ACC Basketball News & Notes: Wake Forest is Hot Right Now

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While a crowded field sits atop the Atlantic Coast Conference, we should remind ourselves it is still very early in the ACC schedule. Still, the win streak that the Wake Forest Demon Deacons are on, which is eight straight, is worth noting. Their victory on Tuesday night vs Boston College by an 84-78 score allowed the Demon Deacons to even their road record at 1-1. Four players were in double figures, led by a double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds from Efton Reid. Thirteen of those boards came on the defensive end. On Saturday, Wake will put their unbeaten record of 8-0 at home on the line vs Miami. Seven of Wake’s eight wins in this streak have been by double-figures. This is the longest win streak since December 5, 2009- January 3, 2010.

Let’s take a look at the rest of the league news.

Three teams are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. North Carolina at #8, Duke at #14, and Clemson at #16, The same three are also ranked in the USA Today Coaches poll. The league finished with a 118-46 record in non-conference games. The ACC captured 13 quad I wins, which is important to have when March rolls around. That number is third best among conferences across the country. The Big East and Big Ten both have 15. On Tuesday, nine ACC teams were ranked in the top 70 of the NET Rankings. Clemson at #8, UNC at #20, Duke at #21, Pittsburgh at #41, Miami at #52, Virginia at #55, Virginia Tech at #62, Wake Forest at #64 and NC State at #68. The ACC joins the SEC and the Big 12 with nine in the top 70.

The ACC Player of the Week is Syracuse’s Quadir Copeland. Last Saturday, coming off the Orangemen bench, Copeland scored a career-high 22 points, 16 in the second half to help Syracuse to a come-from-behind win at home vs Pittsburgh 81-73. He was one board short of a double-double with nine and also handed out four assists. he also had three steals in 22 minutes of playing time.

The ACC Rookie of the Week is Notre Dame’s Markus Burton. In a big win last Saturday for the Irish, Burton dropped 15 on Virginia on 6-of-10 shooting. He also had a career-high eight assists in 33 minutes on the court. Burton still leads all rookies in scoring in the league averaging 15.9 a game.

Senior center Lynn Kidd of Virginia Tech has been really good as of late. In his last five games, Kidd has scored in double-figures averaging 19 points a game and taking down seven rebounds. He is second in the Most Improved scoring list. Last season, he averaged five points a game compared to this season’s average is 16.3. That is an improvement of 11.3 points a game.

Senior guard Reece Beekman of Virginia has led his team in scoring in the last four games. During this stretch, Beekman is averaging 16.5 a game. He is also the active leader in both assists with 496 and in steals with 189. This season, Beekman leads the league with 72 assists in 13 games for an average of 5.54 a contest. He is tied for the lead in steals with 29 in 13 games for a 2.23 average. On Wednesday night, he helped Virginia to a home win over Louisville with 11 points and eight assists in 31 minutes as a starter.

The transfer portal is always an interesting subject in college sports. At Virginia, they dipped into the portal and grabbed Jordan Minor from Merrimack College. Minor has been coming off the bench for coach Tony Bennett’s team. While most of his production took place for Merrimack, he found himself in several categories in the league. Minor is in the top 10 in active scoring with 1,369 points, rebounds with 811, and leads in active shot blocks with 203. Minor is the kind of player that fits right into Bennett’s system, a defensive first kind of player that will do the dirty work in the paint to help his team win.

Miami’s Norchad Omier tossed in 27 points last Friday night to get past the 1,500-point mark for his career. He reached this milestone by going 11-of-12 from the field. He is one of only three active players in Division I to have 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds. One of those other players is also in the league. North Carolina big man Armando Bacot has 1,987 points and 1,465 rebounds.

Next week we will be back with more from the ACC.