Stanford’s Okorie increasingly looks like a rare talent
In Wednesday’s ACC Action, Virginia canned Cal 84-60, Clemson held on against SMU 74-70, Miami survived Wake Forest 81-77 and Stanford just nipped Virginia Tech 69-68.
The Hokies set limiting turnovers as a goal and they accomplished that. Too bad they couldn’t limit Stanford’s freshman star Ebuka Okorie (that just auto-corrected to Ebuka Okra), who absolutely torched Virginia Tech for 38 points on on a highly efficient 11-18/4-8 from the floor. Wow! That’s sensational.
He also had 6 assists.
Virginia Tech was up 67-55 with 2:18 left. Okorie hit a three-point play the old fashioned way, then got a second layup to cut it to 67-60. then he hit a three to cut the lead to 67-63. Then he assisted on a three by Donavin Young.
Neoklis Avdalas hit a free-throw, then Okorie nailed a three with :03 left.
If you’re keeping count, that’s 11 points by Okorie in the last 2:09 and another three that he assisted on. Duke’s Cameron Boozer is getting the most attention but man is Okorie having himself a season. A lot of schools are kicking themselves for missing out on him.
On the bright side, the Hokies finally got Tobi Lawal back and they’re just 12-4, which is hardly a disaster.
In the other Bay-to-Virginia game, Dai Dai Ames came back to Charlottesville only to see his new team fall by 24.
Chris Bell, the Syracuse transfer, was shut out completely but Justin Pippen, son of you-know-who, finished with 17 points and 5 steals. Not bad.
Malik Hall had 20 points to pace the Cavs. Ugonna Onyenso had 4 blocks off the bench in 12 minutes. Chance Mallory also excelled with 7 assists, 8 points and 3 steals.
The Bay teams and the Commonwealth teams will switch partners and play again on Saturday.
Wake Forest and Miami put on quite a show in the Joel with Miami prevailing 81-77. The game was tied 77-77 with :26 to go when Shelton Henderson got a tip-in on a missed three point attempt by Malik Reanu.
This was a really good, close game throughout. Wake is 10-6 but they’re capable of playing with just about anyone.
The Demon Deacons shot 52% overall and also on threes (11-21), but Miami outscored them from the foul line, 23-10.
Juke Harris, who has shown signs of potential greatness, had 28 for the Deacs. Nate Calmese had 19 while Myles Colvin finished with 13.
On the downside, Calmese had 7 of Wake’s 12 turnovers.
Finally, down in Clemson, SMU got their introduction to Littlejohn and found it less than ideal.
The final score was close but Clemson led the entire game and had a 15-point lead in the second half.
RJ Godfrey led the way for the Tigers with 17 points. Dillon Hunter had 10 but no other Tiger was in double figures.
Boopie Miller had 23 for SMU and three other starters were in double figures.
However, Clemson’s bench racked up 27 points to 9 for the Mustangs.
SMU will head up to Durham to play the Blue Devils on Saturday afternoon. There are no ACC games between now and then.
- Virginia Tech Men’s Basketball Yields Late Advantage In 69-68 Loss to Stanford
- Virginia Tech squanders late lead against Stanford despite return of star Tobi Lawal
- Everything from Virginia Tech HC Mike Young After Stanford Loss
- Cal Falls In First ACC Road Game To No. 23 Virginia
- No. 23 Virginia shuts down Cal in runaway win
- No. 23 Virginia handles visiting Cal, 84-60
- Malik Thomas scores 20 and No. 23 Virginia moves to 9-0 at home with 84-60 win over Cal
- Godfrey’s 17 points and Clemson’s strong defense lead to 74-70 win over No. 24 SMU
- Brad Brownell after Clemson’s win over No. 24 SMU
- Clemson basketball earns first Top 25 win after beating SMU at home
Category: General Sports
