BUZZKETBALL CENTRAL: ACC/Big Ten Challenge Summary and ACC Recap

Hey there Hokies fans, Just wanted to give you a summary of how the ACC/Big Ten Challenge went down this season. I will cover each game as they happened, updating the tally as we go.

November 30th –

Two games on tap for the first night of the challenge.

Wake Forest takes down Rutgers – Showing that they will be more than a pushover this season, the Demon Deacons got their second win over a P5 school this season, beating Rutgers 69-68. They had previously beaten #18 Indiana the week before. They are now 5-2 on the season. It seems that this team has difficulty against teams with speed, having lost to Richmond and Vanderbilt, both of which rely on fast paced offenses. Neither team played very stellar on offense and the bottom line this game came down to free throws, Rutgers getting 11 at the stripe while Wake managed 18. Biggest difference in the game.

ACC 1 – BIG10 0

Clemson drops one to Minnesota – You could argue that this game also came down to the free throw line, as both teams ran their offenses quite well, both shooting over 50%, which says there wasn't much defense being played. Free throw line treated Minnesota to 24 while Clemson only managed 11. Final score 89-82 Clemson had a ten point lead late in the first half, only to watch it slip away. The Tigers allowed one Gopher to get 8 offensive rebounds, which he converted into 12 points, most of which came in the second half. Clemson is now 5-2 on the season, their only other loss by 17 to UMASS. Clemson also beat Rutgers this season as well.

ACC 1 – BIG10 1

All tied up after the first night of the competition, both games being quasi toss ups prior to gametime so no real shockers here.

December 1st

#9 North Carolina runs past #2 Maryland with the return of Marcus Paige – The Tar Heels overcame a great game from phenom Melo Trimble to give the Terrapins their first loss of the season. Trimble went for 23 points and 12 assists on the night but it wasn't enough to counter Paige's first game back this season, who put up 20 points and 5 assists in his return. The Tar Heels defense late in this game is what turned the tide, forcing Maryland to miss 8 of its last 10 shots. UNC is now 6-1 on the season and should move back up in the rankings this week with this big win.

ACC 2 – BIG10 1

#10 Virginia overcomes late push by Ohio State – The Cavaliers continued their defensive prominence by holding Ohio State to 58 points, almost 20 points below their season average thus far. The final in this one was 64-58, this game came down to critical turnovers late for the Buckeyes and getting beaten on the boards. Former Hokie Trevor Thompson got 15 minutes on the floor putting up 5 points and grabbing 5 boards in the loss. The Cavaliers are now 6-1 on the season.

ACC 3 – BIG10 1

#11 Purdue locked down Pitt – AJ Hammons came off the bench for the Boilermakers and scored 24 points to help put the Panthers away early and move his team to 7-0 on the season. Pitt trailed by as much as 17 in the first half at one point, briefly got back in the game and then gave up an onslaught of three pointers to fall right back out of the game. Purdue ended up with 11 treys on the evening, something Hokie fans are all too familiar with after our last game. Final in this one was 72-59. Pittsburgh is now 4-1 on the season with a hectic December ahead of them with six games in the next two weeks.

ACC 3 – BIG10 2

#21 Miami survives three point contest with the Cornhuskers – The Hurricanes locked down the boards late in this one to take care of Nebraska 77-72 in Overtime. Another game that you could point at the free throw line as well, going 23-9 in favor of the Canes. This was a sloppy basketball game as both teams combined for 26 turnovers and neither could grab a lead and hold it for much of the game. Miami moves to 6-1 on the season with the win.

ACC 4 – BIG10 2

Wolverines take down the Wolfpack – Michigan had an answer to every attempt to come back by NC State in this one after getting out to an early lead. The final here was 66-59 in which neither team seemed to find much rhythm to their scoring. The big difference in this one was that Michigan hit open jumpers when it mattered and NC State did not. NC State falls to 4-3 on the season now. Missouri is their toughest remaining game on their OOC slate.

ACC 4 – BIG10 3

The Wildcats finish off the Hokies in OT – This game has been rehashed on here enough. My opinion, this was the best we have seen of Seth Allen so far. Any one basket could be pointed to as the "one that cost us" but I would likely lean towards the three by the center at the end of the half as my "one", it just shouldn't happen that anyone is that wide open around the perimeter at the end of a half. The Hokies are now 4-3 on the season with potentially tough matchups against Radford, St Josephs, and #20 WVU remaining on our OOC slate.

ACC 4 –BIG10 4

All tied again after the end of night two. No real shockers here either although you could argue UNC was an "upset" but remember that the Tar Heels were ranked #1 coming into the season when people expected Marcus Paige to be there at the beginning. He is now back and it showed.

December 2nd

#3 Michigan State finishes off #24 Louisville late – Final in this one was 71-67, with the Cardinals having no answer for Denzel Valentine, who hit all six of his free throws in the last minute to finish up a 25 point night. The sad part here is that for most of the game, Louisville dominated this one, at one point with a 13 point lead. They just couldn't seem to stop the Spartans in the waning minutes as this one got away from them. Rebounding played a major role in this game, going 40-30 in the Spartans direction. Louisville is now 5-1 on the season, with #1 Kentucky their only remaining big game on their OOC slate.

ACC 4 – BIG10 5

#7 Duke crushes Indiana by twenty – Indiana continues to spiral downwards, starting the season in the top 10, having lost three games in the last week, two of which to ACC teams. They just couldn't do much right against the Blue Devils, which got up early and put it in cruise control. Duke pulled down 19 offensive rebounds and had 26 second chance points in this game. Duke is now 7-1 on the season with Utah as their biggest remaining challenge on their OOC slate.

ACC 5 – BIG10 5

# 14 Syracuse loses Overtime game to Wisconsin – If you had to point at the turning point game in this competition, this is likely the one. Syracuse lost its aggressiveness of going to the rim in the Overtime period and allowed methodical Wisconsin to pull away. The final was 66-58. Wisconsin came into this game having taken tough losses to Western Illinois, Georgetown and #7 Oklahoma. This is not the same team we saw make it to the championship game last year. Syracuse seemed to lose its drive in OT, failing to attack like it had all throughout regulation. They also had no answer in the rebounding category, being out boarded 51-25, for a 30-14 edge in paint scoring. The Orange also didn't help themselves, shooting 55% at the line. The Orange are now 6-1, having won the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament last week. The Orange will now be without head coach Jim Boeheim for the next nine games as his suspension was upheld after NCAA review this week. They still have Georgetown and St Josephs remaining on their OOC slate.

ACC 5 – BIG10 6

Nittany Lions one man win against the Eagles – Boston College had no answer for Shep Garner from outside, allowing him to go 8-12 and finish with 30 points in the game. That's 30 of his teams 67 total points in their 67-58 win. The other area that the Eagles were beaten up is on the boards, with a 40-27 differential. The sad part is that Boston College had a first half lead, being up 38-31. They then let Garner hit three 3's in just over a minute to trail 40-38. Penn State never looked back after that run. Boston College is now 3-4, the only team in the conference with a losing record at this point. They still have #23 Providence on their OOC slate, with another possible challenge from University of New Hampshire.

ACC 5 – BIG10 7

Notre Dame wakes up and finishes off Illini – Early in this game it appeared that Notre Dame was suffering from a hangover after two consecutive losses coming in. Illinois appeared ready to run away with this game, up by 10 early in the second half. Demetrius Jackson then woke up, went to work and put away Illinois systematically in the second half. He chipped in 17 of his 21 points after halftime. Combined with teammate Zach Auguste dominating the inside, putting in 16 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, it was a nice way back into the win column for the Irish. The final in this one was 84-79. Notre Dame is now 5-2 on the season with Indiana the only real challenge remaining on their OOC slate.

ACC 6 – BIG10 7

Florida State can't quite get it done against Iowa in OT – The Hawkeyes put the clamps on Dwayne Bacon, one of two freshmen phenoms for FSU, while getting this win 78-75 in Overtime. Bacon and Malik Beasley came in averaging almost 20 points a game each, but Bacon was held to just 11 points in this game. Peter Jok was the do everything guy for Iowa in this one, putting in 25, to include a three with twenty four seconds remaining in OT. Florida State was winning most of this game but just couldn't find a way to close it out. The Seminoles are now 4-2 on the season with VCU, Mississippi State and Florida remaining on their OOC schedule as the bigger challenges.

ACC 6 – BIG10 8

After winning the first ten challenges, unfortunately the ACC came up short for the fifth time in the last seven years, losing this one 8-6. It's hard to point to any one loss as being the scapegoat loss but if you had to it would be Syracuse. The ACC did however win most of the high profile matchups this season. Tough way to lose this competition, and you have to look at the Syracuse game as the one "upset" of the tournament, even if Wisconsin did start the season ranked #17. Three Overtime games, nine of the top 25 teams in the country, and some good early challenges on the schedule. You couldn't have really asked for much better from this competition except to go the ACC's way.

OTHER NEWS AND NOTES

It was announced that next year, Virginia Tech will participate in the Wooden Legacy Tournament next Thanksgiving. Other notable teams in the tourney are UCLA, Texas A&M, Dayton and Nebraska. This is an indicator of Buzz ramping up the OOC schedule to better prep his team for ACC play in year 3 of his tenure.

Georgia Tech was the only team that didn't participate in the Challenge this year, they beat Wofford on December 1st, after losing a tough one to #8 Villanova in the NIT Season Tipoff Championship game held at the Barclays Center over the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Miami won the Puerto Rico Tip Off Tournament over the holidays by beating #22 Butler. They then lost a dud to Northeastern after the weekend.

Syracuse won the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament over the holidays.

North Carolina won the CBE Classic in Kansas City over the holidays. They also beat Northwestern as part of this tournament.

Louisville won the 2015 Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational at Barclays Center by beating Saint Louis in the championship game.

Clemson finished in third place in the Main Event Tournament over the Holidays with a loss to UMass and then a victory over Rutgers.

Wake Forest finished a surprising third in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, losing to #19 Vanderbilt but then surprising UCLA in the consolation game.

Notre Dame finished in sixth place at the Advocare Invitational with losses to Monmouth and Alabama, and a win over Iowa.

Florida State finished in fourth place in the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands, beating Ohio and DePaul but losing to Hofstra in the first round of this tournament.