THE ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE THREAD

Brice Johnson scores career-high 27 again as UNC puts away UCLA

Brice Johnson used some bad language, and it turned into him playing some great basketball.

Johnson, a senior forward, finished with 27 points, the second straight game he set his career high, and No. 11 North Carolina pulled away in the second half for an 89-76 victory over No. 22 UCLA on Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic at Barclays Center.

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No. 19 Louisville tops Western Kentucky 78-56

Quentin Snider and No. 19 Louisville handled Western Kentucky on Saturday.

But the Cardinals lost a key contributor in the 78-56 win.

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No. 15 Duke scores 70 in 1st half of 105-66 rout of Elon

No. 15 Duke had some extra time to keep figuring out how to play without its injured leader and big man. For one half, anyway, things couldn't have gone much better for the Blue Devils.

Duke scored 70 points in the first half of its 105-66 rout of Elon on Monday night.

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No. 7 UNC beats UNC Greensboro 96-63 in nonconference finale

North Carolina's final nonconference game revealed little about whether the seventh-ranked Tar Heels are ready to make good on all those preseason predictions that included favorite status in the Atlantic Coast Conference and a No. 1 national ranking.

In fact, the Tar Heels enter league play facing the same question they did to start the season: Can they guard well enough?

Brice Johnson had 16 points and 16 rebounds to help UNC roll past UNC Greensboro 96-63 on Monday night, the kind of lopsided game that offered coach Roy Williams positives to point to (offense, rebounding) and another chance to drive home his point about defense.

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No. 13 Miami outlasts Princeton 76-64

Miami didn't mind Princeton's upset scare.

Angel Rodriguez scored 14 points and the 13th-ranked Hurricanes withstood the upset bid, beating the Tigers 76-64 on Tuesday night.

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No. 7 North Carolina beats Clemson 80-69 in ACC opener

North Carolina's offensive efficiency and depth have become such a reliable strength that the No. 7 Tar Heels can handle a quiet night from one of their top players and keep right on scoring.

Marcus Paige scored 18 points to help UNC beat Clemson 80-69 on Wednesday night in its Atlantic Coast Conference opener, extending the Tigers' long run of futility in Chapel Hill.

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Gill leads No. 5 Virginia to 71-58 victory over Oakland

Mike Tobey showed again what a jolt of confidence can do for his productivity, just in time for Atlantic Coast Conference play.

The 7-foot senior scored 16 points, more than he had in his last five games combined, and was part of two runs that helped No. 5 Virginia pull away from pesky Oakland for its 10th consecutive victory, 71-58.

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Allen scores career-best 33, No. 15 Duke beats 49ers 103-81

Grayson Allen finally found some open lanes to the basket, and he burst through them. All those drives added up to the highest-scoring game of his career.

Allen scored 24 of his 33 points in the second half to lead No. 15 Duke past Long Beach State 103-81 on Wednesday.

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No. 5 Virginia beats Notre Dame for 11th straight win

Pound it inside to the big men. Wait for the defense to sag. Then beat them over the top.

Virginia had both formulas working Saturday night as they shot 57 percent and used a 21-4 first-half run to cruise to their 11th consecutive victory, leaving Fighting Irish coach Mike Brey in a complimentary mood.

"Today was kind of men among boys," he said after the Cavaliers' 77-66 victory that wasn't nearly that close. "Any time we tried to make a little bit of a run and get some hope, they kind of squelched it."

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No. 7 Tar Heels beat Yellow Jackets 86-78 for 2-0 ACC start

Joel Berry II scored a career-high 19 points and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 5:07 left to help No. 7 North Carolina beat Georgia Tech 86-78 on Saturday.

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No. 15 Duke beats Boston College 81-64 in ACC opener

Grayson Allen intercepted a pass and went in for a dunk so emphatic that the ball, after passing through the net, bounced off his head and wound up a half-dozen rows back in the stands.

The Duke guard fell to the court with a thud.

"(He's) powerful, and then he's fearless. So he goes with a little bit of a reckless abandon," coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the 15th-ranked Blue Devils beat Boston College 81-64 in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.

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No. 13 Miami pulls away late to beat Syracuse 64-51

The seeds for this win were planted more than two years ago, when Ja'Quan Newton turned down a scholarship offer from Syracuse and committed to play for Miami.

It stung the Orange then, and hurts even more now.

Sheldon McClellan scored 22 points, Newton made two big 3-pointers in the second half to kick start a Miami offense that was dreadful for most of the game, and the 13th-ranked Hurricanes pulled away late to beat Syracuse 64-51 on Saturday.

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Mitchell helps No. 18 Louisville beat Wake Forest

Freshman Donovan Mitchell had season highs with 18 points and eight rebounds in his first start and No. 18 Louisville held off Wake Forest 65-57 on Sunday night.

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Brice Johnson fuels Tar Heels with career-high 39 points, 23 boards

Brice Johnson can now be mentioned in the same breath as Billy Cunningham.

Johnson, a 6-foot-10 senior forward, became only the second player in North Carolina history to have at least 39 points and 23 rebounds in a game as the sixth-ranked Tar Heels beat Florida State 106-90 on Monday night.

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Zach LeDay helps Virginia Tech hold off No. 4 Virginia

Zach LeDay had taken 12 3-pointers all season, and when No. 4 Virginia sagged off him behind the arc Monday night, all his practice during the summer and fall launching shots from behind that line paid off big for Virginia Tech in a 70-68 victory.

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Allen, Plumlee lead No. 14 Duke past Wake Forest, 91-75

Marshall Plumlee set the screen, rolled to the basket, took the pass and threw down a powerful dunk for No. 14 Duke.

During his series of lead-stretching slams, the only Wake Forest player who could stop him was stuck on the bench with four fouls.

Plumlee scored 14 of his career-best 18 points in the second half of the Blue Devils' 91-75 victory over Wake Forest on Wednesday night.

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No. 24 Pittsburgh holds off Georgia Tech 89-84

There is nothing flashy about James Robinson.

Not his build. Not his shot. Not his numbers. Yet the Pittsburgh senior guard has spent the last four years steadily improving, to the point where he can be whatever coach Jamie Dixon needs from him on a possession.

Against Georgia Tech on Wednesday night, that turned out to be a little bit of everything.

Robinson scored 18 points -- including seven straight at one point during a first-half run -- to go with eight assists as the 24th-ranked Panthers held off Georgia Tech 89-84 for their ninth straight win.

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No. 16 Louisville beats NC State 77-72 to go to 2-0 in ACC

The way coach Rick Pitino sees it, No. 16 Louisville's offense is good enough to keep winning while the defense needs some work. His Cardinals proved that Thursday night.

Quentin Snider came off the bench for a career-high 21 points and Louisville held off a late rally to beat North Carolina State 77-72.

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Georgia Tech earns signature ACC win at home with upset of Virginia

Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory has been looking for a signature conference win at home.

It took five years to get, but he isn't complaining now.

"Our wins against Georgia, for me, are always our biggest, but outside of that, this was by far our biggest win," he said. "We've had some big wins but unfortunately a lot of them have been on the road."

Quinton Stephens,Adam Smith and Nick Jacobs each scored 16 points and Georgia Tech won its biggest ACC game under Gregory, a 68-64 upset of No. 4 Virginia on Saturday.

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No. 6 North Carolina ruins Boeheim's return, 84-73

Syracuse was doing its best to make coach Jim Boeheim's return something special.

No. 6 North Carolina ruined that idea, pulling away in the final three minutes for an 84-73 victory on Saturday night that spoiled Boeheim coming back from a nine-game suspension for NCAA violations.

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