The ACC Today

It was a busy weekend for our ACC mens basketball teams and the Big Four grabbed the headlines with Duke’s win over a strong Miami team on Saturday and wins by N.C. State and North Carolina on Sunday. The Wolfpack got another miracle win, this time topping Wake Forest, on a last-second dunk by Ben McCauley. The Tar Heels had to go overtime to beat Florida State but the Heels got an effort for the ages from “Psycho T”, Tyler Hansbrough, and UNC can breathe a little easier as they go into the Duke game on Wednesday with a win.

Duke appears to be a bit weak on the inside but the Blue Devils are shooting like wild men from three-point range and they run up and down the court like this might be their last chance at a title and they must prevail over North Carolina if they want to claim one. Duke has runners but they lack the power game they have had in previous years with Sheldon Williams, Carlos Boozer, Christian Laettner, Elton Brand and others. Duke can run and shoot long distance with the best teams, but will the inside play of “Mr. Psycho T”, Deon Thompson, and Alex Stepheson be the difference on Wednesday?
*****from GREENSBOROSports.com*****

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Tyler Hansbrough had 22 points and a career-high 21 rebounds to lift the fourth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels to an 84-73 overtime victory over the Florida State Seminoles.

North Carolina (21-1, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) shook off an unlikely 3-pointer by Florida State’s Ryan Reid with 8.1 seconds left that sent the game into overtime.

The shot that tied the game was the first 3-point attempt of Reid’s career and the 6-foot-9 sophomore drained it from deep in the corner with aplomb.

And When North Carolina couldn’t even get a shot off in the final seconds of regulation, the Tar Heels were staring at overtime before a raucous crowd already roaring about Reid’s unexpected heroics.

And by then, Florida State’s big men were all in foul trouble from trying to contain the 6-9 Hansbrough inside.

Echefu, Reid and freshman Julian Vaughn – who took turns guarding Hansbrough – all fouled out in the overtime.

Held to just three free throws in the first half and no field goals for more than 30 minutes, Hansbrough had eight points and five rebounds in the overtime.

Florida State trailed 31-29 at halftime despite shooting a chilly 34.4 percent in the opening 20 minutes.

Jason Rich led the Seminoles with 22 points while Isaiah Swann and Toney Douglas added 12 each, although Douglas was just 3-of-20 from the field.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Ben McCauley’s stickback dunk as time expired lifted North Carolina State to a 67-65 victory against Wake Forest on Sunday.

Ishmael Smith appeared to have forced overtime when he hit an acrobatic shot in the lane with 5 seconds left. McCauley inbounded the ball to Gavin Grant near midcourt, Grant raced downcourt and hoisted a 3-pointer from the right wing that bounced off the rim.

McCauley leaped over James Johnson and Jamie Skeen and dunked the rebound through with his left hand at the buzzer.

Grant finished with 17 points for N.C. State (14-7, 3-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), which handed Wake Forest its 10th straight road loss in league play.

Freshman Jeff Teague scored 17 points to lead the Demon Deacons (13-7, 3-4), who have lost seven in a row this season away from Winston-Salem.

N.C. State erased a late seven-point deficit with a 17-7 run, with the Wolfpack taking their first lead when J.J. Hickson’s reverse dunk with 2:55 to play made it 62-61. The lead grew to 64-61 when McCauley hit two free throws, before Teague’s runner in the lane made it a one-point game.

Smith finished with 15 points and Johnson had 10 for the Demon Deacons.

Courtney Fells scored 14 points and Hickson added 10 for N.C. State.

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) – DeMarcus Nelson scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half to lead No. 3 Duke past Miami, 88-73, on Saturday.

Greg Paulus scored 16 points for the Blue Devils (19-1, 7-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their ninth straight by scoring on nine of their first 10 possessions of the second half.

James Dews scored 15 for Miami (15-6, 2-5), who have lost two straight and five of six, but kept things tight for most of the first half.

After the break, Nelson took over. The Duke captain scored 10 points during a dominating 3-minute stretch early in the half, starting the scoring with a steal and a fastbreak layup the first time the Blue Devils had the ball and later hitting field goals on four straight possessions.

Nelson’s follow-up of Paulus’ missed 3-pointer with 17 minutes left started a 17-6 run that pushed Duke’s lead into double figures to stay. Kyle Singler knocked down 3s roughly a minute apart during the spurt, and fellow freshman Taylor King capped it with a 3 from the right wing to make it 62-44 with 13 minutes remaining.

Miami couldn’t get closer than 10 the rest of the way and lost for the 10th straight time in the series, falling to 0-5 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Singler finished with 14 points for Duke, which held a surprising 41-36 rebounding advantage and overcame poor first half shooitng performance.

Jimmy Graham scored 13 points, and Jack McClinton, Brian Asbury and Raymond Hicks each had 10 points for Miami, which was coming off a last-second loss at Wake Forest and has lost four straight ACC road games.
*****Game summaries from theacc.com and be sure to read the works of Bill Hass and Mike Hogewood at theacc.com.*****