Conference tournaments are about basketball but also so much more: the fans, parents, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The ACC Tournament is taking place this week in Washington, DC, and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD will be covering all the angles so you can look forward to an abundance of articles in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage with a recap of the ACC 2nd round quadruple-header on Wednesday.
The food vouchers keep paying great dividends: brisket sandwich with pickles/chips. Let’s tip if off:
GAME #1: Virginia Tech-Florida State
The 1st half was a tale of 2 sharpshooters. Florida State JR Jamir Watkins made a pair of threes and a couple of jumpers in the 1st 20 minutes, piggybacking off his 26-PT effort in his team’s 8-PT loss in Blacksburg last month. However, Virginia Tech JR Sean Pedulla made a few jumpers/layups in response as the Hokies eked out a 37-36 lead at halftime. Pedulla did not look too shabby in the 2nd half either, finishing with a team-high 24 PTS in 32 minutes, but Watkins was the star of the show. After the Seminoles did not make a single FT before halftime, Watkins made a whopping 14 FTs on his own in the 2nd stanza, scored a career-high 34 PTS, and almost singlehandedly willed his team to an 86-76 win and a date with UNC on Thursday afternoon.
In the postgame press conference I asked FSU coach Leonard Hamilton what it would take to beat the best since his team proved that it can play with the best (holding 2nd half leads in both of their losses to the Tar Heels this year). He smiled and said that even though his team played great for 30 minutes in both games they just need to have a complete 40-minute effort:
GAME #2: Notre Dame-Wake
I missed most of the game due to multiple scheduled interviews.
GAME #3: NC State-Syracuse
Syracuse star G Judah Mintz is from the Maryland suburbs and put on a show for his homecoming game with a couple of jumpers and a layup in the 1st half. However, NC State used the inside/outside combo of DJ Burns (who made a ton of baseline jump shots) and Michael O’Connell (who made a pair of long-range shots) to take a 35-32 halftime lead. Syracuse F Chris Bell made a trio of 3-PT shots in the 2nd stanza to try to keep his team close but it was to no avail. Burns kept dominating inside with his 275-pound frame and his co-DJ (SR G DJ Horne) came off the bench to seal the deal on both offense (16 PTS) and defense (4 STL) in an efficient 20-minute performance as the Orange went down to defeat by the score of 83-65 and a rematch with Duke on Thursday night.
In the postgame press conference I wondered if NC State coach Kevin Keatts found Duke vulnerable after his team punched them in the mouth with a 9-0 run to start the game when they hosted the Blue Devile last week. He claimed that the only thing he learned was that Duke is a really good team. “Early leads do not last” but he is excited for the opportunity to play them again:
GAME #4: Boston College-Clemson
I am sure that it was a great game but it was a long day so that is a wrap for tonight, check back tomorrow for the quarterfinal quadruple-header as the top-4 seeds take the court. Too bad that whatever halftime entertainer shows up will end up in 2nd-place as we already saw the best in the business on Wednesday: RED PANDA!!
