ACC

ACC Basketball News & Notes: UNC Back in the Top 25

0 0
Read Time:4 Minute, 9 Second

They were the preseason number one ranked team, but a so-so early season, at least for them, had North Carolina out of the Top-25. Then, the ACC season got underway. However, a four-game winning streak has put the Tar Heels back into the poll at #25. They join Virginia #8, Miami #14, and Duke #17. The league gets back to work with league games on Friday and Saturday ahead of the New Year’s holiday. Let’s see what else is going on in the conference.

 

The hottest team in the ACC is the Miami Hurricanes (12-1, 3-0) as they take an eight-game winning streak into this weekend’s game on the road at Notre Dame (7-5, 0-2). The Hurricanes were scheduled to play Vermont out of America East on Wednesday night, but that game was postponed because the Catamounts could not make it out of their home state because of weather. The game will not be made up this season. During their winning streak, only one team Cornell shot over 50% from the field (52%). The sign of a good team is when they win without shooting the ball very well. That happened on December 20 when Miami shot just 39% but still pulled off a two-point win vs Virginia. The Hurricanes are unbeaten at home at 9-0 and on the road at 2-0.

 

The Clemson Tigers (10-3, 2-0) are right on Miami’s heels just a game back as they get set to host NC State (11-3, 1-2) on Friday afternoon. Clemson’s last league win over Georgia Tech gives them the 2-0 record for just the fourth time in the last 26 years. This includes the 2017-18 year when the Tigers started league play at 3-0. One reason for the Tigers’ good play is the improved scoring from senior Chase Hunter who is averaging 14.9 points per game. An improvement of +8.2 points from a season ago. Brevin Galloway is still at his ball-hawking best with 154 steals which is third-best among all active leaders in steals.

 

Virginia Tech (11-2, 1-1) is getting great production from guard Sean Pedulla who leads in the most-improved scorer category as the second weekend of league play arrives. The Hokies take to the road on Saturday to play Wake Forest. Pedulla has improved his ability to put the ball in the basket by 11.9 points from a season ago. Last year he averaged 5.4 points per game and at this stage of the season, he is averaging 17.3 points per game which ranks him fifth in the league in scoring.  On the defensive side of the ball, Grant Basile is the active leader in blocked shots with 150. 

 

Wake Forest (9-4, 1-1) is getting it done thanks to the play of graduate senior guard Tyree Appleby who is third in the league in scoring averaging 18 points a night. In the win over Duke, Appleby dropped 18 on the Blue Devils. He is the active steal leader in the ACC with 186, 25 more than the next player on the list. He is second on the active assists list with 573, just 17 behind the leader Kihei Clark of Virginia who has 590. He is second in total points with 1,786. Wake will be looking to give Virginia Tech their first home loss of the year (8-0).

 

The ACC has Co-Players of the Week. Miami’s guard Isaiah Wong wins the award for the second time in three weeks. In the victory over Virginia last Tuesday, he went for 24 points, six rebounds, and five assists. He is the first Hurricane player to post four straight 20-point games since 2009. He is also the first high-major player to record four straight games of at least 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists. He shared this week’s award with Pittsburgh forward Blake Hinson, who recorded a double-double of 25 points and 13 rebounds which matched a career-high. He also passed out four assists and had two blocks in helping the Panthers to an 84-82 win on the road at Syracuse. The win was the second on the road for Pittsburgh, and the third overall. 

 

The Rookie of the Week is Florida State’s forward Cam Corhen. He put up a career-high 18 points to go along with seven rebounds in the Seminoles’ 73-72 victory over Notre Dame last Wednesday night. It has been a tough early season for FSU, however, they have won three of their last four games to improve their overall record to 4-10, 2-1 in the league. The Seminoles head to Duke on Saturday.

 

That’s a look at the ACC for this week. We will be back next week with more from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Happy
Happy
0 %
Sad
Sad
0 %
Excited
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
Angry
0 %
Surprise
Surprise
0 %

Average Rating

5 Star
0%
4 Star
0%
3 Star
0%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *