It’s been nearly a month since I did this, so I’ll be brief on a lot of the older games.
Saturday, Jan. 13
N.C. State 88, Wake 74
At the time, this was one of the most surprising results of the season. It’s no secret that Wake is bad, but they got waxed by State in this game, on their home floor. Consider this one of the first signs that the Wolfpack was better than many thought, even before Engin Atsur returned.
Maryland 92, Clemson 87
The Tigers’ first loss of the season. Think they’d like to roll the clock back to this game and start again?
BC 78, UVa 73
Va. Tech 94, UNC 88
The Hokies were really impressive in this game, jumping on the Tar Heels from the get-go and never letting up until the final minutes. This game was a sign that Carolina can be gotten to with a combination of effort and execution.
Ga. Tech 88, FSU 80

Sunday, Jan. 14
Duke 85, Miami 63
Duke’s first ACC win of the year. It was a big road victory, but keep in mind that it was Miami. The Hurricanes really aren’t good.
Tuesday, Jan. 16
BC 82, Miami 63
UVa 103, Maryland 91
I already wrote about just how important this game was for Virginia.
Wednesday, Jan. 17
UNC 77, Clemson 55
The dark days continue for Clemson. It was fun getting to 17-0, wasn’t it? Unfortunately, that makes the losses that much more painful. Of course, as we know, it’s going to get worse. Much worse.
FSU 82, Va. Tech 73
Much like UVA’s win over Maryland, FSU absolutely had to have this game. You just can’t start out 0-4 in the ACC and expect to rally for an NCAA berth.
Thursday, Jan. 18
Duke 62, Wake 40
I hope nobody watched this game. 40 points for the Deacons. Good thing they exploded for 21 in the first 20 minutes before cooling off at halftime.
Saturday, Jan. 20
Clemson 74, BC 54
Welcome to life without Sean Williams. This game was pretty much destined to turn out like this. Clemson was angry after two losses and BC was 5-0 and had just lost Williams and Akida McLean. But then, this result turned out to not be quite as indicative of the future as I thought at the time.
FSU 86, Miami 67
Duke 79, N.C. State 56
UNC 77, Ga. Tech 61
The Tar Heels continue their defensive success, holding another talented offensive squad way below their average. For the Yellow Jackets, this game began a nasty four-game slide. It’s almost hard to remember now that GT was ranked in this game.
Sunday, Jan. 21
UVa 88, Wake 76
JR Reynolds matched Wake’s total output against Duke – 40 points. Something clicked in Reynolds in this game (probably Wake’s horrid defense) and he’s been on fire ever since.
VT 67, Md 64 (OT)
With this win, the Hokies moved to 4-1 in the ACC with wins over UNC, Duke and Maryland. Pretty damn nice start to the season for a football school, huh? Again, I wonder how this squad lost to Marshall and Western Michigan.
Tuesday, Jan. 23
Boston College 85, FSU 82
Sean Marshall hit a tough three at the buzzer to win this one and serve notice that the Eagles aren’t going to wilt without Sean Williams. Granted, FSU can lose to anyone, anywhere, but this was still a very solid win for a BC team that was probably reeling a bit.
Va. Tech 92, Miami 85
I wonder what the attendance was for this one?
Wednesday, Jan. 24
UNC 88, Wake 60
UVa 71, N.C. State 58
How ridiculous is it that these teams had already played each other twice, just six games into the conference season? Damn you, John Swofford!
As for the game, this was UVA’s first road ACC win in about 15 years. Or maybe it just seemed like that. In addition, Engin Atsur returned for this one, although he was clearly a bit rusty. JR Reynolds went for 24 in the second half, giving him 20+ points in three out of the last four halves. Not too shabby.
Maryland 80, Ga. Tech 65
I know I keep saying this, but the Terps had to have this win. Back-to-back losses had put them in a hole and with the huge ACC middle class, you just can’t afford to keep losing to your peers. On the flip side, the Maryland win meant that the Yellow Jackets were on a two-game slide. They would keep sliding…
Thursday, Jan. 25
Duke 68, Clemson 66
This will probably be the most memorable game of the ACC season. As you know, the refs screwed up the end of this game, giving Duke too much time to run their final play. An old friend of mine, the Sports Prof sent me an email about what he wrote about this game. Normally, I agree with the Prof, but his claim that the end should be replayed at some point in the future is ridiculous. When games end, they are over. Yes, Clemson got shafted, but that happens sometimes. Think of it this way – if you ignore the improper clock setting, the Tigers were in a tie game with just 4.4 seconds left. They allowed their opponent to go the full length of the floor for an easy layup. Do that and you deserve to lose.
As for the mistake, let’s review what happened. Duke had the ball, up three, with 5.0 seconds left. The inbounded the ball (a HORRIBLE turnover) and the clock didn’t start. Now, keep in mind two things about this – first the clock is not started by the Duke-appointed timekeeper (who happens to be a UNC alumnus), but by the head referee on the floor using some timing gizmo he carries. He failed to start the clock on time. Some would claim that this was part of some on-going conspiracy to give Duke all the calls in tight games. But that makes no sense. Remember, Duke was winning at this point and had the ball. They wanted as much time to run off as possible! The ref who didn’t start the clock had no way to know ahead of time that the pass was going to go right to Clemson.
The second mistake was that after Hamilton’s three went through the net, the clock kept running for a few seconds. This mistake was the fault of Duke’s timekeeper, but again, why would he have done this intentionally? Once the shot went in, the game was tied. Duke would want more time to get a winning shot off, not less!
The final mistake was made by the whole reffing crew when they reviewed the time and set it to 4.4 seconds. Somehow they completely missed that the clock hadn’t started on time. They only noticed that it ran too long after the shot went in, so they set the time to when the ball went through the hoop.
We all know what happened next. It was a confusing and unfortunate ending to the game. I’m sure it was heartbreaking for Clemson, but it was not any further proof of some sort of Duke-refs conspiracy.
Saturday, Jan. 27
UNC 92, Arizona 64
Wow. Wow. Wow.
This was one of the most impressive non-conference ACC wins that I can remember. To win by 28 points on Arizona’s floor without Brandan Wright or Marcus Ginyard … well, it’s incredible. The only question is if it says more about Carolina or Arizona. The answer to that question isn’t yet clear to me.
FSU 74, Wake 66
Sunday, Jan. 28
UVa 64, Clemson 63
I was in Myrtle watching this game at a Qdoba after a round of golf. We had finished eating and since I was the only Virginia fan, when the Cavs were down 14 with just a few minutes left, I said we could go ahead and leave. Frankly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to watch more. UVA looked incredibly flat and Clemson, Vernon Hamilton in particular, was running circles around the Cavs. But then a shot fell. And another. And one more. We were leaving and neither were the Cavs. A couple of minutes later and Virginia had completed one of the most amazing comebacks I’ve ever seen. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game end on a 15-0 run, particularly when that team was down 14 points to start the run. It’s like what you act out in your driveway when you’re a kid.
After the Duke game and this one (on their homecourt, no less) it’s hard to imagine what the Tigers were thinking. I mean, this was to be their special season, right? I can’t even begin to guess how Oliver Purnell addressed his guys after this one. Do you yell? Do you cry with them? What?
Va. Tech 73, Ga. Tech 65
Georgia Tech continues their slide. The Hokies are good, but you’d expect the Yellow Jackets to defend their home court, especially after consecutive losses. Maybe their freshmen are hitting the wall a bit early.
Duke 75, BC 61
Tuesday, Jan. 30
FSU 96, Maryland 79
Win one, lose one. Win one, lose one. The Terps must be driving Gary Williams crazy. Crazier than usual, I mean.
Wake 85, Ga. Tech 75
Wha? OK, what the hell is going on with the Yellow Jackets? I think very highly of Paul Hewitt, but it seems like he just can’t figure out the chemistry on this team. They should be very good with their combination of talented youth and experience.
Wednesday, Jan. 31
BC 94, Hartford 60
Was this game really necessary?
UNC 105, Miami 64
Ouch.
N.C. State 70, Va. Tech 59
This was a huge win for NC State. And completely unexpected. I mean, I’ve said before that I thought they were better than folks were giving them credit for, but the Hokies had been on fire. And this was in Blacksburg! Needless to say, the Wolfpack faithful are really starting to love the Sidney Lowe era (and of course, we know it gets even better in a few days).
Thursday, Feb. 1
UVa 68, Duke 66 (OT)
Back-to-back comeback wins for the Cavaliers who ran their record to 6-2. It’s funny, because when I watch them play, they just don’t look that great. Sure, Sean Singletary and Reynolds are a fantastic backcourt, but it seems like the team just muddles around until those guys get hot. Can you really rely on that for a whole season? I guess it’s working so far.
Saturday, Feb. 3
BC 80, Va. Tech 59
BC is really impressing at this point. I guess Ken Pomeroy was right – the loss of Sean Williams has been pretty negligible so far. On the flip side, Pomeroy thought BC was going to be losing games with our without Williams. Not so.
Ga. Tech 80, Clemson 62
Hey, the Yellow Jackets do have some pride! Of course, Clemson is completely broken at this point, but still, a win’s a win.
N.C. State 83, UNC 79
I’m not sure a team could possibly play any better than NC State did in this game. Carolina didn’t play too poorly, but they couldn’t quite match State’s intensity and when the Pack got an open look, they hit it. What’s amazing is that the Wolfpack won so convincingly despite turning the ball over 22 times. I guess you can do that when you shoot 76%.
One lesson Carolina opponents should take from this game – you can get to the Heels. They don’t seem to like it when their opponents really come out and play hard and physical. It seemed to be like the Heels backed down a bit and Tyler Hansbrough clearly got frustrated. Of course, if you’re going to beat them, you’ll still need to hit a lot of shots like State did, but still it can happen. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Heels get bounced early from the NCAA Tourney by a tough, aggressive underdog.
UVa 81, Miami 70
Just who is this Virginia team winning all of these games?
Maryland 79, Wake 72
Sunday, Feb. 4
FSU 68, Duke 67
This Duke team really just isn’t that great. Folks got back on their bandwagon when they went on an ACC winning streak, but look at who they beat in that stretch – Miami, Wake and NC State followed by a miracle (of sorts) against Clemson. Don’t get me wrong, Duke isn’t bad, but their margin of error just isn’t very wide. They didn’t play particularly poorly against either Virginia or FSU. They just got beat. The Blue Devils just find it too hard to score.
Tuesday, Feb. 6
GT 74, N.C. State 65
NC State damn near continued their Tar Heel High and ran GT off their own floor. But the magic wore off in the second half and the Yellow Jackets got a critical win. Lose that game and I’d say that Tech was out of the NCAA Tournament.
Wake 87, Winston-Salem State 72
UVa 69, Maryland 65
If the first matchup of these teams was a must-win for Virginia, this was nearly the same for Maryland. But they lost. The Terps are now 3-6 in the ACC and still have two games against Duke, one against Carolina and a trip to Clemson. Ken Pomeroy predicts that the Terps will finish at 6-10. How many NITs can Gary Williams go to and still be in good standing? Is he untouchable?
Wednesday, Feb. 7
BC 75, Miami 68
Clemson 71, FSU 58
A huge win for the Tigers. Huge. A loss their would have been their fourth straight, including those two heartbreakers. I’m not sure they could have recovered from that. Now, with Wake next and then Maryland at home, Clemson has a good chance to put this season back on the right track. But they still have work to do. I suspect that this bunch won’t be able to handle another crushing loss.
UNC 79, Duke 73
For about a half, Duke did exactly what the Wolfpack had shown will work. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, they couldn’t keep hitting their open shots. Also, when McRoberts got into foul trouble, they were no longer able to shut off the interior from Hansbrough and Wright. Early in the game, those guys got nothing and Psycho T was clearly frustrated (again). In the second half, the Heels found ways to get the ball to Wright inside and that started cracking Duke’s D. Wright showed the way and Hansbrough followed. Add in Ty Lawson’s exception second-half play and Duke was in big trouble.
For Duke, they played pretty well against an excellent opponent, so that’s good. But they lost anyway and have now lost three in a row, so that’s bad. It doesn’t get any easier either, with their next two games on the road at Maryland and Boston College. Both games are winnable (Pomeroy favors Duke in both), but neither would be surprising losses either.