
We are done with non-league play in the ACC and the road to the league’s postseason tournament is on as conference play begins. Before we look ahead to a restart, we must pause momentarily and mention last week’s big news. Miami’s head coach Jim Larranage decided to step down as the coach of the Hurricanes. He led the program to six NCAA Tournament berths and a Final Four in 2024. Bill Courtney will replace him on an interim basis.
The league has only one team that is ranked this week. The Duke Blue Devils are #4 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll. They own the same spot in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Three other schools, Clemson, North Carolina, and Pittsburgh also received some votes.
The ACC Player of the Week is Boston College’s Donald Hand. Last Saturday, the sophomore guard had a double-double in the Eagles’ win over FDU. The 29 points and 10 rebounds were his fourth double-double of the season. That is the most among ACC guards and tied for fourth overall in the league.
If you are wondering why the Blue Devils (10-2, 2-0) are the #4 ranked team in the country, these numbers might help. They ranked fifth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.355), seventh in scoring defense (58.5), 13th in scoring margin (+20.4), and 35th in assists to turnover ratio (+1.55). All these marks are the best in the league.
Points in the paint can be a good indicator when it comes to winning or losing a game. In the case of North Carolina State (8-4, 1-0), it’s the best way to determine a good or bad night. When the Wolfpack outscored their opponents in the paint, their record is 8-1. When they do not outscore their opponent in the paint, their record is 0-4. In the eight wins, they averaged 41.8 points in the paint, when they lost, they averaged 25.3 points in the paint. In Tuesday afternoon’s loss to Virginia 70-67, the Wolfpack scored only 28 points in the paint.
Heading into Wednesday’s home game with California, the Pittsburgh Panthers (10-2, 1-0) have two guards who are averaging 16.5 points and 5 or more rebounds a game. Ishmael Leggett, 17 points, and 6.2 boards, and Jaland Lowe 16.5 points and 5.4 boards, have been giving the Panthers offense some backcourt punch through the first 12 games of the season.
In North Carolina’s 97-81 non-league over Campbell on Sunday, graduate guard RJ Davis scored 23 points. That total was good enough to move Davis past Jeff Lamp (Virginia) and Mike Gminski into 10th place on the league scoring list. Davis now has 2.333 points.
Florida State’s (9-4, 0-2) guard Jamir Watkins is on quite a scoring roll of late. In two games last week vs Winthrop and Louisville, Watkins averaged 24 points a game. In his last four games, he has averaged 23+ per game. He has scored in double-figures in 19 straight at 19.9 a game.
Another player that is scoring points lately is Virginia Tech (5-7, 0-1) freshman guard Ben Hammond. He has scored in double-figures in his last three games. He totaled 39 points vs North Carolina A&T, Navy, and Saint Joseph. Those 39 points are more than he had scored in his first nine games combined (24).
The ACC Rookie of the Week is North Carolina guard Ian Jackson. In the win over Campbell, Jackson made his first start for the Tar Heels. He scored a career-high 26 points going 9-of-16 from the floor, with three 3-pointers, and five rebounds in 36 minutes which was a season-high. He also was a +17 for the game.
More about league play next week from the ACC.
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