ACC Basketball News & Notes: Virginia Making a Late Charge

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The hottest team in the Atlantic Coast Conference is the Virginia Cavaliers (19-6, 10-4). That was until Tuesday night when they saw their eight-game winning streak, as well as their 23-game home winning streak, come to an end with their loss to Pittsburgh (16-8, 7-6), 74-63. Their defense was the main reason why Virginia put together this streak. Heading into that home game with the Panthers, they had held 48 straight ACC foes to under 70 points. The Panthers rode the hot shooting of Blake Hinson who had a game-high 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field, but only 5-of-13 from 3-point land. For Virginia, it was a tough shooting night with only two players in double-figures as well as 4-of-14 from deep (28.6%). The game had nine ties and 13 lead changes with Pittsburgh outscoring Virginia in both halves. The road win for the Panthers is a great resume win with March closing in.

The weekly ranking of teams in the league looks like this. In the NCAA Net ranking, the ACC has eight teams in the top 70, and five in the top 35. The Big 12 and the SEC are the only other leagues with five teams in the top 35 in the net ranking. Three teams are ranked in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches poll. North Carolina at #7, Duke at #9, and Virginia at #21. In the USA Today poll, The Tar Heels are at #5, Duke is at #8, and Virginia is at #23. The Blue Devils maintain their spot for the time being with a Monday night home win over Wake Forest (16-8, 8-5) by a 77-69 score. In the win, Duke (19-5, 10-3) placed four of their five starters in double-figures while shooting 47.3% from the field. The Blue Devils had two of their starters with double-doubles. Kyle Filipowski with 21 and 11, Jared McCain with 17 and 10. McCain is third in freshman scoring in the league with 12.7 points per game.

The ACC Player of the Week is Joseph Girard III who averaged 19.5 points, five rebounds, and 2.5 assists. The Tigers picked up road wins vs then #3 North Carolina and Syracuse. He shot 54.5% from the field in those two games, and 60% from 3-point land at 9-of-15. For the team, the two road wins are a major deal, it was the first time they did this since January 4-7, 2023. Clemson now has five total road wins this season. That is second to UNC who has six in the league.

The ACC Rookie of the Week is Notre Dame’s Markus Burton who won this award for the second time this year. He averaged 17.5 points, six assists, 3.5 steals, and 2.5 rebounds in games vs #9 Duke and Virginia Tech. In Saturday’s game vs the Hokies, Burton went for 16 points, eight assists, and six steals. He joins Chris Thomas (2001) and Jerian Grant (2013) as the only players who had 16 points, eight assists, and six steals in a game. Burton also leads all freshman scorers with a 16.2 average.

As far as NCAA stats are concerned, here is where some teams stack up with the rest of the country. Duke is 27th in FG percentage at 48% (685-0f-1425), while Wake Forest is 48th at 47.3% (679-of-1433). Virginia is tied for 37th in the country in assists per game at 16 a game (401 in 25 games), and the Blue Devils are tied for 49th with 15.6 a game (374 in 24 games). In scoring, UNC is #24 with 82.3 points per game and they are joined by Duke at 42nd in the nation with 80.5 points a game, and Wake Forest at #44 with 80.3 points a night.

Speaking of freshmen, Panthers Calton Carrington is one of 17 players in the country who is averaging 13.5 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Carrington is averaging 17.3 points a game while shooting 89.5% from the FT line (17-of-19) over his last three games. UNC is getting a great season from RJ Davis. The senior guard is in the top 25 in scoring at 21.4 a game, FT percentage at 90.8 for the season, 3-point FG per game with 79 in 25 games, and 3-point percentage at 41.1. He has eight 25-point games this year. That’s the most since Tyler Hansbrough who had 10 in 2008-09.

The ACC has announced future sites for the postseason tournament. Charlotte NC will host in 2025, 2026, and 2028 and Greensboro NC will host in 2027 and 2029.

That’s a look at the ACC for this week. We’ll be back next week with more from the ACC.