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 quarterfinal quadruple-header on Thursday.
The food vouchers keep making my day: today I went all-in on chicken sandwiches (both lunch and dinner). Let’s tip if off:
GAME #1: Florida State-North Carolina
I missed the entire game due to some scheduled interviews, but the Tar Heels won 92-67.
In the postgame press conference I asked UNC coach Hubert Davis if he thought that winning this tourney (which the Tar Heels have only done once since 2008) would guarantee him a #1 seed next week, and whether he cares about being a #1 seed next week. He said he does not think about it and is just focused on what is real: preparing to play his next opponent. If the team just focuses on the process that the results will take care of themselves:
GAME #2: Wake Forest-Pitt
Ditto, but the Panthers won 81-69 and will face the Tar Heels on Friday night.
In the postgame press conference I wondered if Pitt coach Jeff Capel had ever seen a better bench performance than Ishmael Leggett’s (30 PTS/8 REB/5 STL/0 TO) during his quarter-century as a college coach. He was unsure but agreed that Ish was outstanding and that they needed it. He was everywhere, just kept making plays with force, and it was awesome for him to step up in a huge way on this stage:
GAME #3: NC State-Duke
FINALLY… a game I had a chance to sit down and watch! The 1st half was a 2-man battle between NC State G DJ Horne (who made a couple of threes and a couple of layups) and Duke C Kyle Filipowski (who made about 6 different shots in the paint including an alleyoop, a spin/bank shot, and a STL/layup). The crowd favored the Blue Devils but the halftime scored (35-32) favored the Wolfpack. Filipowski continued to dominate inside after the break with a lefty hook in the lane, a lefty tip-in, and several more shots to finish with 28 PTS/14 REB before fouling out. Unfortunately, everyone not in his starting lineup let him down as Duke somehow finished with ZERO BENCH PTS! With Horne doing damage as a super-sub, 2 of his starters helped out including Mohamed Diarra from France (14 PTS/16 REB/4 BLK/3 STL) and Casey Morsell from the Maryland suburbs (scoring almost all of his 11 PTS in the 2nd half), as NC State held on for dear life and pulled off the stunner by a score of 74-69.
In the postgame press conference I noted for NC State coach Kevin Keatts that in his 4 games vs. BC/UVA this year he did not lose a single 1 of them in regulation (3-0 in regulation and a 6-PT OT loss in Charlottesville on January 24th). He confirmed that he would take a little from those previous games but it will be a long night for his staff as they try to figure out how their upcoming opponent is playing in March:
GAME #4: Boston College-Virginia
I am sure that it was a great game but it was another long day so that is a wrap for tonight, check back tomorrow for the semifinal doubleheader as we are down to our Final 4.