When the dust settled after the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, there were two ACC teams left standing out of the four that were invited.

The day didn’t start out well for the ACC, as North Carolina lost to one seed Kansas, 70-58. It was a game in which the media made it more about the former coach (Roy Williams) facing his former team of years ago (Kansas).

The Tarheels led 30-21 at the half and took the Jayhawks completely out of their offense. Kansas committed 12 first half turnovers and went seven-plus minutes without a field goal. After UNC then missed 12 shots in a row, they went on a 14-2 run to end the half.

However in the second half for the second straight game, big man Jeff Withey took over. Withey finished with a double-double: 16 points and 16 rebounds. He was helped out by fellow senior Travis Releford, who scored 22 points.

Kansas out-scored UNC, 49-28 in the second half. The Tarheels new look four guard offense was no match in the second half for the interior Jayhawks.

PJ Hairston scored 15 points and hauled in eight rebounds, while James Michael McAdoo chipped in 11 points in the loss (they were the only two in double figures for UNC).

The night was much kinder to the ACC.

Two seed Miami held on for the 63-29 victory over seven seed Illinois. It is only the second time in school history that the Hurricanes are headed to the Sweet 16. They will play three seed Marquette on Thursday night at 7:15pm ET on CBS.

The Hurricanes received 21 points off the bench from Rion Brown to go with 17 points from Shane Larkin, who played all forty minutes. Larkin‘s three pointer with one minute remaining to give Miami the lead was his first basket since there was 10:29 to go in the game. Miami then hit six straight free throws to seal the win.

It was a hard fought battle that didn’t see a ton of turnovers committed (just 14 combined), but also did not see a ton of scoring over the first 3/4 of the game (Miami only led 29-26 at the half).

For more on the Illinois loss, click HERE.

» Continue reading “Two ACC Teams Left Standing”

The ACC started the NCAA Tournament on Friday by going 3-1. However, all but one of those games was close throughout.

Duke started out by squeaking by 15 seeded Albany 73-61. You can read the full recap of that game HERE. So that started out the conference at 1-0. The Blue Devils will play Creighton on Sunday from Philadelphia.

That quickly changed, as NC State lost to Temple in the East Region, 76-72. The Wolfpack did get the 16-point halftime deficit down to three points with about three minutes to go, but the Owls prevailed. You can read more on the game HERE.

Miami put the ACC back ahead at 2-1, when they beat Pacific, 78-49. The Hurricanes led 40-19 at the half, as they forced nine turnovers. Pacific made it a lot more respectable, as they only lost the second half 38-30.

In the first half, Shane Larkin led the way with ten points, but it was the Miami bench that gave them the big lead. Tonye Jekiri scored six points and hauled in four rebounds. Rion Brown also scored six points (he finished with nine points).

In the second half, Durand Scott (who was in foul trouble in the first half) came alive. He finished with a game-high 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Larkin did not score again, but did have nine assists.

In the loss for Pacific, Travis Fulton scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half. Khalil Kelley chipped in 11 points and nine rebounds. Markus Duran added nine points off the bench.

Miami advanced to the field of 32 to play Illinois on Sunday in Austin, Texas.

The final ACC game of the night pitted an 8-9 matchup between North Carolina and Villanova. The Tarheels let an 18-point first half lead slip to 37-29 at the half. The Wildcats came back and actually took the lead (45-44 with 13:40 to go), but couldn’t hold it for long. UNC won 78-71. With the victory, Coach Roy Williams picked up his 700th career win.

Villanova mounted their comeback when three starters had huge second halves. JayVaughn Pinkston scored 11 of his 20 points in the second half and hauled in eight rebounds. Darrun Hilliard scored 12 of his 18 points in the final half with six rebounds. Mouphtao Yarou, a senior, scored 11 of his 17 points in his final half with eight rebounds. Unfortunately, they missed some big shots late that would have made the final alot more interesting.

When UNC needed it most, they hit some big threes. PJ Hairston led all scorers with 23 points (7-of-11). Reggie Bullock scored 15 points and James Michael McAdoo chipped in 17 points.

The Tarheels will play the winner of Kansas-Western Kentucky on Sunday in Kansas City.

Last year’s draft was all about a shallow pool of players, international picks and Kentucky. This year, Kentucky was still a factor, but that was the only similarity. The draft is always fun to watch, but this year seemed a little uneventful.

The themes of the first round last night were North Carolina, Kentucky and gingham. That’s right, gingham. Overall, the suits were disappointingly muted, with the only semi-oddball being Terrence Ross from Washington in his green bow tie (see below). But a huge number of next year’s NBA rookies were wearing some form of gingham.

The night began with a video of the top picks climbing up a ladder in their suits, I guess that’s supposed to be inspiring? David Stern then emerged from backstage (what’s back there anyway?), and was promptly booed, as per usual.

No surprise to anyone: Anthony Davis and his now trademarked unibrow were picked first by the New Orleans Hornets. As Davis headed to the stage, our commentators Jay Bilas, Jeff Van Gundy, Chris Broussard and Rece Davis spent a moment to discuss how big men No. 1 picks have had trouble in the league due to injuries, citing Yao Ming and Greg Oden.

Davis is the first No. 1 pick since Kareem Abdul Jabbar to also be the AP National Player of the Year and play for the National Championship team. Along with his eyebrow, Davis sported a striped shirt and – you guessed it – a gingham tie.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrest from Kentucky goes No. 2 to the Charlotte Bobcats. This is the first time any school has gone one and two in the draft, and the first time the first two players sported a form of gingham.

» Continue reading “The Unibrow™ Picked First – And Other 2012 NBA Draft Shockers”

Kentucky is still basking in the glow of their National Championship win, but the rest of us have already started thinking about next year’s basketball season. One indication that we’re moving forward: the matchups have been set for the 14th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge Presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods on Nov. 27-28.

All 12 games will be featured on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, and the programs will be playing for conference bragging rights and the Commissioners Cup.

The 2012 Challenge involves nine teams ranked in an ESPN.com early preseason top 25, which as we all know means next to nothing. Tons of things could occur between now and October, but I would be remiss not to list the rankings associated with the ACC and B1G teams, five of which are in the top 10: No. 1 Indiana, No. 5 Michigan, No. 6 NC State, No. 8 Ohio State and No. 9 Michigan State. The only thing that might be accurate is that four out of five come from the Big Ten, but I’m not biased or anything.

The ACC won the first 10 Challenges while the Big Ten captured the Commissioner Cup for the last three years, including an eight to four win advantage over the ACC last year. In the event of a 6-6 tie, the Commissioner’s Cup will remain with the conference that won the previous year. In case you’re not following, that means it stays with the Big Ten.

2012 Challenge Fun Facts:

- Duke, which has won 11 of its 13 Challenge games, will host Ohio State in the quest for an event-record 12th victory. Duke lost to Ohio State last year and to Wisconsin in 2009.

- Four of the games will feature first-time Challenge matchups: Virginia at No. 22 Wisconsin, Maryland at Northwestern, No. 9 Michigan State at Miami and Georgia Tech at Illinois.

- In addition to first-time Challenge games, several of the teams are infrequent opponents: Michigan State and Miami have never met; Northwestern and Maryland played one other time, a Northwestern victory in 1958; Virginia and Wisconsin split its two games, Virginia in 1975 and Wisconsin in 1999; and Illinois has defeated Georgia Tech in six of its seven games, including the last one in 2001.

- Eleven teams between the two conferences played in the 2012 NCAA Tournament: Duke, Florida State, North Carolina, NC State and Virginia from the ACC, and Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin from the Big Ten.

- Boston College and Penn State and Nebraska and Wake Forest will follow first-time Challenge meetings with a second consecutive matchup.

- Five of the games will mark three-time Challenge matchups: North Carolina at Indiana (Indiana win in 2001 and North Carolina in 2004), NC State at Michigan (Michigan win in 2003 and NC State in 2006), Ohio State at Duke (Duke win in 2002 and Ohio State in 2011), Iowa at Virginia Tech (won by Virginia Tech in 2006 and 2009) and Purdue at Clemson (Purdue win in 2003 and Clemson in 2007).

- Three and one more: Minnesota and Florida State will meet for the fourth time (Minnesota won in 2000 and Florida State in 2004 and 2007).

2012 ACC/Big Ten Challenge schedule:

Tue, Nov 27

No. 13 North Carolina at No. 1 Indiana

No. 6 NC State at No. 5 Michigan

No. 25 Minnesota at Florida State

Maryland at Northwestern

Iowa at Virginia Tech

Nebraska at Wake Forest

Wed, Nov 28

No. 8 Ohio State at No. 15 Duke

Virginia at No. 22 Wisconsin

No. 9 Michigan State at Miami

Purdue at Clemson

Georgia Tech at Illinois

The ACC teams got underway on Friday in the NCAA Tournament. It was a wacky day, as the ACC went 3-2 on the day.

NC State 79, SDSU 65: ACC action in the NCAA Tournament got underway with the first game in the Midwest Region and the first upset of the day. Led by Richard Howell for most of the game, NC State dominated inside and kept the big three for San Diego State from scoring consistently. The Wolfpack also stepped up their defense with about five minutes left in the first half and continued that into the second half. NC State shot a whopping 58.5% from the field (compared to just 37% for SDSU).

Howell finished with 22 points on 11-of-12 shooting, while fellow big DeShawn Painter chipped in nine points off the bench. Others in double-figures for NC State were Lorenzo Brown (17 points), CJ Leslie (15 points), and Scott Wood (ten points). Brown also finished with nine rebounds and nine assists.

Chase Tapley had zero points at the half, but became more aggressive in the second half for the Aztecs to score 19 points. However Jamaal Franklin did most of his damage in the first half (13 of his 23 points). Xavier Thames scored just five points.

The Wolfpack (and their seven-player rotation) will face Georgetown on Sunday at 12:15pm ET on CBS, as the Hoyas beat Belmont, 74-59.

» Continue reading “NCAA Tournament: ACC Goes 3-2 in Second Round”

Upsets galore this evening!

For the first time since 2001, a #2 seed went down to a #15 seed when Norfolk State beat Missouri this afternoon. This was only the fifth time ever that this anomaly occurred.

Oh, but it doesn’t end there. As if one huge upset wasn’t enough, #15 Lehigh went ahead and upset # 2 Duke to log the sixth instance of this type of upset ever happening. Both Duke and Missouri were angry that they got the shaft for the #1 seed (granted, Missouri more audibly than Duke), and both of them went down in the first round.

Those two upsets were the big news, but two more upsets quietly occurred at the same time this evening: # 13 Ohio also took down #4 Michigan, 65-60, and #10 Purdue beat #7 St. Mary’s, 72-69.

Though there was a close call yesterday with #16 UNC-Asheville almost upsetting #1 Syracuse, this type of upset still hasn’t happened, but today isn’t over just yet. Will #1 Michigan State feel the pressure while playing #16 LIU- Brooklyn?

Your bracket might be obliterated, but are you having fun? Madness has now officially begun.

The ACC received five bids to the NCAA Tournament. The hottest team may be Florida State, who beat Duke and North Carolina on back-to-back days to win the ACC Tournament. But can FSU stay hot after a week off?

FSU is led by Michael Snaer, who averages 14.5 points per game. Bernard James averages 8.2 rebounds a game and Luke Loucks averages 4.3 assists per game.

The Seminoles will face A-10 Champion St. Bonaventure at approximately 2:45pm ET on CBS and will have to deal with versatile big man (and potential NBA first-rounder) Andrew Nicholson. I believe the key to victory is how FSU deals with the A-10 Player of the Year. He single-handedly beat Xavier in the A-10 title game. If FSU can contain Nicholson and get him into foul trouble, they will have a great chance of winning. If not, the Bonnies will be pulling off the shocking upset.

*The ACC regular season champions, North Carolina, earned a number one seed in the Midwest Region and will play around 4:10pm ET on Friday (TBS) against Vermont, the winner of Wednesday night’s play-in game.

UNC has a high-octane offense that scores 82 PPG and shoots 46% from the field. They are led by the front court trio of NBA prospects in Tyler Zeller (16.5 PPG), Harrison Barnes (17.4 PPG), and John Henson (13.8 PPG). Henson also averages 10.1 RPG, though he is questionable for the Tarheels first game. The bigs accumulate a lot of points via offensive rebounds, but they also have Kendall Marshall (9.7 APG) to deliver them the ball.

Vermont only scores 67.3 PPG, but only allows 60.5 PPG. The Catamounts have three players who score in double-figures: Four McGlynn (12.2 PPG off the bench), Matt Glass (11.9 PPG), and Luke Apfeld (10.1PPG). Brian Voelkel is their leading rebounder (8.7 RPG) while also their leading assist man (5.2 APG).

» Continue reading “NCAA Tournament: Preview of ACC Teams”

Quarterfinal Friday got underway at noon ET in the ACC Tournament as the top-seed North Carolina took on Maryland. UNC pulled away late to win, 85-69. The win may have been costly for the Tarheels, as John Henson hurt his wrist and will be a game-time decision for Saturday.

UNC led by ten at the half, but back-to-back three pointers from Reggie Bullock increased their lead. Maryland did cut the deficit down to seven points a few times, but couldn’t get any closer.

Maryland was out-rebounded 41-34 and allowed UNC to shoot over 50% from the field.

Terrell Stoglin of Maryland led all scorers with 30 points, but teammates Nick Faust and Sean Mosley made just 6-of-24 shots. For the Tarheels, four players scored in double-figures with Kendall Marshall contributing a double-double: 13 points and 12 assists.

» Continue reading “ACC Tournament Quarterfinals Recap”

The ACC Tournament gets underway with first round action on Thursday at the Philips Arena in Atlanta. North Carolina won the regular season title and own the top seed. The top four seeds (UNC, Duke, Florida State, and Virginia) received a bye to Quarterfinal Friday.

*The 8-9 matchup opens up first round action at noon ET. Maryland will face Wake Forest. Maryland beat WF back in January. The Terrapins didn’t play well to finish the season, as they lost three in a row. WF lost three of their last four games.

Players to Watch: Maryland’s Terrell Stoglin leads the ACC in scoring at 21.2 points per game. Wake’s CJ Harris (16.8 PPG) and Travis McKie (15.9 PPG) rank in the conference’s top ten in scoring.

The winner will face UNC to start Quarterfinal Friday (noon ET). Maryland lost to UNC twice, while WF lost once.

*The five-seed NC State (who is sitting on the NCAA bubble) will then face 12th-seeded Boston College. NC State beat BC twice during the regular season. The Wolfpack ended the season winning two in a row, but lost four in a row prior. BC ended the season losing five out of six.

Players to Watch: NC State’s CJ Leslie averages 14.3 PPG and 7.1 rebounds a game. Scott Wood of NC State leads the ACC in three point field goal percentage (41.5%) and he makes at least two 3-pointers a game. BC is led by freshman Ryan Anderson, who averages 10.8 points and 7.2 rebounds a game.

The winner will face UVA in the second game on Quarterfinal Friday. NC State lost to UVA by just one point, while BC lost, 66-49.

» Continue reading “ACC Tournament Preview”

As I was watching the late night Rivalry Game on ESPN2 last night, I watched the scores scrolling across the bottom line. I was shocked at what I saw in women’s college basketball: many of the highlighted teams (the winning teams) were unranked.

Is parody finally coming to women’s college basketball?

Well, not exactly. The top four teams are still more dominant than anyone else. Take number 4 Stanford’s win over Pac-12 opponent USC. They won 69-52 to extend their home court winning streak to 75 games.

Number 5 Duke survived a road test at Boston College, 71-62. What was shocking about Duke’s struggles was how dominant they were against ACC arch-rival North Carolina and how off they were against a team with zero wins in the conference.

Now onto the losses.

What was most disturbing was how these ranked teams lost. Six top 25 teams lost on Thursday night, five of those losses came by double-digits. Four of those losses came on the road.

Division I college basketball (both men’s and women’s) is down to just one unbeaten team and that would be Number 1 Baylor. Baylor will face 14th ranked Texas A&M on Saturday. Murray State lost to Tennessee State on Thursday night on the men’s side, while Green Bay lost on the women’s side. Green Bay lost to a team, Detroit, that has 11 losses and hadn’t won at Green Bay in 15 years. Detroit dominated on the glass (a 47-32 rebounding edge), got to the free throw line more (35 times to Green Bay’s 13), and held Green Bay to just 29.9% shooting. Two players for Detroit, Shareta Brown and Senee Shearer, scored 20+ points in the win.

» Continue reading “Thursday Night Full of Upsets in Women’s College Basketball”