ACC Hoops Roundup (1/13/25)
- Lewis Huston
- Jan 13
- 6 min read
Updated: Jan 16
Louisville is the Hottest Team in the ACC
*Not named Duke of course. But since their loss to Duke back on December 8th, Louisville is 7-1 with the one loss coming on the road at top 10 Kentucky. The Cardinals followed up the big home win against Clemson earlier in the week with an even bigger road upset at Pitt. That’s a helluva week and one that firmly cements them as one of the best teams in this year’s version of the ACC.
We’ve talked about the formula for this squad, how it’s an extremely balanced attack with any guy capable of going for 20 any given night. It was Reyne Smith’s turn on Saturday, pouring in 25 points on a career best 7-11 from 3 to become the 4th different guy in to go for 20+ in their last 5 games. Louisville’s outside shooting woes (304th nationally) have been well documented, but Smith has been holding it together shooting 39% on extremely high volume. If guys like Chucky Hepburn, Noah Waterman and Terrence Edwards begin shooting closer to their 35-36% career averages it would take this team to a whole different level.
Although Hepburn hasn’t shot the bell all that well, he’s still been the engine for this team as the primary ball handler/distributor on one end and ball hawk defender on the other. Hepburn is top 35 nationally in steal % and has 7+ assists in every game during their current 6-game win streak. He either assisted on or scored 10 of their final 12 points to close out a tight one in Pittsburgh.
UNC Wins Ugly in a Rivalry Game
Yes, UNC-NC State is a rivalry and those that try to diminish it as such are just lying to themselves. I’d argue you can almost feel the hatred between these two schools more so than Duke-UNC, which has turned into this weird respectful obsession with each other. Just because one team dominates the other in the series doesn’t make it any less of a rivalry. It’s about how they feel towards each other, especially the fanbases.
With that being said, UNC did what they have done so many times this century: walk into Lenovo Center (formerly PNC Arena) and leave Raleigh with a W. This rendition was a rock fight, with a 26-20 halftime score as neither team could get much of anything going. Things picked up though for an exciting finish. Ian Jackson hit a few huge 3s down the stretch, finishing with a game-high 21 points (5-8 from 3). But it was Jalen Washington who made the deciding plays in the final 30 seconds with the go-ahead dunk followed by a blocked shot right before the buzzer.
Washington had his best performance of the season with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks. Getting that sort of production from the 5 spot hasn’t happened for UNC this season and would be a big development going forward. On the other hand, it was much of the same for the Wolfpack. They’re a tough bunch and compete hard but just don’t have the horses. This was almost identical to the Texas game a month ago, another back-and-forth low scoring game where they couldn’t get a bucket or a stop in the final minute. Flip those results and the outlook is way different, but instead they’re going to need some more March magic at this point.
Stanford (Virtually) Plants Their Flag in Virginia
The Cardinal welcomed both Virginia and Virginia Tech to the farm this week and swept the Commonwealth. Both the Cavaliers and Hokies are having massive down years compared to recent standard, but two wins by double digits is a nice way to get back on track, moving to 3-2 in the ACC and staying in the thick of the race.
The midweek tilt against the Hokies was a little sweaty, as they trailed nearly the entire first half and were in a back forth game down the stretch. But they closed the game on a 14-3 run after VT tied it up with 5:35 remaining, with 9 of those points coming from the free throw line where they are top 40 nationally in FT%.
The Virginia game also saw a big run to close a half, although this one happened in the first, capped off by a Jaylen Blakes buzzer beater 3 to take firm control of the game. The Wahoos never got closer than 9 in the second half in what unraveled into an 88-65 blowout win. It was the most points scored on a Virginia team since Gonzaga hung 98 back in 2020 during the covid season.
Maxime Raynaud also got back on track with two more double-doubles, bringing his total to 13 this year. It feels like the Frenchman is starting to get a little more love, but still not quite enough for a guy averaging 20 and 11 on the year. Now maybe if he can do it this week in road games at Wake Forest and North Carolina, stealing a win or two in the process? As Jon Rothstein says, “Buy stock now”. USC transfer Oziyah Sellers was also impressive, going for 15 and 19 points this week shooting over 50% from the field and from 3.
Ron Sanchez Not Getting the Interim Tag Lifted
Speaking of Virginia, it’s been a disaster of a season for one of the most consistent programs over the past decade. Tony Bennett suddenly retired a few weeks before the season, possibly a bit of a calculated move to force the administration to let his righthand man Ron Sanchez take over. Even with Bennett at the helm though, this was going to be an uphill battle. It’s an extremely limited roster that’s lacking in 2 key areas where Virginia typically is not deficient; point guard play and interior rebounding/defense. Andrew Rhode and Dai Dai Ames aren’t P5 starting point guards IMO, while Blake Buchanan is far from a physical presence and Jacob Cofie is just a freshman and also more skilled than you see from UVA bigs.
When you run their type of system, it’s maybe the two most important aspects to be successful. The lack of point guard play is forcing a guy like Isaac McKneely to have to initiate offense way more than he’s comfortable doing. McKneely is a good player who I actually think has a chance to carve out an NBA role. But he’s not a go-to offensive playmaker, and that’s what he’s being asked to do. It’s a lot easier to generate offense when you have a Ty Jerome, London Perrantes, Kihei Clark or Reece Beekman.
Roster flaws considered, it’s still been a super disappointing tryout for Sanchez, who left his head job at Charlotte to rejoin Bennett’s staff a couple years ago. The Wahoos are now 8-8 (1-4) in the midst of a 3-game skid, and 7 of their 8 losses have come by double digits. It’s a team that’s not competitive right now, and a program that’s going to have some really big decisions to make.
Other Nuggets:
Cooper Flagg set an ACC freshman record on Saturday with 42 points in an 86-78 home win over Notre Dame which wasn’t as close as the score indicates. He did this while only attempting 14 shots, going 16-17 from the FT line and adding 7 assists and 6 boards just for good measure. It’s insane how little noise and attention Flagg is getting as the # 1 overall recruit and projected # 1 overall NBA draft pick. He had the dunk of the year on Tuesday, then went for 42 on Saturday. Can we start to appreciate him now?
The bottom of the ACC is baaaaaaaad; Miami, Boston College, Virginia, Cal, Virginia Tech. Miami is 0-5 with 4 of those losses by double digits. Virginia is 1-4 and can’t stop getting blown out. Cal finally got on the board last week, then trailed a bad VT by 19 at halftime at home a few nights later. VT blew that 19-point lead to that bad Cal team and had to hold on for dear life to move to 7-9 (2-3). Boston College is 1-4 and lost their last 2 games to Syracuse and Georgia Tech by a combined 30 points. Cuse and GT aren’t much better than this group. I’m willing to give Notre Dame a pass for now because of their schedule. But there’s just a lot of bad basketball being played right now.
College basketball fans are treated to 10 different ranked matchups this upcoming week. None of those are happening in the ACC. Why? Because this will be the 4th straight week that Duke is the only team in the AP Top 25. Having a number in front of your name matters. And it’s kinda hard to get marquee matchups for the casual fan when only one of your teams can get a number.
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