ACC Roundup – Virginia, Miami Get Big Wins

Tuesday’s games went more or less as expected. Clemson handled Boston College 74-50, Miami knocked off Notre Dame 81-69, Syracuse took care of Florida State 94-86 and Virginia beat Louisville 79-70.

We weren’t sure what to expect from Louisville honestly and Mikel Brown is still out, which hurts. But Virginia shot out to a 14-0 lead and was never in that much trouble. And this game was at the Yum! Center, mind.

Thijs De Ridder has been terrific for Virginia but here he got in foul trouble, shot just 3-10 and missed all three three point attempts.

Malik Thomas made it up though, with 19 points, including 6-8 on his threes. Johann Grunloh had four blocks and Ugonna Onyenso had 3.

Isaac McKneely, who left Virginia after last season, had 23 for the Cards, but he didn’t shoot especially well, hitting 5-14 on his threes. Better than Ryan Conwell, who shot 5-21/3-12.

We didn’t realize that Khani Rooths was out too, apparently with an illness.

Notre Dame pushed Miami in the first half before the ‘Canes pushed back. Other than a free throw by Jalen Harrison 18:03 in, the Irish didn’t hit a basket until Haralson scored around the basket at the 15:14 mark. By then, Miami had built a 12 point lead (the basket cut it to 10) and the game was basically over.

Tre Donaldson had 23 to pace Miami while Shelton Henderson and Malik Reanu had 17 each.

With the win over Notre Dame, Miami’s win streak is up to double digits now at 10 and it’s fair to say that at 15-2, the Hurricanes are one of the hottest teams in the conference.

Talk about getting hot! Nick Davidson had 21 straight in the first half for Clemson. We didn’t think that BC really had a big chance, but Davidson heating up that much? Not on the ol’ bingo card.

He personally outscored the Eagles 21-9 in that run and the guy isn’t even starting. Wow.

He finished with 25.

Boston College continues to struggle offensively, hitting just 5-15 (33%) on threes, 20-47 (43%) overall and a truly atrocious 5-13 from the line (38%).

It’s looking like another long season for BC but Clemson is slowly climbing, now ranked #22. They play Miami Saturday and that one could be absolutely great.

Finally, though Florida State started off really well, going up 11-3, Syracuse fought their way back into it and caught up about five minutes in, down just 13-12 on a Donnie Freeman dunk.

Syracuse finally took the lead on a Tyler Betsey three, 40-36. Give Florida State credit for not giving up though. Syracuse built up a 10 point lead but FSU just fought back and took the lead again 65-64.

There was a little back and forth before Syracuse moved in front again for good. Florida State lost but showed a lot of heart.

Donnie Freeman did a lot of damage with 25 points on 9-12/1-3 shooting. He also had 8 rebounds. William Kyle, who isn’t always a big offensive threat, finished with 11 on 5-7 shooting. He also had 9 boards. JJ Starling hit 7-10/0-1.

Collectively, Syracuse hit 11-27 (41%) from deep and 37-62 (60%) overall. Normally if you shoot that well, you should manage to win a bit easier.

Kobe Magee led FSU with 20 and Martin Somerville had 18 off the bench.

On Wednesday, Pitt visits Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech is off to Dallas to play SMU while Duke and UNC jet out to California to play Cal and Stanford respectively.

Wednesday’s ACC Action

• Pitt at Georgia Tech || 7:00 || ACCN
• UNC at Stanford || 9:00 || ACCN
• Virginia Tech at SMU || 9:00 || ESPNU
• Duke at Cal || 11:00 || ACCN

ACC Standings

• Malik Thomas scores 19 points as No. 16 Virginia beats No. 20 Louisville 79-70
• What Pat Kelsey and players said following Louisville’s loss to Virginia
• Ugonna Onyenso and Virginia Knocked Off Louisville Tonight
• URGENCY: Louisville loses to Virginia | Pat Kelsey & the Cardinals NEED to FIND answers QUICKLY
• Virginia hands reeling, shorthanded Cards another setback, leaving Kelsey frustrated
• Five takeaways from Virginia basketball’s 79-70 win vs. No. 20 Louisville
• Donaldson, Miami Defeat Rival Notre Dame 81-69
• Irish drop third straight ACC game in 81-69 loss to Miami
• UM downs Notre Dame 81-69 on the road, runs win streak to 10 games
• Miami 81, Notre Dame 69: Irish couldn’t protect the basketball
• Davidson scores 21 straight points, finishes with 25 as No. 22 Clemson beats Boston College 74-50
• Like a Harley, Davidson puts the Tigers on his back with historic first half stretch to lead #22 Clemson to 5-0 ACC start with 74-50 win over Boston College 
• Davidson Leads Clemson Past Boston College with 25 Points
• Clemson defeats Boston College, 74-50
• Davidson scores 21 straight points, finishes with 25 as No. 22 Clemson beats Boston College 74-50
• Florida State Loses 8-Point Lead, Falls by That Margin Against Syracuse
• Donnie Freeman, Syracuse stave off Florida State’s challenge
• MaGee, Somerville lead Seminoles in loss at Syracuse
• FSU shows figt, comes up short at Syracuse