ACC Basketball News & Notes: It's Getting Tight at the Top

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As we swing into February, things are getting a little tight at the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference standings. The North Carolina Tar Heels have had a little bump in the road losing to Clemson at home 80-76. That has teams behind them thinking maybe they can be caught after all. Such is life in ACC basketball as change is a weekly thing. Heading into last weekend, the league still has strong representation in the NCAA NET Ranking. Eight teams are inside the Top 70, and six are inside the Top 55. Quad 1 wins could be the driving force behind this. The Conference had 26 Quad 1 wins, including 11 vs non-conference teams. That becomes a big help come March.

So too is who is getting these wins. UNC has five. One of 10 programs in the country with at least five Quad 1 wins. Duke has four, Clemson and Georgia Tech have three each. The league is also doing well in the NET non-conference schedule average. The ACC is averaging 158.2, which is third-best trailing only the Big East (131.4) and the Pac-12 (140.9). The conference is ahead of leagues like the Sec (161.9), Big Ten (180.0), and Big 12 (242.5). Building this kind of resume will help come selection Sunday.

Two members of the league, North Carolina and Duke are ranked in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Tar Heels are ranked #3 while the Blue Devils are at #9. Both of these teams were also ranked in the USA Today Coaches poll. Virginia received votes in both polls. There were Co-Players of the Week in the ACC. North Carolina Harrison Ingram scored 21 points in the win over then #7 Duke last Saturday night. He also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, tied a career-high with four steals, and made a career-high five 3-pointers. North Carolina State’s DJ Home was also named. He averaged 25 points in two wins over Miami and Georgia Tech. What is even more impressive is that in 71 minutes of game time Home did not commit a turnover. The ACC Rookie of the Week is Ty-Laur Johnson of Louisville. In their win over Florida State last Saturday, he had a double-double of 27 points and 11 assists. He also pulled down six rebounds. Johnson became the first player in Louisville history to have 20 points, 10 assists, and five rebounds in a game.

Senior forward PJ Hall of Clemson has joined some very good company. He is the fifth player in program history to reach 1,400+ points, 500+ rebounds, and 100+ blocks in a career. The others are Trevor Booker, Elden Campbell, Dale Davis, and Tree Rollins. Hall is second in the league in scoring at 19.8 a game, 10th in rebounds averaging seven a game, and is second in the league in blocks with 1.86 a game.

Wake Forest (15-7, 7-4) has made great use of the free throw line this season. They have shot 323-of-407 (79.4%), which ranks them third in the nation. In the ACC, they are 148-of-184 which ranks them first in the league. The 80.4% is the second-highest mark in the conference. In Tuesday night’s win over Georgia Tech (10-13, 3-9), the Demon Deacons were a perfect 17-for-17.

North Carolina State’s (15-8, 7-5) graduate guard Casey Morsell has been a double-figure machine of late. Last Saturday, he scored in double-figures for the seventh time in his last eight games. He has averaged 13.9 points during that stretch. He also went through a period of six games where putting the ball in the hoop was a bit difficult. In those six contests, Morsell averaged only eight points a game. In the Wolfpack loss to Pittsburgh (15-8, 6-6) on Wednesday night, Morsell was shut down by the Panthers defense with only five points on 2-of-7 shooting.

The Virginia Cavaliers (18-5, 9-3) are getting hot at the right time. They have won seven in a row after Monday’s 60-38 win over Miami (15-8, 6-6). The win also extended the nation’s longest home winning streak to 23 games. The Hurricanes had only one player, Norchad Omier (11 points,13 rebounds), in double-figures. For the game, Miami shot 28.6% from the field (14-of-49), and 10% from threes (2-for-20). They were better from the FT line (8-of-15, 53.3%). Defense wins championships, and Virginis can play defense.

There is a new 1,000-point scorer at Virginia Tech (13-9, 5-6). Sean Pedulla reached that milestone on Saturday vs Miami. He scored 21 points for the game, which gives him 1,019 points in 90 career games as a Hokie. Pedulla is 11th in scoring averaging 15.7 a game. he is also fourth in assists, averaging 4.5 a game

It has not been a fun year for the Louisville Cardinals (7-16, 2-10) but in their win over Florida State last Saturday, the Cardinals did crack 100 points. They did it with four players scoring 18+ points, Brandon Huntley-Haffield (29), Ty Laur Johnson (27), Curtis Williams (19), and Mike James (18). No Louisville team had done this since February of 1989. On Wednesday night at Syracuse, they had four in double-figures in the 94-92 loss to the Orangemen (15-8, 6-6). Two of those players went for double-doubles. Huntley-Haffield (19 points,13 rebounds) and Tre White (17 points, 12 boards). However, the Cardinals fell to 1-7 on the road.

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