ACC Roundup – The Conference Is Definitely Back

1 week ago 2

ACC play is back and it’s getting good fast. Aside from Georgia Tech pushing Duke, we saw NC State and Wake Forest put on a good show before State won 70-57, Clemson taking out Syracuse on the road 64-61 and Virginia Tech welcome Ryan Odom back to the ACC with a triple overtime thriller, 95-85.

Hokie freshman Christian Gurdak had a monster game with 17 points and 19 rebounds. He considerably outplayed Virginia’s freshman center Johann Grunloh, who had 9 points, 6 rebounds and an impressive 4 blocks.

Amani Hansberry wasn’t far behind Gurdak: he had 17 points and 15 rebounds.

But the star for the Hokies was Ben Hammond, who finished with 30 points, including 8 points in the third overtime.

You’d have to ask someone closer to the program, but we can’t remember a game like this from Virginia Tech. If they are hitting on this many cylinders, the Hokies can play with anyone.

Wake Forest hung around in the first half, but ultimately, the Deacs didn’t perform well enough to beat State. Wake shot just 26% on threes and 34% overall. They also had 16 turnovers.

State wasn’t all that much better, but they were the better team. The Wolfpack had pretty balanced scoring with three starters in double figures and Darrion Williams just missing getting there, and the Pack was the better defensive team, especially in the second half.

Speaking of Williams, in some ways the highlight of the game was afterwards when Will Wade erupted after a reporter asked if Williams was, well, off his feed lately. Here’s what Wade said:

“I’m tired of hearing about Darrion. He’s playing well. That’s a bad question. Let me be honest, he helps us win games. But everyone keeps complaining about him.

“He was plus-13 against Ole Miss and didn’t make a shot, but everyone acts like it’s a disaster. He didn’t shoot well today either, but who had zero turnovers? Darrion. So people need to stop complaining about him. He’s a really good player, and the shots will start falling. I’m tired of answering questions about him. We’re lucky to have him.

“I’m tired of people picking on this kid. Yeah, he makes a lot of money for us, but other schools have paid as much or more. He’s not perfect, but he’s a really good player, and we’re lucky to have him. He chose us over a lot of better options. We should appreciate and support him. He helps us win even when he’s not making shots. Teams are now planning their defense around him, which makes things harder. He’s taking way too much unfair criticism. But he does a lot to help us win.”

He also talked about Williams dealing with a shoulder injury which most people probably didn’t realize.

Anyway, State seems to have escaped the doldrums and Wade seems to be channeling “Stormin’” Norman Sloan, who used to blow up on a regular basis back in his day. Add this one to the tantrum he had before Christmas and Wade is definitely livening things up.

Ven-Allen Lubin had 12 points and 11 rebounds which was a pretty good outing.

Good news for Syracuse: Donnie Freeman is back. Bad news for Syracuse: it wasn’t enough.

Freeman came off the bench to led the ‘Cuse with 18 points and 9 rebounds and Syracuse had a massive advantage at the line, shooting 20-24 to Clemson’s 6-12.

The Tigers did just enough to win though, with Carter Welling hitting a free throw with :14 left and then swiping a pass with :07 left. Jake Wahlin went to the line with 0:00 left on the clock and missed but the game was done and the miss didn’t matter.

Dillon Hunter played well also and came through several times for his team, especially in winning time.

However, Syracuse is now healthy again and with Freeman back, they’re going to be a tough out.

Two games on Friday as the West Coast opponents switch partners with Louisville playing Stanford and Notre Dame at Cal.

Friday’s ACC Action