02/11/06 Duke 96, Maryland 88 – College Park, Md.
I wrote that Maryland would have to come out and play with the passion that they showed late against Virginia, and they did. But it still wasn’t enough. Unfortunately for them, I think Duke played their most complete offensive game of the year, getting points from a bunch of different players. Maryland’s only obvious failing was some shoddy interior defense at times. They gave up a few too many dunks and layups, but considering who they were playing and how well that team played, an eight-point loss isn’t too shabby.
Now they just need to keep it up or they’re gonna miss the Tournament again.

02/11/06 Wake Forest 59, Charlotte 56 – Winston-Salem, N.C.
Good for Wake. They needed something good to happen. Oddly enough, they won with Justin Gray scoring only 4 points.
One thing I learned when I read about this game is that Charlotte is now in the Atlantic 10. I did not know that. I guess the A-10 ain’t so good this year, because Charlotte was hot coming into this one.
02/11/06 Virginia 81, Virginia Tech 77 (OT) – Charlottesville, Va.
The Cavaliers keep it going and now have a season sweep of their in-state rivals. I had to watch this one via GameTracker and it was brutal.
The weird stat in this one? UVA point guard Sean Singletary took 19 shots and had no assists. Shooting guard J.R. Reynolds took 13 shots and had 12 assists.
02/11/06 Boston College 67, Clemson 61 – Boston, MA
The Tigers made the Eagles sweat on their home court, but couldn’t close the deal. Craig Smith had another sub-par performance, with 11 points and 7 rebounds.
02/12/06 Georgia Tech 71, NC State 68 – Atlanta, Ga.
I was sure that the NC State message boards would be aflame after this one – The Sky Is Falling! The Sky Is Falling! But, they were surprisingly (and disappointingly) reasonable about the result. NC State fan – I hardly know you anymore.
The Pack faithful took the right attitude here though. While GT had lost 8 in a row, they are not a bad team. In fact, they have several very good players. I particularly like Ra’Sean Dickey and Jeremis Smith down low – two big, strong athletes. I do wonder how Anthony Morrow leads that team in scoring though. Every time I’ve watched them play, he’s done nothing.
For State, they just need to learn how to play hard every game. They were almost always a step slow in this game and while they kept it close, couldn’t make the big play at the end this time. If they played as hard in every game as they do in their biggest games, they’d be a borderline top-ten squad.
02/12/06 Florida State 73, UMass 63 – Tallahassee, Fla.
I really thought the Seminoles were going to blow this one. I’m glad I was wrong, as the Noles represent the ACC’s possible fifth or sixth NCAA team.
02/12/06 North Carolina 80, Miami 70 – Coral Gables, Fla.
Miami was doing great in the second half. They had eliminated the big Tar Heel lead and in fact, had the lead at times. Guillermo Diaz was hot and was dominating the Heels. No one could stay in front of him. Then, Frank Haith took Diaz out at about the 12 minute mark – Diaz was breathing pretty hard – and that was that. By the time Diaz got back in, the Hurricanes had relaxed and never again seemed to threaten. Diaz simply disappeared until he hit a Jordanesque reverse when the game was all but over.
I still don’t understand why that team’s not better. they have Diaz, who has All-American talent, Robert Hite, who has the best stats on the team, point guard Anthony Harris and big man Anthony King who has two or three pretty plays each game (but yet only scores 9 ppg), they should be a top-25 squad. When those upperclassmen leave, I predict bad things for this program.
For the Heels, it was a nice win. Reyshawn Terry (the best Ray-Shawn in the league) continues to play like I’ve never seen him before. Sometime about a week or two ago, for some reason, a light switch flipped for him. He’s playing hard on both ends of the floor and doing things he’s never done before. He’s made the team so much tougher by taking pressure off of Hansbrough and David Noel, who can’t handle being the #2 scorer.