ACC Basketball News & Notes: Light week on the hardwood

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With schools taking their final exams before the holidays arrive, the ACC like the rest of college basketball is taking a bit of a break from the court. Once the new year takes over, the attention will be back on the floor with plenty of games to take in. Until then, let’s take a look at what is happening now in the league.

As was the case last week, the league has two teams ranked in both polls. The Duke Blue Devils are at #5 in both the AP Top 25 poll and the USA Today Coaches poll. The Clemson Tigers are at #25 in the AP Poll and they are not ranked in the USA Today Coaches poll. North Carolina and Pittsburgh did get some attention with votes.

The ACC Player of the Week is SMU senior forward Matt Cross. Last Saturday in a neutral site game vs LSU, Cross had himself a big game. He finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds helping the Mustangs to their fifth straight win. SMU’s first year in the league has been a good one so far. They have a 9-2 overall record.

After a slow start to his season, Georgia Tech freshman guard Jaeden Mustaf has picked it up. Over his last six games, Mustaf is shooting 21-of-48 (43.8%). On Sunday, he had 11 points vs Northwestern in a 71-60 loss. He has scored in double-figures in four of his last six games after starting the year shooting just 2-of-13 from the floor.

Syracuse senior guard Jaquan Davis recorded his third straight double-digit game on Saturday vs Georgetown. He put up 15 points vs the Hoyas. In his previous outing against UAlbany, he had a double-double of 12 points and 12 assists. To this point in the year, Davis has five double-figure games to his credit.

The Virginia Tech Hokies found themselves in a battle with Navy last Sunday. The Hokies bench came through to help get the win as three members scored in double figures, with senior forward Ben Burnham netting a season-high 17 points. Combined, the VT bench scored 46 points in the 80-72 win over the Midshipmen.

North Carolina’s non-conference schedule has been full of good teams. Tuesday’s loss to #7 Florida was the fourth top-10 opponent the Tar Heels have faced. It is the second time in program history that UNC has taken on this type of schedule since 1967. Before playing the Gators Tuesday night, UNC had faced #1 Kansas, #4 Auburn, and #10 Alabama.

Knocking down free throws is a great way to lift up a scoring average, not to mention win games. Senior guard Jamir Watkins of Florida State was 19-of-23 at the free-throw line last Saturday vs Tulane. The attempts and makes are both career highs. For the game, Watkins had 29 points. He is now third in the country in free throws made with 80, and second in FT attempts with 110.

For the fourth time this season, Boston College’s graduate forward/center Chad Venning led the team in scoring. In Sunday’s win over Stonehill, Venning went for 14 points in a tough 73-69 victory over the Skyhawks.

The standings are tight with the top five teams all having just two losses. Clemson, Pittsburgh, SMU, Stanford, and Duke all have 9-2 records. Three of these teams get back to league play this Saturday. SMU is at BC, Duke is at Georgia Tech, Clemson is home to Wake Forest. Both Pittsburgh and Stanford will have non-league games this weekend.

Next week, we get closer to league play taking over in the ACC.