THE ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE THREAD

No. 14 Duke beats Virginia Tech for 3-0 ACC start

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was a bit worried about how his young team would respond to a tough midweek win. His 14th-ranked Blue Devils quickly calmed any concerns with a strong start that never gave Virginia Tech a chance.

Marshall Plumleescored a career-high 21 points and the Blue Devils burst out of the gate with an outside-shooting flurry to beat the Hokies 82-58 on Saturday.

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McClellan helps No. 12 Miami to win over Florida State

Call it the debut of 7-foot point guard Tonye Jekiri.

Jekiri had eight points, 10 rebounds and perhaps the play of the game as No. 12 Miami beat Florida State 72-59 on Saturday night.

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Young scores 25, No. 24 Pittsburgh beats Notre Dame 86-82

Fast starts in both halves were enough for No. 24 Pittsburgh to overcome slow finishes against Notre Dame.

The Panthers started the first half on a 13-0 run and the second half with a 9-2 spurt, building 18-point leads twice before having to hang on for an 86-82 victory Saturday in its first road game of the season.

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Clemson upsets cold-shooting No. 16 Louisville 66-62

While most Clemson fans are paying attention to the football team playing for the national championship, the Tigers basketball team is suddenly the surprise of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Jaron Blossomgame scored 17 points and Avry Holmes added 16 points to lead Clemson (10-6, 3-1 ACC) to a 66-62 win over No. 16 Louisville on Sunday. The Tigers -- picked to finish 12th in the league -- had lost 10 in a row to ranked ACC opponents.

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Brogdon's 20 leads No. 13 Virginia past No. 8 Miami 66-58

Virginia coach Tony Bennett saw progress, but the unusual animation in his words suggested he also saw plenty to remain concerned about as the No. 13th-ranked Cavaliers ended a two-game slide with a 66-58 victory over No. 8 Miami on Tuesday night.

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Jaron Blossongame's dunk clinches Clemson's upset of Duke

Clemson has nearly beaten a Final Four of national champions in the past eight days. Tigers forward Jaron Blossomgame doesn't see why that can't continue.

Blossomgame scored 17 points, including the clinching dunk with 13.5 seconds left, to lift Clemson to a 68-63 victory over No. 9 Duke on Wednesday night. The victory was the fourth straight for the Tigers (11-6, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) and the third in a row over an NCAA champion in the past eight days following wins at Syracuse and No. 21 Louisville.

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No. 21 Louisville grinds down No. 20 Pitt for 59-41 win

Louisville seniors Damion Lee and Trey Lewis provide scoring and leadership but the improvement from sophomore center Chinanu Onuaku could take the 21st-ranked Cardinals to a different level.

Onuaku had 18 points and 10 rebounds as Louisville ground down No. 20 Pittsburgh for a 59-41 victory Thursday night.

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Kennedy Meeks scores 23 to guide Tar Heels past rival NC State

North Carolina's Kennedy Meeks attacked the rim, scored through contact and kept throwing himself on the floor for loose balls.

"It was just total effort," coach Roy Williams said.

The fifth-ranked Tar Heels needed every bit of it against rival North Carolina State, too.

Meeks, a 6-foot-9 forward, scored 18 of his 23 points after halftime to help UNC beat NC State 67-55 on Saturday, extending the program's best conference start in 15 years.

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Bonzie Colson leads Notre Dame past Duke

Bonzie Colson hit a shot against Duke, drew a foul and stared down those noisy Cameron Crazies.

By the end of his latest big game, the Notre Dame big man shut them up.

Colson scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and the Fighting Irish upset No. 9 Duke 95-91 on Saturday.

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Clemson takes down No. 8 Miami 76-65

Apparently, football's not the only sport for Clemson fans to get excited about.

A week that began with the football Tigers playing for a national title ended with the basketball team defeating a ranked team for the third straight game -- a first in program history -- in a 76-65 victory over No. 8 Miami on Saturday.

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No. 20 Pittsburgh rolls by Boston College 84-61


Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon didn't burn the tape from his team's 18-point loss to No. 21 Louisville on Thursday so much as he ignored it.

Given less than 48 hours to prepare for Boston College, Dixon figured the 20th-ranked Panthers didn't need a reminder of how poorly they played while scoring just 41 points and seeing all their early season momentum come to a halt in 40 minutes of misery.

"We knew what we did," Dixon said. "We didn't handle some things well. ... It's hard to fathom. It's hard to understand."

The bounce back performance Dixon wanted to see was not.

Spacing the floor and sharing the ball, Pitt ran away from Boston College 84-61 on Saturday, showing the kind of resiliency Dixon felt was required after watching the Panthers self-destruct against the Cardinals.

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Bacon, Beasley lead Florida St over No. 13 Virginia 69-62

After a rough start in Atlantic Coast Conference play, Florida State is starting to show signs of growth.

Led by freshmen Dwayne Bacon and Malik Beasley, the young Seminoles took a huge step forward Sunday with a 69-62 victory over No. 13 Virginia.

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Syracuse downs Duke for Blue Devils' longest skid since '06-07

Tyler Roberson came into Cameron Indoor Stadium and dominated the glass like no visitor ever had.

All those rebounds added up to a big victory for Syracuse -- and a rare losing streak for No. 20 Duke.

Roberson had 14 points and a career-high 20 rebounds, and the Orange beat the Blue Devils 64-62 on Monday in the Blue Devils' third straight loss.

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Brogdon's 20 lift No. 13 Virginia past Clemson, 69-62

In another close game for No. 13 Virginia, Malcolm Brogdon grabbed a long rebound, turned and saw Anthony Gill streaking down the court ahead of the pack, fed him and saw the senior forward deliver a crowd-pleasing dunk that gave the Cavaliers breathing room.

"My first thing I was thinking was, `What's he doing way down there?" Brogdon said, laughing.

That laughter has been hard to come by for the Cavaliers of late. They had lost three of four before outlasting Clemson 69-62 on Tuesday night, and once again had moments where they struggled to play the rugged defense that has been their trademark under coach Tony Bennett.

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Johnson scores 27, No. 2 UNC beats Wake Forest 83-68

North Carolina got away with Marcus Paige having one of his lowest-scoring games because Brice Johnson came through with one of his best.

Johnson had 27 points and 11 rebounds, and the second-ranked Tar Heels beat Wake Forest 83-68 on Wednesday night for their 10th straight win.

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No. 17 Louisville runs away from Florida State, 84-65

Expecting a fierce fight against Florida State, No. 17 Louisville instead ran away from the Seminoles with one of its most complete efforts this season.

Quentin Snider scored 20 points, Damion Lee added 14, and the Cardinals had no problem with Florida State in an 84-65 victory on Wednesday night. The lead grew to 29 points before the Seminoles scored the final 10 points, the only blemish on an otherwise stellar night.

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No. 15 Miami halts 2-game skid with 67-53 win over BC

On the last leg of a three-game road trip, Miami finally figured out how to close.

Sheldon McClellan scored 19 points, Ja'Quan Newton had 12 and the No. 15 Hurricanes rebounded from consecutive losses by pulling away for a 67-53 win over Boston College on Wednesday night.

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Newton's 18 helps No. 15 Miami beat Wake Forest 77-63

Miami Hurricanes coach Jim Larranaga wanted his team to cheer up after a grueling stretch of three consecutive road games, so he played Pharrell Williams' "Happy" for them before tipoff Saturday.

A couple of hours later, the 15th-ranked Hurricanes were indeed smiling after a late surge helped them beat Wake Forest 77-63.

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Lee, Mahmoud lead No. 17 Louisville past Georgia Tech 75-71

With an NCAA investigation looming over his program, Rick Pitino couldn't be prouder of the way Louisville has responded.

The 17th-ranked Cardinals showed their mettle again Saturday.

Damion Lee scored 17 points, Anas Mahmoud added 15 and Louisville held on in the closing seconds for its third straight win, beating snake-bitten Georgia Tech 75-71.

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No. 20 Duke beats NC State 88-78 to end 3-game losing skid

Marshall Plumlee snatched a rebound in traffic with only a few seconds left when teammate Matt Jones let out a triumphant yell back toward the Duke bench across the court.

The 20th-ranked Blue Devils' three-game losing streak was ending, the product of a few midweek tweaks, a dominating second-half offensive performance and what Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski hopes is some growth from his young group.

"They're maturing," Krzyzewski said after Saturday's 88-78 win at North Carolina State. "They're becoming more men now than boys."

Grayson Allen scored 28 points while freshman Brandon Ingram added 25 for the Blue Devils (15-5, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who trailed by 10 points late in the first half and 43-36 at halftime. But Duke shot 71 percent from the field, including 7 of 11 from 3-point range, and used a 14-0 run midway through the second half to take control and put the Wolfpack (11-9, 1-6) into catch-up mode.

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