Another night in the ACC, more loud noises after an embarassing loss. This time its Duke, who went to Miami and were completely outclassed by a Hurricanes team that dominated the number one team in the nation. Miami learned just before the game that Reggie Johnson was cleared to play, but Johnson didn't make a significant difference. It was the Miami guard play that owned the Blue Devils. The Miami backcourt of Durand Scott and Shane Larkin outscored Duke's Quinn Cook and Seth Curry 43-5. In particular, Seth Curry was 0-10 with zero points on the night.
Is there a silver lining for Duke? Looking at the four factors, the Blue Devils actually won turnover percentage and both rebounding percentages, while losing effective field goal percentage and free throw rate. In fact, the free throw rate advantage wasn't particularly a big advantage considering Miami made just 56% of their free throw attempts. That leaves eFG% where Miami had a 65-32 advantage. If a silver lining that can be found, its simply that Duke isn't that bad a shooting team and Miami isn't that good of a shooting team. The big issue I saw with the Duke defense is that Duke had no answer for Miami's high ball screen. The Miami guards seemingly made every 3 when Duke went under the screen or the Canes got an easy layup if Duke fought through the screen. You can bet Duke will work on this over the next couple days.
In the other game of the night, UNC continued their development into a respectable team as the Heels beat Georgia Tech 79-63. The key for the Heels is that they are starting to develop an offensive identity. Bullock, Hairston, and McAdoo (combined for 46 or UNC's 79 points) are their offensive weapons and the rest of the team (and perhaps the coaching staff too) is starting to recognize this. Building an identity is important for a number of reasons, but mainly it helps a team recognize who their offense runs through and allows others to play off of that. Its a good win for UNC, and at least for this week, UNC looks like the top ACC team in North Carolina.
Two matchups in the ACC tonight as Clemson hosts FSU and Virginia Tech hosts their in-state rival Virginia. Check out the predictions and previews below.
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