the game that they would manage to hold on to for nearly the entire rest of the second half. Now they shift gears to face off against a very angry Virginia squad and a road trip to Notre Dame’s own personal house of horrors in Syracuse. Good luck!
Upcoming schedule: January 27th vs Virginia 7pm ESPN2, January 31st @ Syracuse 6pm The CW
Tournament outlook: #83 NET, I mean just thank God they didn’t lose to Boston College
- Boston College Eagles 9-11 (2-5)
Last week: Won 65-62 vs Pittsburgh, Lost 68-64 @ Notre Dame
Boston College followed up the upset of Syracuse with a come from behind victory against Pitt in a rockfight for the ages where 3 Eagles scored 37 of BC’s 65 points. They were a 2nd half away from their first 3 game ACC winning-streak since 2015 before being outscored 44-27 the rest of the game against Notre Dame after leading by 13 with 18:56 to go. Still BC has two conference wins before they did last year so…improvement? They host Virginia this Saturday on The CW, if you’re into that.
Upcoming schedule: January 31st vs Virginia 1:30pm The CW
Tournament outlook: #157 NET, The Patriots are in the Super Bowl
- Florida State Seminoles 8-12 (1-6)
Last week: Won(!) 65-63 @ Miami, Lost 83-80 @ SMU
The ACC’s last team to get their first win is the Florida State Seminoles who took down their arch rival Miami on a pair of Free Throws with one second left to play in Coral Gables. Pretty sweet huh? They shot 50% from inside the arc and 6-17 outside of it which was just enough to keep them in line with a Miami team who couldn’t get anything going against the Seminoles defense. They looked to continue that momentum against SMU and even came back from a double digit deficit to lead at the U4! Before ultimately bowing out. This week they host both California teams and will look to deal a mighty blow to either or both’s tournament chances with an upset victory.
Upcoming schedule: January 28th vs Cal 7pm ACCN, January 31st vs Stanford 6pm ACCN
Tournament outlook: #113 NET, I mean hey dude you won a game!
- Pittsburgh Panthers 8-12 (1-6)
Last week: Lost 65-62 @ Boston College, Lost 81-72 vs N.C. State
Woof. The Panthers fall to Boston College and N.C. State to bring their losing streak to 3. Their win over Ohio State is quickly becoming one of the most confounding results of the season and one that could seriously harm the Buckeyes bubble status, so that’s fun at least? Jeff Capel’s days have to be numbered. He could bring Steve Forbes down with him at home this week before trying to see if the Pitt super weapon transcends sport on a Saturday in LittleJohn.
Upcoming schedule: January 27th vs Wake Forest 6pm ACCN, January 31st @ Clemson 12pm ACCN
Tournament outlook: #126 NET, Oh dear God the Steelers hired Mike McCarthy
Related
You must be logged in to post a comment Login