ACC Basketball News & Notes: Clemson's Win Streak Now at Nine

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It was a light week of basketball in the Atlantic Coast Conference this week, final exams have a lot to do with that. The Clemson Tigers (9-0) are one of seven teams across the country that have yet to taste defeat. They are one of five teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll at #13. The others are, North Carolina at #9, Duke at #21, Virginia at #22, and Miami at #24. The same five teams are also ranked in this week’s USA Today Coaches Poll. Here is some other news from the ACC.

There is nothing like home cooking and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (6-3) can attest to that. Last Saturday, they defeated NJIT at home. Since the start of the 2021-22 season, the Demon Deacons are 36-5 at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Against non-conference opponents, they are 25-0 at home since December of 2018. Wake has won four in a row, all of them at home, as part of a seven-game home stand that will continue on December 18 when they host Delaware State. It never hurts when one of your players is stepping up his game. Junior Hunter Sallis leads the conference in improved scoring. He is averaging 17.7 a game, an improvement of 13.2 points from last year’s 4.5 a game. He also leads the league in minutes played at 35.67 a game.

The Virginia Cavaliers (8-1, 1-0) have won four in a row themselves. Two of those wins have come against ranked teams in West Virginia and Texas A&M. They will get back to playing on the 16th at home vs Northwestern. Sophomore guard Isaac McKneely has been knocking down shots from 3-point range as of late. He is 12 of 16 from deep in his last two games. He hit six three-pointers in the win over Syracuse, then followed that up with six more in a win over NC Central. He leads the league in 3-point FG percentage at .581 (25-of-43). He is second in 3-point makes with those 25.

The Virginia Tech Hokies (7-3, 1-0) have won a couple of games in a row themselves. Senior guard Hunter Cattoor has become a scorer in the early season for the Hokies. He has scored in double-figures in every game for VT. Last weekend, he matched his season high of 19 points in a non-league win over Valparaiso 71-50. To date, Cattoor is averaging 15 points a game for the Hokies Lynn Kidd is third in improved scoring from a year ago. This year he is averaging 15 a night, an improvement of 10 points from last year’s five points a game.

The North Carolina State Wolfpack (7-2, 1-0) likes to get out and run. Over their last three games, they have outscored their opponents by a 55-16 margin. The Wolfpack are averaging 18 fast break points a game, which ranks them 12th in the NCAA. They are second in turnover margin at +4.88 (78 by the Wolfpack to 117 by their opponents).

The Pittsburgh Panthers (7-3, 0-1) have won two in a row, and have this week’s ACC Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week. Blake Hinson put together quite a week to win his award. He averaged 27.5 points and six rebounds in the two wins. He shot 56.3% from the field (18-of-32), and 63.2% from deep (12-of-19). He was perfect from the foul line at 7-for-7. Hinson leads the ACC in scoring at 21.9 points a game. Carlton Carrington is the Rookie of the Week. The guard is second in freshman scoring averaging 14.9 a game. This is his third time winning this award since the season began. Carrington also leads the league in assists with 6.10 a game.

The Louisville Cardinals (4-5, 0-1) three-point defense was not very good to start the season. In their first two games, they allowed a combined 25-of-55 made threes (45.5%). In their last seven games, their numbers have gotten much better. They have only allowed 30-of-126 (23.8%) The Cardinals are getting some good production from a couple of their younger players. Sophomore Shyy Clark is second in most improved scoring at 17.1 a game. An increase of 10.1 from last year seven points a game. He is fourth in minutes played at 34.60 a game. Freshman Ty-Laur Johnson is third in rookie scoring averaging 9.3 a game.

Notre Dame (4-5, 0-1) has a freshman guard that is putting the ball in the hoop quite often. Markus Burton recorded his third game of 20 points last Saturday night at Marquette. He was 8-of-15 from the field with a season-high four steals. Burton also leads all rookies in scoring averaging 15.7 points per game. He is ninth in free throw percentage at .857 (30-of-35).

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