ACC Basketball News & Notes: Wrapping up the Conference Schedule

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We are down to the final ten games of the conference schedule in the ACC. February is moving month in the league. With the league tournament just about five weeks away, teams need wins in order to give themselves the best possible spot in the event and play as few games as possible. Here is some of what else is happening.

The ACC Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week is the same guy and of course from the same school. Vernon Carey had a monster past ten days in the league. In two games played last week vs Syracuse and Pittsburgh, Carey averaged 26 points and 15 rebounds. He shot 64.5% from the floor in those two wins by the Blue Devils he had a double-double in both games. Versus the Panthers, Carey went for 26 points and 13 rebounds. Against Syracuse, his final numbers were 26 points and a career-best 17 rebounds. The boards tied a Carrier Dome record by a visiting player. He started this week the same way he finished last week. A double-double vs Boston College this past Tuesday night. The 17-point, 10 rebound effort gives him three straight double-doubles and 11 for the season. Each of Carey’s double-doubles have been 15-10 games. He has eight that have ended up being 20-10 games. That’s the second-most among major conference players.

There is an amazing stat when it comes to the Duke Blue Devils. They have now connected on at least one three-point field goal in a staggering 1,081 games. The streak is the second-longest in college basketball trailing only UNLV who’s streak sits at 1.092. Duke’s mark almost came to an end this past Tuesday night at BC. After a first half in which the Blue Devils went 0-for-12 from behind the arc, they hit their only three-pointer of the night in the second half with 7:33 to play. Freshman Joey Baker knocked it down and Duke finished then night 1-of-15 from three-point land at Boston College.

Boston College’s freshman guard, Jay Heath, is putting together quite a first year in the league for the Eagles. In games in which he scores 12 or more points, the Eagles are 8-5. They are 6-2 when he scores 15 points, 5-2 when he drops 16 or more, and a perfect 3-0 when he goes for 17 or more. On Tuesday night vs Duke, Heath went for 12 points in what was a BC loss to the Blue Devils. 63-55.

On Wednesday night, Wake Forest’s Brandon Childress joined a pretty special club. In his team 86-76 loss at Louisville, Brandon went for 14 points and four assists. The assists are what’s important here because it allows Childress to join the 1,200 points, 400 assists club. He becomes the sixth Demon Deacon to reach that mark and the only active member of the group. Congrats to Brandon on reaching this mark.

Speaking of milestones, Duke’s head coach Mike Krzyzewski reached one on Tuesday night at Boston College. The victory over the Eagles was his 500th career win (league and tournament games), which extends his conference record. Coach K is now 500-200 all-time in league games. The win at BC now gives him 188 road wins which is an ACC record. His 1,078 wins at Duke is an NCAA record for most wins at one school in men’s basketball.

The Clemson Tigers are getting hot at the right time. Their 5-2 record in the month of January tied with the Blue Devils for third-best among all ACC teams, and ties for third-best winning percentage in January by Clemson in the last 30 years. Only Louisville at 7-1 and Florida State at 5-1 were better.

On Monday night at home, Florida State held the Tar Heels without a field goal for almost 11 minutes in the second half. FSU earned its 19th consecutive home win on Monday. The Noles are the only remaining unbeaten team at home this season.

Next week, more from the Atlantic Coast Conference.