ACC Basketball News & Notes: League Trying to Stay With Duke

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The win streak has now reached 12 games and the Duke Blue Devils seem to be on quite a roll. However, the win streak is not creating the kind of separation you might think. Three teams: Clemson, Louisville, and Wake Forest are all within a game in the loss column of the Blue Devils. This is becoming a very interesting league to watch and it shouldn’t change any time soon. So here we go with what is going on in the league.

With the win streak, the Blue Devils are making waves in the polls and rankings. They are ranked #2 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls. Louisville joined them in the AP poll at #25 while Clemson and Wake Forest received some attention. In the NET rankings, Duke is at #2 followed by Louisville at #29, Clemson at #31, Pittsburgh at #33, SMU at #35, and North Carolina at #38. In the latest KenPom Duke is #1, Clemson at #26, Louisville at #29, UNC at #32, Pitt at #33, and SMU at #39. Six teams find themselves inside the top 40 in both of these rankings.

The Louisville Cardinals (15-5, 8-1) have the sixth toughest schedule based on opponent records in the country. Their game on Tuesday night against SMU on the road was their ninth Quad I game of the year. That is the most of any team in this league. The Cardinals already own three Quad I wins this season with wins over Florida State, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia.

Florida State’s (13-5, 4-3) junior forward Malique Ewin has become a bit of a double-double machine of late. Last Saturday vs Georgia Tech, Ewin recorded his fourth straight double-double with his 17 points and 11 rebound effort. It was his sixth career double-double and they have all come in the last 10 games.

Virginia (9-10, 2-6) got a big home win last night against Boston College (9-10, 1-7). Junior forward Elijah Saunders (10 points 6 rebounds) leads the team in scoring at 12.1 points and rebounding at 5.4 per game and is coming off a double-double last Saturday at Louisville of 19 points and 10 rebounds. It is still weird to see the name Virginia near the bottom of the standings of this conference.

Wake Forest (15-4, 7-1) is off to its best league start since the 1996-97 season. Their six-game winning streak in conference play that the team is currently on is their longest since the 2004-05 season. The Demon Deacons are a perfect 10-0 at home so far this year, and 4-0 in league play.

A milestone was reached by Virginia Tech (8-10, 3-4) head coach Mike Young. The win over North Carolina State last Wednesday night was his 100th with the school. He is now just one win shy of 400 for his career.

The ACC Player of the Week is Wake Forest forward Hunter Sallis. In the 2-0 week for Wake, Sallis averaged 27 points and 5.5 rebounds. He shot 64.7 % from the field, and 50% from 3-point land. He has posted seven straight games of 20+ points. Last Wednesday vs Stanford, Sallis went for 30 points on 12-of-17, and 3-of-5 from deep. On Saturday vs Virginia Tech, he went for 24 points, seven boards, and two steals. He was 10-of-17 from the field and 3-of-7 from 3-point land.

For the third straight week and the seventh time in 11 weeks, the ACC Rookie of the Week is Cooper Flagg of Duke. Can you say ACC Rookie of the Year? Last week he averaged 20.5 points, six boards, five assists, 1.5 steals, and one blocked shot. He shot 14-of-25 (56%) from the field, and 10-of-12 from the FT line for 83.3%. In their win over BC, Flagg went for 28 points, on 9-of-14 shooting, and 9-of-11 from the line. In their win last Tuesday vs Miami, Flagg had 13 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and one steal. He may just be the best player in college basketball.

Next week we give you more from the ACC.