College Basketball - Atlantic Coast Conference

One question that keeps getting asked is can Duke win with their style of play that is truly and outside game. Well will just have to wait till tournament time to see but for now it looks like they can. At 10 – 0 in conference play and a 22 – 1 record who can argue. Everyone has to be impressed with Maryland and they way they are playing as they went into Duke on roll. Duke beat Maryland or the second time this season and as good as Maryland was playing it seems obvious Duke will earn the ACC title and the number one seed into the ACC Conference Tournament. Let’s take a quick look around the ACC.

BOSTON COLLEGE

Boston College has gone from surprise team of the Atlantic Coast Conference into a freefall. Yet, there are signs that things are about to get better for the Eagles. Boston College lost its sixth straight game when it dropped a 90-80 decision at Duke on Feb. 9. That dropped the Eagles to 12-10 overall and 3-6 in the ACC.
Yet, Boston College showed quite a bit of life as it led by eight points at one point before eventually succumbing to a more talented Duke team. Boston College improved their outside shooting against North Carolina State, a team that defends the interior well. The Eagles have now won three straight against the Wolfpack and is 5-1 against North Carolina State since joining the ACC

CLEMSON

Apparently the fates have it in for Clemson when it comes to playing at North Carolina. Despite leading by 15 points and dominating in the second half against the Tar Heels, the Tigers couldn't hold onto that advantage and lost in double overtime 103-93. It was the 53rd time since 1926 that the Tigers have played the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill. It was the 53rd time they have lost. None could have been any more painful than this one.
After losing in overtime at home to North Carolina earlier in the season, the Tigers went out and lost their next game by 10 points to Charlotte three nights later. They had an extra night to get over the disappointment of their latest loss to the Tar Heels, and rebounded nicely over Georgia Tech. This was the first of two meetings for the Tigers and Yellow Jackets. The rematch is March 6 in Atlanta. Clemson is hanging in and we are not seeing the collapse they suffered last year.

DUKE

For the third time in its last five games, Duke trailed an opponent at the halftime break when it played host to Boston College. But if things have been starting off slowly for them recently, the Blue Devils seem to have a way for making them out right. They came from an eight-point deficit late in the first half to get within one at the intermission, then went on to post a 90-80 victory over the Eagles to remain unbeaten in ACC play at 9-0.
They are 22-1 overall, their only loss a pre-Christmas overtime affair against Pittsburgh. Duke had 10 steals against Boston College, the seventh time in its nine conference games the Blue Devils have had at least 10 in a game. They are averaging 10.3 steals per game in ACC play. That's three more a game than they averaged last season. Their latest win came against a Maryland team that was playing as good as anyone in the country. Duke will earn the ACC title and the number one seed in the ACC tournament.

FLORIDA STATE

A needed rest for the Seminoles, if not a break in fate. After pulling out a win at Miami on Feb. 6, a game Florida State had to win, the Seminoles suffered a major loss. Starting guard Isaiah Swann, one of the faces of this program the past four years, sustained an ACL injury and is likely lost for the season. For a team already decimated by attrition, this was the last thing Florida State needed to happen.
The Seminoles (14-11, 3-7) still eye a winning season, but carry larger aspirations of trying to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade. With the weekend off, they were preparing for the Feb. 14's home game against Wake Forest, another make-or-break scenario keeping hopes alive but failed to win against Wake.
Without Isaiah Swann, the Seminoles had no choice but to go with Ralph Mims, their top reserve, as a starter when using a small lineup. But it would mean Mims plays with little rest. Junior G Brian Hoff, a walk-on, will be the only other option in the backcourt. FSU had to receive top play from the guard position for their offense to run and without any real options their FSU is on the outside looking in.

GEORGIA TECH

A tie game late in the second half. A stunned crowd. A momentum swing. This was how Georgia Tech managed to win in previous road games, including three straight in the ACC. But the trend and the feel-good confidence were snapped in an 80-68 loss at Connecticut. The loss puts the Yellow Jackets (11-12) back into a struggle to get a winning season. A big play was allowing UConn to get an offensive rebound off a missed 3-pointer, then convert another 3-point opportunity for a lead the Huskies never lost.
Georgia Tech's starting lineup for the last eight games (beginning Jan. 12 at Miami) has included freshman Moe Miller at point guard and junior D'Andre Bell at one wing. Miller, who replaced Matt Causey in the lineup, had started Tech's first two games of the season before injuring his back in the Virgin Islands. Bell, who replaced Lewis Clinch, started four games at point guard earlier in the season. While they lost their game against Clemson it nice to see they finally agree on a starting line up. There is just to much of a talent gap for this team to really go anywhere.

MARYLAND

Gary Williams isn't allowing himself much introspection on getting career win 600.He said almost a month ago that No. 600 would be hard to put into perspective because he had so much other more important work to do with the Maryland Terrapins. That is what you want to hear from a coach that has his team rolling.
The rematch with Duke on Feb. 13 in Cameron Indoor loomed large but the Terps feel short. Before falling to Duke they gave them everything they could handle with center Bambale Osby and F James Gist inside play. Maryland is a scary team right now and one that no one wants to play come tournament time.

MIAMI

After letting two earlier road games slip away because of failures down the stretch, Miami was on the verge of going for a trifecta on its trip to Virginia Tech before the most unlikeliest of players stepped up to save the Hurricanes. Eddie Rios, a freshman who had played sparingly since the onset of conference play, stepped up with a career-high 14 points and knocked down three free throws in the final 15 seconds of Miami's 74-71 victory over the Hokies.

Thus the Hurricanes, who were 0-4 on the road this season, ended their road losing streak in conference play at 11 games. It was their first road win of any kind since Dec. 13, when they won at Mississippi State. But, as had happened in earlier losses at North Carolina State and Wake Forest, the Hurricanes nearly let this one get away. They had a 10-point lead with under three minutes to play before having to hang on.
The victory revived Miami's hopes of getting consideration for an NCAA bid come March, though much work still remains for the Hurricanes. They face yet another road test in their next outing, this one at Georgia Tech on Feb. 17, and then are host to Duke on Feb. 20. At 3-6 in ACC play, they need to win five of their remaining seven ACC games to get to .500 in the conference for the year. They are 16-7 overall.

NORTH CAROLINA

If anybody is going to question North Carolina's toughness, as many did last year when the Tar Heels couldn't hold onto a late lead against Georgetown's pressure and lost in the NCAA regional semifinals, all coach Roy Williams has to do is haul out tapes of the Tar Heels in their 103-93 double-overtime victory over Clemson.
Down by as many as 15 points in the second half and outplayed for the game's first 37 minutes, the Tar Heels put on a furious closing rush to overcome an 11-point deficit in the final three minutes of regulation. The Heels also had to withstand not one but two Clemson possessions in the closing seconds of regulation and then of the first overtime before pulling away in the second extra period. And they did with their leader and point guard, Ty Lawson, sitting on the bench nursing a sprained ankle for the second straight game.

NORTH CAROLINA STATE

If North Carolina State's loss at Maryland had a familiar look about it, it's because the game followed pretty much the same pattern as the Wolfpack's earlier defeat at Duke.
The 'Pack led the Terrapins by two points at the halftime break but lost 84-70 after being dominated in the second half.
The problem for the 'Pack at Boston College will be how to handle BC PG Tyrese Rice. Rice is averaging 19.9 points and 5.1 assists per game overall and 21.1 points and 5.6 assists a game in conference play.

VIRGINIA

With its 80-64 loss at Wake Forest, Virginia now has a very strong possibility of going from first to worst in the ACC in just a season. The defeat put the Cavaliers, who shared the regular-season title with North Carolina last season, at 1-8 in conference play. No other ACC team has fewer than three conference victories. Virginia never led against Wake Forest and trailed by double digits much of the game. The Cavaliers mounted a threat midway through the second half and pulled to within three points with under four minutes to play.
But the Demon Deacons responded by scoring the last 13 points of the game while holding the visitors scoreless. The Cavaliers shot only 33.3 percent from the field and were a meager four of 19 on 3-pointers. They did win the boards 49-38, but had six more turnovers than the Deacons. The Cavs now have lost six in a row and will play host to North Carolina on Feb. 12 before going on the road for their next two games.

VIRGINIA TECH

Tech is playing for its NCAA Tournament life, having lost two games it badly needed to NC State and Miami. Now 14-10 and 5-5 in ACC play, the Hokies can barely afford to lose more than one of its last games. And with North Carolina and Maryland both up on the road, it's safe to assume the Hokies who were as high as third place the first week in February are now playing for the NIT.

WAKE FOREST

Taking care of the basketball has helped Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons had only 10 turnovers in the win over Virginia, the seventh time this season they have had 10 or fewer turnovers in a game. They have had fewer turnovers than their opponents in all but five games. At 5 – 5 and 18 – 8 overall Wake Forrest played a solid game and was able to pull a road win out at Florida State. Wake has tough road as they face Duke, North Carolina and Maryland in their next three games before finishing the season with Georgia Tech, Virginia Teach and NC State. Not sure their going to have much left in the tank for those three.