ACC Basketball News and Notes

ACC Basketball News and Notes

Now there are two college basketball teams that could potentially defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers.

After the Duke Blue Devils defeated No. 8 Auburn in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational Tournament 78-72, Jay Williams prophetically claimed that his alma mater could beat the Lebron-less Cavaliers.

Less than 24 hours later, Duke was undefeated no more. In the finals of the tournament, the Blue Devils fell to No. 3 Gonzaga, 89-87. Duke entered the half down 47-39, a manageable deficit for a team as talented as the Blue Devils.

A furious second-half surge finally evened the game at 87 with 1:45 remaining. A Rui Hachimura layup put the Zags back on top on the next possession. Gonzaga missed four-straight free throws in the game’s final minute, but Brandon Clarke’s block on RJ Barrett sealed the win and put an end to Duke’s bid for an undefeated season.

By the transitive property, Gonzaga, the only top-5 team to not receive a first-place vote this week, would fare pretty well against the Cavs. All hypotheticals aside, the Blue Devils showed some cracks in the armor while in Maui.

Duke still showed all the flash and skill of an elite team, but experience can’t be overlooked. Auburn hung tough in the semifinal matchup and Gonzaga never folded during the Duke comeback. Barrett, Zion Williamson, and Cam Reddish can take this team really far, but the experience of guys like Auburn’s Justin Harper (22 points and 6 assists in the semifinals) and Gonzaga’s Hachimura (20 points and 7 rebounds in the finals) can’t be discounted when March rolls around.

Duke’s showdowns with Auburn and Gonzaga certainly stole headlines in the college basketball world this week, but a lot went on in the rest of the ACC.

No. 7 North Carolina fell to Texas 92-89 behind the Longhorns athletic defense and 32 points from Kerwin Roach II.

On Friday, three ranked ACC teams battled other ranked opponents. Virginia downed Wisconsin 53-46 in a very Virginia-like way: with an airtight defense. The Cavaliers recorded 9 steals and forced 12 total turnovers. North Carolina bounced back from the loss to Texas to defeat UCLA 94-78. Florida State didn’t shoot well (38.2 percent), but the Seminoles 22 offensive rebounds gave them plenty of extra opportunities to defeat LSU 79-76 in overtime.

A matchup that flew under the radar this past week was Boston College versus Loyola-Chicago in the finals of the Fort Myers Tip-Off. BC defeated Loyola 78-66, despite only 12 points from Ky Bowman. Bowman scored a career-high 38 in the opening round against Wyoming, but BC got contributions from the rest of the starters and the bench in the finals victory. While Loyola is undoubtedly not the same team that made a run to the Final Four last season, the team still has Clayton Custer and Marques Townes. It’s resume-boosting game for an Eagles team that figures to sit on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

The road ahead for the conference leads straight to the ACC-Big 10 Challenge, which will be played on campus sites from November 26 to 28. There are many intriguing matchups, but three stand out above the rest. Duke’s freshman trio will host another standout freshman in Indiana’s Romeo Langford. Florida State’s balanced attack will face the star power of Purdue’s Carsen Edwards. Lastly, North Carolina will travel to Ann Arbor to square off against a Michigan team that embarrassed defending-National Champion Villanova 73-46 on November 14.