Up first among the 20 conference tournaments that weren’t: the ACC. Simulating it out, we almost saw a surprising bid thief, as a team not projected to make a bid heading into the event made an amazing run through the event and have put themselves on the Bubble come TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t) Selection Sunday.
ACC QUARTERFINALS
In the first quarterfinal matchup of the day, Clemson looked to upset top seed Florida State. Although the Tigers kept it close for a half, trailing by only 5 at the break, the Seminoles blew things open in the second half to cruise to a 69-52 win. Trent Forrest led the way for FSU, picking up a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists.
Up next was the 4/5 matchup between Duke and NC State. The Wolfpack entered this game knowing that a win would almost guarantee them a bid to the Big Dance. Duke had other things in mind, however, jumping out to a 17-point lead at halftime before cruising in for and 82-64 victory. Vernon Carey scored 23 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Blue Devil, while Tre Jones added 18 points of his own. NC State was left to sweat out Selection Sunday.
The upset of the night came in the third quarterfinal, when Mike Brey’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish shocked the Virginia Cavaliers, scoring 70 points on one of the nation’s best defensive teams en route to a 70-50 blowout win. A 10-0 run midway through the first half, which turned a 12-8 lead into 22-8, proved to be something the Hoos could never recover from. John Mooney had a monster game for the Irish, scoring 21 points and pulling down 18 rebounds!
The night ended with Louisville defeating Syracuse 92-80 despite a 24 point effort from Elijah Hughes. Six different Cardinals players all scored in double digits, led by 17 points and 9 rebounds from Jordan Nwora. Louisville advanced to Friday’s semifinals and a matchup against #7 seed Notre Dame.
ACC SEMIFINALS
ESPN spent most of Thursday night and Friday hyping up the huge semifinal matchup between Florida State and Duke, and the game certainly did not disappoint. The Blue Devils look good early, building an 8 point lead at the break that was extended to 10 early in the second half. However, the ‘Noles responded, and tied the game at 76 with just over 4 minutes left. The game was still tied with 23 seconds left when Cassius Stanley hit what appeared to be a 3 pointer for Duke, but upon replay review, his foot was on the line. M.J. Walker then played hero for FSU, draining a 3 pointer from the left wing with only 4 seconds left to put his team up 86-85. Vernon Carey got off a solid shot at the buzzer, but it was long and the Seminoles advanced to Saturday night’s championship game.
The second semifinal sent shockwaves through the college basketball world, most notably the locker rooms of teams on the bubble, when Notre Dame did it again – following up their win over Virginia with a 79-73 victory over Louisville. The game was back and forth all night, with neither team leading by more than 7 at any time. Louisville held a 73-69 lead after a Steven Enoch slam off a great feed from Lamarr Kimble with just over 2 minutes left to play. However, the Irish came right back with back-to-back 3s from John Mooney and Dan Goodwin (who came off the bench to lead his team with 18 points), then proceeded to hit their free throws and close out the upset victory. Jordan Nwora did have a double-double for the Cardinals, but it was not enough tonight.
ACC CHAMPIONSHIP
The talk heading into the ACC Championship game was whether or not their two huge wins was enough to put Notre Dame back on the bubble and give the Irish a shot at an at-large bid. The Irish, however, wanted to simply take care of business on the court and play their way into the field. When Notre Dame took a 39-37 lead into the halftime break, it really looked possible. However, the second half belonged to Florida State, as the ‘Noles, led by 19 points from M.J. Walker and 18 points and 10 boards from Trent Forrest, took control of the game and cruised in for a 98-87 win. Florida State was the ACC champion and on their way to the Big Dance. For Notre Dame, it was time to wait and see if wins over Boston College, Virginia and Louisville was enough to convince the Selection Committee that they deserved a dance ticket as well.
