THE ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE THREAD

Johson scores 19, UNC beats Va Tech for 12th straight win

Brice Johnson and North Carolina are hardly worried about moving back into the top spot in The Associated Press poll. They're focused on playing better.

Johnson scored 19 points and grabbed 17 rebounds Sunday, leading the No. 2 Tar Heels over Virginia Tech 75-70 for its 12th straight victory.

Read more http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400839173

 

Rodriguez helps No. 15 Miami beat No. 24 Duke 80-69

To celebrate an alley-oop assist, Angel Rodriguezretreated upcourt with his arms spread like wings, a fitting pose for the high-flying Miami Hurricanes against Duke.

The senior guard shook a shooting slump by making three 3-pointers and added a career-high 11 assists Monday night to help No. 15 Miami hand the 24th-ranked Blue Devils their fourth loss in five games, 80-69.

 

No. 11 Virginia stuns Wake Forest 72-71 on Thompson's late 3

No. 11 Virginia seemingly couldn't get a 3-pointer to fall -- until the final minute, when the Cavaliers simply couldn't miss one.

None was more important -- or more unlikely -- than Darius Thompson's.

Thompson banked in a 3 at the buzzer to give the Cavaliers a 72-71 victory over Wake Forest on Tuesday night.

Read more http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400839337

 

Lee's 29 lead No. 16 Louisville past Virginia Tech, 91-83

When it's right, Damion Lee's shooting stroke is so sweet that some might describe it as a work of art.

It was just that Wednesday night when No. 16 Louisville needed all the help it could get to hold off a relentless Virginia Tech team at home.

"Definitely one of those nights," Lee said after hitting his first six 3-point shots, 11 of 12 free throws and scoring 29 points in a 91-83 victory against the Hokies. "Once you see it go in once, your confidence builds up."

Read more http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400839174

 

Syracuse upends No. 25 Notre Dame 81-66

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said Syracuse has that look -- the look of a team headed for postseason play.

"Syracuse is an NCAA team and obviously, with Jim back, they have that look," Brey said after his No. 25 Irish were knocked off by the Orange, 81-66, on Thursday night, snapping his team's four-game winning streak.

Read more http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400839202

 

Johnson leads No. 2 UNC to 12th straight win, 89-62 over BC

No. 2 North Carolina kept taking the ball from Boston College. Marcus Paige finally saw it go through the net.

The Tar Heels won their 12th straight game, forcing a season-best 23 turnovers in an 89-62 victory over the Eagles on Saturday.

Read more http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400839748

 

No. 11 Virginia shuts down No. 16 Louisville, 63-47

Not only was No. 11 Virginia's defense highly effective at disrupting Louisville, its offense at times couldn't seem to miss a shot.

Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett couldn't help but like how both came together again for perhaps their biggest road victory this season.

Malcolm Brogdon and Anthony Gill each scored 13 points and Virginia routed No. 16 Louisville 63-47 on Saturday for its fourth straight win.

Read more http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400839804

 

Barber, NC State control 2nd half to beat No. 15 Miami 85-69

North Carolina State coach Mark Gottfried wanted more. His Wolfpack gave it to him Saturday: a performance marked by energy, fight and toughness on the boards.

It was good enough to give N.C. State a confidence-boosting upset of No. 15 Miami, too.

Anthony "Cat" Barber scored 30 points to help the Wolfpack beat the Hurricanes 85-69, ending a three-game skid while earning the program's first home win in 2016.

Read more http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400839809

 

Jackson, Auguste lead No. 25 Notre Dame over Wake 85-62

Even A.J. Burgett was caught by surprise when Notre Dame coach Mike Brey decided to insert him into the starting lineup.

The senior forward, previously known as Austin but who recently began using A.J., had been a forgotten man at the end of No. 25 Notre Dame's bench. That changed Sunday afternoon.

Burgett made his first start since March 3, 2014, and responded with a career-high 14 points to help the Irish blowout Wake Forest, 85-62.

Read more http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400839242

 

Coach K not panicking as Duke continues to struggle

The panic button in Durham is growing, but Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski isn't ready to press it after yet another defeat.

"Our kids played their hearts out tonight," Krzyzewski told Duke radio Monday after the Blue Devils suffered their fourth loss in five games - this one coming at the hands of Miami.

Heart wasn't enough against the 15th-ranked team in the country. The Hurricanes reigned over Duke 80-69, and the Blue Devils looked, at times, clueless.

On offense, they shot just 41.7 percent from the field and posted an ugly 6-for-20 mark behind the arc.

On defense, Duke allowed the Canes to shoot a blistering 50.8 percent from the field. At one point, Krzyzewski resorted to his seldom-used zone scheme, but the results were, approximately, disastrous

- See more at: http://www.thescore.com/ncaab/news/945486

 

No. 19 Louisville ends No. 2 North Carolina's 12-game winning streak

Louisville's last game left a lot of room for improvement, with guard Damion Lee looking to make amends for a subpar performance.

Facing No. 2 North Carolina offered plenty of motivation for Lee and the 19th-ranked Cardinals, who recovered from a loss with a performance they and a sellout crowd celebrated.

Lee scored 24 points, including two free throws with 8.3 seconds remaining, to help Louisville beat North Carolina 71-65 on Monday night ending the Tar Heels' 12-game winning streak.

Read more http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400839805

 

Duke falls out of the top 25 for the first time since 2007

The Oklahoma Sooners top the AP Poll while North Carolina is No. 1 in the coaches poll, but that's not the biggest news to come out of the release of the latest rankings. For the first time since 2007, Duke has fallen out of the polls after losing four of its last five games.

The Blue Devils only played one game last week, losing to Miami 80-69. Duke has been struggling since senior big man Amile Jefferson fractured his right foot after the team's Dec. 5 win over Buffalo. Jefferson is out of a walking boot and could be back in the lineup before the ACC Tournament for Duke. The Blue Devils are 7-5 without him.

- See more at:
http://www.sbnation.com/college-bas...all-rankings-2016-ap-coaches-top-25-poll-duke

 

No. 17 Miami takes care of Notre Dame, 79-70

Anthony Lawrence Jr.'s breakout game for Miami caught Notre Dame off guard.

It probably caught the Hurricanes a bit by surprise as well.

The freshman -- who had a total of six points in the last six weeks and was a bit of an afterthought in the Hurricanes' rotation -- needed only six shot attempts to score a season-high 18 points off the bench, and No. 17 Miami beat Notre Dame 79-70 on Wednesday night for its ninth consecutive home win.

Read more http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400839243

 

Brogdon scores 27 and No. 9 Virginia rolls BC, 61-47

Malcolm Brogdon thinks Virginia turned the corner with an impressive victory at No. 19 Louisville in its last game.

When the ninth-ranked Cavaliers struggled to get going offensively on Wednesday night against Boston College, Brogdon took it upon himself to make sure the good vibe kept flowing. The fifth-year senior scored 17 of his 27 points in the first half and the Cavaliers opened a lead as high as 25 points after halftime in a 61-47 victory, their fourth straight and 16th in a row at John Paul Jones Arena.

Read more http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400839749

 

Fighting Irish rally, send No. 2 Tar Heels to 2nd straight loss

Notre Dame did it to North Carolina again.

Demetrius Jackson scored 19 points, Bonzie Colson had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and the Fighting Irish rallied to beat the second-ranked Tar Heels 80-76 on Saturday night.

Read more http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400839244

 

No. 9 Virginia pulls away from Pitt 64-50

Malcolm Brodgon's Virginia teammates still bring up the winning 3-pointer he drilled at Pittsburgh two years ago, the one that won the game in the middle of a 13-game winning streak and propelled the Cavaliers to the ACC title.

That run returned the Cavaliers to the league's elite, one that shows no signs of abating.

There were no heroics needed when Brogdon and No. 9 Virginia returned to the Petersen Events Center on Saturday. Brogdon scored 21 points and London Perrantes added 14 in a relatively easy 64-50 win.

Read more http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400839224

 

No. 19 Louisville rolls past Boston College 79-47

Motivated to move on from its postseason ban, No. 19 Louisville dominated Boston College from start to finish.

The veteran leadership of Trey Lewis helped the Cardinals put away the Eagles.

Lewis scored 16 points and Deng Adel added 13 as Louisville routed Boston College 79-47 on Saturday, a day after the school imposed a postseason ban for recruiting violations.

Read more http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400839750

 

Trey Lewis on Louisville ban: 'This team doesn't deserve this'

All 15 players on the University of Louisville men's basketball team filed into the press conference room at the school's practice facility on Friday evening wearing sad, stunned faces.

Their two leaders, graduate transfers Damion Lee and Trey Lewis, sat down at microphones and tried to make sense of U of L's decision to self-impose a postseason ban in an attempt to lessen the blow of a potentially stiff NCAA penalty for rules violations sometime in the future.

It was no easy task. Both Lee and Lewis made it abundantly clear last spring that they decided to take advantage of the NCAA's fifth-year transfer policy so they could enroll at a school with a successful basketball program that could reach the NCAA tournament.

"We were both hurt and devastated as soon as we heard this," said Lewis, who transferred from Cleveland State.

"We both feel like we don't deserve this. This team doesn't deserve this. We worked very hard and we put ourselves in a position to fulfill our dreams, and that was to play in the NCAA tournament, and we feel like that's been taken away from both of us."

- See more at: http://www.courier-journal.com/stor...ewis-we-dont-deserve-postseason-ban/79897164/

 

McClellan, Newton lead No. 17 Miami past Georgia Tech 75-68

With Miami clinging to a three-point lead and the shot clock running down, Ja'Quan Newton had no choice except to throw up a towering shot from the corner with a Georgia Tech player right in his face.

Nothing but net.

Sheldon McClellan scored 22 points, but Newton's 3-pointer while falling out of bounds was the shot that carried the 17th-ranked Hurricanes to a 75-68 victory over hard-luck Georgia Tech on Sunday.

Read more http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400839793

 

Duke holds off No. 13 Louisville for first win over ranked team

All those losses last month might have taught Dukesomething important: how to win.

The Blue Devils beat No. 13 Louisville 72-65 on Monday night behind 18 points and 10 rebounds from freshman Brandon Ingram.

Read more http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400839771