ACC Roundup - Let The Season Begin!
A fun day around the conference, but maybe less so in Chapel Hill and Syracuse.
In Monday’s ACC Action, UNC survived Elon, 90-76, NC State took care of South Carolina Upstate 97-66, Pitt popped Redford 96-56, Miami hammered Fairleigh Dickinson 113-72, Florida State got by Northern Kentucky 74-62, Syracuse nipped LeMoyne (who?) 86-82, Louisville smoked Morehead State 93-45, Clemson sailed away from Charleston Southern 91-64, BC slipped past the Citadel 69-60, Wake Forest beat Coppin State 64-49, SMU topped Tarleton State 96-62 and Stanford blew by Denver 85-62.
Late game: Cal knocked off Cal State Bakersfield 58-45.
Most impressive? Louisville. Least impressive? UNC and Syracuse.
Over at CardChronicle.com, the story of this game starts this way: “On a night that felt equal parts celebration and exorcism, the Louisville men’s basketball team steamrolled Morehead State, 93-45, in the debut of new head coach Pat Kelsey.“
That really sums it up nicely. Pat Kelsey came at this job with immense energy and he’s already made the Kenny Payne era, mercifully brief, recede into the past.
Louisville held Morehead State to 10.7 percent in the first half. Even Tony Bennett would have to admire that. It’s too early to say the Cards are fully back, but it won’t surprise us if they are.
As for UNC...it’s kind of unbelievable that Elon had the lead 70-69 with just 6:48 left. UNC finished with a kick to be sure, but still. Who saw that coming?
Hubert Davis went with a three-guard lineup (RJ Davis, Seth Trimble and Elliot Cadeau) along with Jae’Lyn Withers and Jalen Washington.
Ven-Allen Lubin came off the bench to help out inside but the three big guys combined to shoot 10-21 for 22 points and 21 rebounds. It looks better when you total it up but Sam Sherry and Matthew Van Komen aren’t exactly legends of the game. Sherry finished with 15 points and eight rebounds while Van Komen didn't score but managed seven rebounds and two blocks.
UNC’s backcourt looks solid, especially with Drake Powell and Ian Jackson off the bench, but post play could be a problem. The Heels go to Lawrence this weekend to play Kansas and Hunter Dickinson is likely to be a problem.
As for Syracuse, let’s start here: LeMoyne? Well it is a D-I team, but just barely, as of last year.
And the Dolphins gave Syracuse fits. They’re inevitably overshadowed by the Orange, their bigger cross-city rival, theoretically anyway.
Yet Syracuse was very lucky to have won because Le Moyne was in this one until the last minute.
It’s too early to draw much from this one but geez. We didn't expect the ‘Cuse to struggle this much in a home opener. However, you know these guys have played pickup together so Le Moyne was certainly familiar with their opponents and not at all intimidated.
Big man Eddie Lampkin, who transferred in from Colorado, was limited to 19 minutes due to early foul trouble.
Syracuse plays Colgate and Youngstown State next and they’ll need to show more in those outings. It’s not like there’s no talent on the roster. Orange fans can be brutal and if Adrian Autry has a tough season, the pressure won’t be much fun.
NC State had a feel-good start to the season with two banners debuting, one for an ACC championship and one for the Final Four. USC Upstate started off well, but the Pack had solid balance with four players in double figures. The Pack controlled the paint and scored 27 points off of turnovers.
USC Upstate has a candidate for the All-Name team: Mister Dean.
Kevin Keatts gave 11 guys real minutes and started Ben Middlebrook, Marcus Hill, Michael O’Connell, Dontrez Styles and Jayden Taylor.
It’s just one game, but Dennis Parker played just 11 minutes. He’s someone we’ve been keeping an eye on and we’re a bit surprised that he didn't get more minutes.
Breon Pass led the scoring with 14 (Hill also had 14).
Radford stuck around for a bit against Pitt but ultimately the Panthers were bigger and more athletic and there wasn’t much the Highlanders could do to stop the onslaught.
Pitt’s guards, Ishmael Leggett and Jaland Lowe, combined for 22 points, 10 board and five assists - in the first half.
Ka-boom!
Jeff Capel has some decent big men too - the Diaz Graham twins, FSU transfer Cam Corhen, redshirt freshman Papa Amadou Kante and real freshman Amdy Ndiaye (long-time ACC fans shudder at the name Ndiaye). The last two guys are both from Dakar, Senegal.
That’s five bigs who are serviceable or better and they combined for 31 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks. Forward Zach Austin, remember, is also a shot blocker so Pitt has some players to work with up front.
Jorge Diaz Graham and Corhen started and they racked up 10 and 12 points respectively and nine and five rebounds. Diaz Graham had two blocks while Corhen had one. It’s obviously early but you can understand why Pitt has some optimism.
Miami hammered Fairleigh Dickinson behind a strong game from Lynn Kidd, who shot 10-11 for 24 points (and nine boards) and 21 from Nijel Pack. We were a little surprised that celebrated freshman Jalil Bethea got just 13 minutes off the bench. Keep an eye on that. Matthew Cleveland also didn’t start. Who did?
Aside from Kidd and Pack, Brandon Johnson, AJ Staton-McCray and Jalen Blackmon got the nods. Johnson transferred from ECU, which has sent several players to the ACC in recent years, Staton-McCray came over from Samford and Blackmon was at Stetson.
That those guys started and that Bethea and Cleveland came off the bench suggests that Miami might be deeper than suspected.
With 18 teams in the conference, it’s hard to talk about every game, but here’s something we should think about: Duke transfer performances.
Jaden Schutt had nine points for Virginia Tech against Delaware State, all on three pointers.
Christian Reeves got three points, three rebounds and three turnovers in seven minutes in Clemson’s win over Charleston Southern.
Jaylen Blakes had the best night overall though, hitting for 12 points, six assists, three steals, two blocks and two rebounds in Stanford’s win over Denver.
No games until Wednesday, when we’ll see TJ Power’s debut for the Tony Bennett-less Virginia Cavaliers. UVA plays Campbell while Notre Dame gets somebody called Stonehill and Georgia Tech hazards a game with West Georgia.
Hoop on!
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