ACC Basketball News & Notes: It's Tournament Time

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We have arrived at what most college basketball coaches, players, and fans look forward to most, tournament time. The ACC Tournament will get started on Tuesday afternoon with three games scheduled. The tournament will continue through Saturday night, March 13 when the championship game will take place. Before we get there, let’s look back at the last week of conference play.

As the conference tournament gets underway, the conference has three teams ranked in the latest AP Top-25 poll. They are Florida State at #11, Virginia at #21, and Virginia Tech at #22. The good news for the league is that nine conference teams are ranked among the top 60 in the latest NET ranking, which is the second-most of any conference in the country. This is important as Selection Sunday approaches and the league tries to get as many teams into the NCAA tournament as they can.

The final numbers for the league look like this after winning 14 of their last 17 games. The ACC home teams finished with a 77-40 (65.8%) record in conference home games. The league, as a whole, was able to play 202 of 246 (82.1%) scheduled games this season. The top three teams in the standings will receive double byes in the tournament. They happen to be the same three that are ranked this week. Tournament seeding was based on winning percentages during conference season.

One of those teams that have a double-bye is Florida State. The Seminoles finished the year with a 25-game home winning streak. The streak is the second-longest in league history. It began back on Jan. 22, 2019. When next season gets started, the Seminoles will be one win away from tying the record which was established by the Duke Blue Devils. Their streak began back on Jan.18, 1997, and ended on Feb.5, 2000. One player to keep an eye on during tourney week for Florida State is RaQuan Gray who last Wednesday night scored in double figures for the 11th straight game. He went for 16 points on 7-for-7 from the floor in the 93-64 win over Boston College. Gray leads the team in scoring at 13.5 a game, rebounding at 6.8 a night, and in steals with 1.4 a contest.

The final ACC Player of the Week is Georgia Tech’s senior forward Moses Wright. He had quite a week for the Yellow Jackets as he averaged 28.5 points and 13 boards. Wright recorded a double-double in both games played by Georgia Tech on the road, at then #16 Virginia Tech (69-53) and at home, against Syracuse (84-77) Both games ended up in the win column for the Yellow Jackets who entered the tournament riding a six-game winning streak. Wright is third in FG Percentage at .544 (167-for-307), third in Scoring at 18 points a night, and in Rebounding at eight a game. He is also third in Offensive Rebounding with three a contest while averaging 35 minutes a night, which is good for fifth in the league.

There are Co-Rookies of the Week in the conference are North Carolina center Walter Kessler and Louisville forward Jae’Lyn Withers. Kessler averaged 15 points and six rebounds in a 1-1 week for the team. He becomes the fifth member of the Tar Heels to be named rookie of the week. North Carolina is the first program to have that many players named to that award. Withers averaged 14 points and 11 rebounds in wins over both Duke and Notre Dame. He was 11-of-21 ( 52.4%) in the two wins last week.

North Carolina State ended the regular season with a five-game league winning streak. It’s the first five-game run since the Wolfpack did it back in the 2003-04 season when they also won five straight on the road. That’s the most wins on the road since the 1973-74 season.

Junior guard, Daivien Williamson of Wake Forest, finishes up a solid season for the Demon Deacons. He led the team in scoring, minutes per game, assists, and steals. Williamson is the only member of the team averaging 32 or more minutes and 12 or more points per game. Daivien is seventh in Free Throw Percentage at .786 (55-of-70) and is 13th in minutes played with 34 minutes a night.

That will do it for ACC basketball news & notes for this year. Hope you enjoyed it and we look forward to next season.