ACC Basketball News & Notes: Wake Forest on a Roll

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With seven games left in the ACC season, another team is starting to serve notice they may be a factor in this before everything is said and done. The Wake Forest Demon Deacons (18-6, 10-3) have been quietly moving up the ladder not only in the league but college basketball in general. On December 31, Wake was ranked at #100 in the NET Rankings. This past Monday they were at #59, a jump of 41 spots. Winning nine of their past eleven games 11-1 at home sure does help. In fact, the Demon Deacons are above .500 on the road at 5-4, and on neutral courts, they are 2-1.

Once again the news from the polls is all good. In the Associated Press top 25 Duke is at #3 while the Clemson Tigers are at #23. In the USA Today Coaches Poll, Duke is at #5, and Clemson is at #19. Six teams are in the top 50 of this week’s NET Rankings. Duke is at #2, Louisville at #28, Clemson at #30, SMU at #40, North Carolina at #46, and Pittsburgh at #47. In the latest KenPom, Duke is at #2, Louisville #28, Clemson #29, North Carolina #41, Pittsburgh #43, and SMU at #47. There is strength in numbers and this league has that.

While the first season of ACC play has not gone as planned for the California Golden Bears (12-12, 5-8), guard Jeremiah Wilkerson is one member of the team that has enjoyed his first go around in the league. He was named the ACC Rookie of the Week for the third time. Wilkerson had another productive week for Cal. In two games last week, he averaged 17.5 points, and 2.5 assists against both NC State and Wake Forest. On Saturday, he hit the 20-point mark for the sixth time as he scored 21 on the Demon Deacons last Saturday.

Another player who is playing well lately is Georgia Tech (11-13, 5-8) guard Nathan Georges. The sophomore has scored in double-figures in his last 11 straight games. He has 20+ in his last two. He had 20 at Virginia Tech last weekend. In the 11-game stretch, Georges is averaging 14.9 points and 6.5 assists per game.

There are Co-Players of the Week in the league. First, Louisville fifth-year Sr Terrence Edwards Jr. averaged 23 points, eight assists, and 6.5 rebounds in helping the Cardinals to wins over Boston College and Miami. His best performance came against the Hurricanes where he played 40 minutes, scored a season-high 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting, and had a career-high 10 assists while turning the ball over twice.

The other Co-Player of the Week is Wake Forest’s senior guard Cameron Hlldreth. In road wins over Stanford and California, he went for an average of 22.5 points, 3.5 boards, and two assists. Wake became the first team in the league to go out west and sweep the California schools.

Maybe the best game played all season took place on Saturday at the Dome. The triple-OT game between Boston College (10-13, 2-10) and the Orangemen (11-13, 5-8 ) was an instant classic won by Syracuse. Syracuse guard JJ Starling came up huge for the Orange in the second half and the overtime sessions as he scored 24 of his 28 points after halftime. It was the fifth time he had scored 25 or more points in a game. On the other side, BC sophomore guard Donald Hand Jr. had 28 points for the Eagles. He has scored 104 points in his last four games for Boston College and has averaged 26 points per game during that time.

The loss by Boston College was big because only 13 of the 16 ACC schools make the conference tournament. The Eagles are two games back of Notre Dame (10-13, 4-8) for the final spot in the field. Wednesday night at Conte Forum, the Irish and Eagles will meet in what shapes up as a very big game for both schools.

SMU (18-5, 9-3) has been very good on the road in league play. Last Wednesday’s night win at Virginia Tech improved the Mustangs to 5-1 away from home in league play. They, along with Clemson, Duke, Louisville, and Wake Forest are the only league teams with at least five road wins.

It has been quite a past few days for the Tigers (19-5, 11-2). On Saturday night they defeated Duke (20-3, 12-1) at home by a 77-71 score. The Tigers placed four in double-figures led by Ian Schieffelin who went for a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. They shot 58.8% from the field (30-of-51), blocked five shots, and had four steals. On Monday night, again at home, they took down UNC (14-10, 7-5 ) by an 85-65 score. Viktor Lakhin had 22 points on 9-of-16 from the floor in 25 minutes. Jaeden Zackery had 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting along with seven assists. RJ Davis led the Tar Heels with 18 points.

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