BC showed it could lose, NC State showed that it’s win against Duke was a fluke, and God help us all, Maryland is in first.
DUKE OVER CLEMSON, 60-47
The Devils completed a season sweep over Clemson with their win in Littlejohn. The Tigers could do little to nothing against Duke’s defense. In fact, the Tigers have managed only 100 total points in the two games combined.
The Devils were the only road team to win this weekend, earning their first “true” road win of the season. They also improve to 4-1 against top-25 teams this season.
MARYLAND OVER NORTH CAROLINA STATE, 88-64
The Terps moved into a tie for first place after an easy win over NC State. The Wolfpack were never in this one, falling behind early 20-10 and never got within six from that point on.
Greivis Vasquez of course led the way with 19, but the key was free throws. Maryland made eight more free throws (24-33) than NC State attempted (10-16).
The question that has to be asked is, why did Tracy Smith take only nine shots? The man scored 18 (thanks to 6-8 from the line), grabbing 10 boards, but the rest of the team was only 18-57 for the game (32%). The man should never take less than 15 shots per game. Let’s put it this way, if Javier Gonzalez leads your team in shots, you probably lost the game.
Of course, we don’t like to brag, but Friday we predicted that NC State would only score 67 (after scoring 88 against Duke). We were off by three.
VIRGINIA TECH OVER BOSTON COLLEGE, 63-62
A win is a win, right? In this one, B.C. did everything they could to lose the game in the final seconds and with about five seconds left, the Hokies finally obliged.
The Eagles turned it over three times in the games final 56 seconds. The last one ended the game. The one before allowed Virginia Tech’s Dorenzo Hudson to hit a game-winning layup.
For the game, B.C. shot 55% from the floor, 94% from the line, grabbed more total rebounds, dished out more assists, blocked more shots, yet lost. Why? The fact is, they turned it over 10 more times (19-9) and allowed Va Tech to grab six-more offensive rebounds. That gave Tech 16 more shots, which is why BC only took 40 shots for the game to Tech’s 57. Not a way to win the game.
WAKE FOREST OVER VIRGINIA, 69-57
The Cavaliers hit only 34% of their shots, scoring a sad 15 total points in the first half and were handed their first ACC loss.
The trick for Virginia was to keep Ishmael Smith out of the lane and dare him to hit threes. They didn’t. He owned the Cavs, scoring 21, dishing out six assists and grabbing seven rebounds.
For the record, Smith took only one three-point shot, failing to hit it.
FLORIDA STATE OVER GEORGIA TECH, 68-66
The Seminoles completed a season sweep of the Yellow Jackets, thanks to a couple of Alabi free throws with 23 clicks on the clock. Of course Ga Tech had their chances at the end, but missed three shots in the final 19 seconds.
The Seminoles again shutdown the Jackets mighty front court. Lawal and Favors scored only 15 combined points on 5-13 shooting. Lawal in particular has struggled against Florida State. He’s now 2-13 in two games against the Noles.
