ACC Hoops Roundup (1/3/25)
- Lewis Huston
- Jan 3
- 6 min read
The New Year's holidays saw 16 of the 18 teams in action, with 4 games taking place each day. Remarkably 7 of those games ended up with double digit margins.
Louisville Gets 2 Wins for the Price of 1
Pat Kelsey and co. picked up a big home win against North Carolina on Wednesday as they start to try and build an NCAA tournament resume. They never trailed after the 10 minute mark in the first half, only letting Carolina tie it once and then pull within 1 with 5:09 remaining before closing the game on a 13-1 run. It was much of the same shooting wise from deep, but the Cards shot 62.5% from inside the arc, and Chucky Hepburn made 16/20 free throws; the Heels only shot 23 as an entire team. The one person who was making outside shots was 3-point marksman Reyne Smith, who made at least 4 off the bench for the 7th time this year to finish with 17 points on the evening. He and Hepburn were the difference and Louisville's top lineup continues to be when those two are on the court together.
It was also more of the same for UNC. Missing guard Seth Trimble for the 2nd straight game, RJ Davis' struggles continued, finishing with an inefficient 12 points and bringing his 3pt % for the year down to 27.5%. That's about 8 percentage points lower than his career average on what is a HUGE sample size. He's clearly pressing right now and Louisville's length and activity on defense affected him. The Heels have had to go small more often because of the ineptness of their post players, and rebounding continues to be an issue. For the 5th time in 6 losses this season, they were beat on the offensive boards and now rank 241st in Off Reb %. A staple under Roy Williams, from 2004-2021 they only finished outside the top 25 in this metric once, and even that was still 77th. The one bright spot for UNC with them going small has been the increased role of 6'4" freshman Ian Jackson. He's now played 30+ minutes in 3 straight and scored 20+ in all of them, including 23 points Wednesday.
Virginia Storms Back For a Much Needed Win
In our only game of the 2-day slate decided by single digits, Virginia erased a 14-point second half deficit to avoid moving to 0-2 in conference play for the first time 2008. This had a little to do with both sides. The Wolfpack were really impressive through the first 34 minutes of action, leading 46-36 at the first media timeout in the 2nd half even without center Ben Middlebrooks. Everybody who played up to that point had scored and it was finally looking like the deep roster Kevin Keatts had put together in the offseason was starting to gel. And then the wheels fell off. The Wolfpack started turning the ball over and chucking on offense, while Isaac McKneely got hot and no answer could be found for Elijah Saunders. Sanders kept the Hoos afloat, scoring their first 9 points of the 2nd half on his way to a season-high 22 before the guards took over from deep. A 23-5 run in the middle of the half flipped this game around, and Virginia was able to hold on for a 70-67 win after the entire arena held their breath as Michael O'Connell attempted another miraculous buzzer beater.
This was honestly a had to have game for both teams. Neither one is anywhere near the bubble after disappointing non-conferences, so the only way to work themselves back is to stack wins. It's a gut punch loss for NC State after leading by as many as 14 after half with a chance to start 2-0 in conference. You saw why this team is so frustrating. There's good players on the roster and they're going to be competitive in every game, but they sorely lack individual offensive talent like they've have the last couple years so when shots aren't falling it can get ugly quick (6/11 from 3 in the 1st half, 2/12 in the 2nd). This Virginia team on the other hand is clearly so limited, but that style they play still forces you to have to make jump shots for more than just a half. I liked them playing through Saunders more, which helped open up good looks for guys like McKneely, Andrew Rhode and Isaac Sharma.
Wake Forest CAN Play Offense?
Or maybe this is more of an indictment on Syracuse. Either way it was a welcomed site to see Wake Forest FINALLY break out of a 2-month long shooting slump that has been the driving factor in dampening their metrics while not allowing them to be as competitive against top competition. It's been one of the stranger things to watch, with nearly everyone on the roster shooting well below their career averages. For a team that shot 36.4% from 3 each of the past 2 seasons, they are sitting at a dreadful 27.7% (345th nationally) up to this point. So it was a good sign to see them go 9/19 (47.4%) on Tuesday. And it came from a bunch of different places with 4 different guys each knocking down two. This led to their highest offensive output of the season against a team not named USC Upstate or Western Carolina. The Deacs now sit at 10-4 (2-1) and still have that Michigan win in their back pocket, so if they can keep the shooting touch and string together some wins before the meat of their schedule in late January, they'll put themselves in position to be in position.
Pitt is Really Good and Needs to be Taken Seriously
It's time to start talking about the Pittsburgh Panthers. They're a blown 2nd half lead against Wisconsin away from being 12-1, with wins over West Virginia and at Ohio State which are both aging nicely. No, beating a Cal team outside the top 100 in KenPom at home isn't flashy. But they were down two starting guards and still managed to erase a halftime deficit and blow them out in the 2nd half on their way to an 86-74 win. Jaland Lowe went for 27 pts and 8 ast, Cam Cohren had a double double and freshman Brandin Cummings continues to carve out a role with a super efficient 15 points in his first collegiate start.
Take a look at their KP team sheet.
That's a lot of green man and no clear weaknesses. Top 45 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, elite at taking care of the ball and really strong shooting numbers. That's a recipe for success. Once they get Damian Dunn and Ish Leggett back, which shouldn't be long, WATCH OUT!
Other Nuggets:
Another double digit win for Duke. That's 3 wins in conference now with an average margin of victory sitting at an even 20. Cooper Flagg had a ho-hum 24 points, and Isaiah Evans is turning into a real weapon going 4/7 from 3. He's literally only attempting 3's but after a couple DNPs against Arizona and Kansas, he's gone 21/39 (53.4%) since. 20-0 in conference play is on the table, with only 1 game each against Pitt and Clemson. KenPom and Bart Torvik both have them favored by at least 5 points in all of their remaining games.
It's not going to get better in Coral Gables. In Miami's first game since Jim Larranaga's sudden retirement, a Nijel Pack-less Canes squad actually responded quite well... at least for 20 minutes. A 12-point halftime lead at Boston College was wiped out getting outscored 49-27 in the 2nd half. I'm not sure how much of a difference Pack would've made as they just continue to look dysfunctional on both ends of the court. I'm sorry but nobody should lose a half by 22 to this BC team.
Is Markus Burton the most important player to their team in the ACC? Notre Dame looks like a non-factor without. This was their 2nd true road game without him where they got blown out early and were never really in it. Tae Davis had a big game with 27 pts and 7 reb and the guards shot well from 3, but this team lacks any dynamic playmaking ability without Burton and needs him back badly.
Clemson was able to pull away in the 2nd half from a frisky Stanford team. Their big frontline bothered Maxime Raynaud and held him to his season-low 14 points, while Clemson got big days from Chase Hunter and Chauncey Wiggins. As a big wing at 6'10", Wiggins is the X-factor for this team going forward with his size currently shooting 39.2% from 3 after going 4/5 on Wednesday.
Kommentare