ACC Basketball News & Notes: Conference has top two teams in America

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The ACC has gotten off to a great start in 2019-20. The new AP Top 25 poll has four members of the league in the poll. Teams that are included are Duke at #1 and Louisville at #2. They are joined by North Carolina at #5, and Virginia at #7. This is tied for the most of any league across the country. The conference has been getting it done in the non-conference as well as their 36-4 record would suggest. These wins have come by an average of 20.7 points per game.

The ACC player of the Week is Notre Dame”s John Mooney. He averaged 23 points and 16 rebounds in two games last week. He is currently the only Atlantic Coast Conference player to be in the top 10 in both scoring and rebounds. The Rookie of the Week is Virginia Tech’s Landers Nolley II. He averaged 25 points per game in the Hokies two victories last week. In their win over USC Upstate, Nolley had 23 points, six boards, and three assists. In their win over Lehigh, he went for 27 points, five rebounds, and four assists.

Duke sophomore guard, Tre Jones, became the first player in Blue Devils history to record a 30 point, 6 assists, 4 steal game last Friday night vs Georgia State.

North Carolina freshman guard Cole Anthony, is the first Tar Heel freshman to score at least 20 points in his first three games. He scored 82 points in total. The previous high for a freshman in his first three games was held by Rashad McGrants with 63 points back in 2002-03.

One of the best defenses around the game of college basketball belongs to Virginia. In their first three games, they have held their opponents to fewer than 50 points. It’s the first time in the shot clock era and the first since the 1948-49 season. Virginia defense is allowing 36.7 points per ballgame, 25% shooting from the field (41-of-164), and 20% shooting from three-point distance (23-for-115).

Boston College senior center Nik Popovic became the 45th member of the 1,000-point club on Wednesday night in the Eagles win over Eastern Washington. His double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds did the trick. He is second on the team in scoring at 15.3 points per game and is the fourth Eagle player in the past three seasons to reach this goal. He joins Jerome Robinson, Ky Bowman, and Jordan Chatman. His double-double was his 10th of his career, and the first this season. The Eagles are second in the league in steals with an average of 10.3 per game in four games.

North Carolina State’s guard C.J. Bryce is averaging 20.2 points and 8.5 boards while shooting 60.4 % (32-for 53) from the floor. He is leading the team in scoring, rebounds, and steals. State is second in turnover margin at +6.8 and first in scoring offense at 86.5 a game.

Wake Forest’s Brandon Childress has scored in double figures in all four Demon Deacons contests and leads the team in scoring at 17.8 points a contest.

Next week, more from the ACC.