Jerian Grant and Notre Dame collected another big victory.
N.C. State and (especially) Miami suffered puzzling losses.
Georgia Tech got on the board in conference play.
That, plus a look ahead to a busy Saturday, in the ACC night in review.
Jerian Grant, Notre Dame
The senior was in the middle of nearly everything in the Fighting Irish’s 77-73 defeat of Duke. He scored 23 points and added six rebounds, 12 assists, three steals and two blocks as Notre Dame (20-2, 8-1 ACC) beat the Blue Devils (17-3, 4-3) for the second consecutive season in South Bend.
Between his scoring and his assists (which led to 28 points), Grant played a role in nearly two-thirds of the Irish’s points. He was one of four players in double figures for Notre Dame, which added yet another solid victory to its overall profile.
Miami
What a stinker put up by the Hurricanes (14-6, 4-3), who can stake a claim to being the ACC’s most volatile team after losing 70-50 at home to Georgia Tech.
@D1scourse more like volatilde!
— Heather McDonough (@schwawa) January 29, 2015
Indeed, Jim Larrañaga’s team has won by 16 at Cameron Indoor Stadium and lost by 20 at home to a Yellow Jackets outfit that hadn’t won a conference game yet this season. And that’s not even counting the 28-point beatdown that Miami absorbed at home against Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 19.
The Hurricanes will probably rout Florida State on Sunday in response to this. But, really, anything’s on the table with this unpredictable lot.
N.C. State
This was maybe a little more predictable than Miami’s loss, but no less disappointing. N.C. State was coming off back-to-back losses to Miami and Notre Dame, and had the Irish down 18 before losing in overtime. A visit from Clemson didn’t look so imposing.
Except that the Tigers, despite their offensive inefficiency on many nights, usually play quite hard. And now they’re back to .500 in the league after ambushing the Wolfpack (including a 20-point halftime lead) on the way to a 68-57 victory.
It’s not a game N.C. State (13-9, 4-5) should have lost, and it makes the Wolfpack’s ever-meandering annual path to an NCAA tournament even more harrowing.
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Teams left in the ACC without a conference victory at Georgia Tech’s victory at Miami. It was the first triumph over a league opponent for the Yellow Jackets (10-10, 1-7) since the first day of last year’s ACC tournament, when they beat Boston College in overtime.
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All-time victories for Clemson on the road against the ACC’s three Research Triangle schools. The Tigers (12-8, 4-4), who have never won at North Carolina and earned the last of their four victories at Duke in 1995, knocked off N.C. State in Raleigh for the 14th time on Wednesday.
Chris Jones had 28 points and Terry Rozier added 23 as Louisville (17-3, 5-2) earned an 81-72 victory in its first game against Boston College (9-10, 1-6) as members of the same conference. … Xavier Rathan-Mayes had 21 points, five rebounds and five assists to help Florida State (11-10, 3-5) avoid falling under .500 and beat Wake Forest 82-76 in double-overtime. Codi Miller-McIntyre had 25 for the Demon Deacons (9-12, 1-7).
N.C. State at Georgia Tech (Noon, ACC Network; ESPN3 in Syracuse): It’s a crucial bounceback game for the Wolfpack, which very much finds itself needing to snap a three-game skid as it visits McCamish Pavilion.
Notre Dame at Pittsburgh (Noon, ACC Network; CW 6 in Syracuse): The Irish have won five in a row, while the Panthers (13-8, 3-5) have dropped their last three and likely don’t have the scoring punch to keep up with Notre Dame.
Boston College at Clemson (Noon, YES): The Tigers survived their absurd early-conference gauntlet, and now have a chance to slide above .500 as the Eagles make the trip to Death Valley.
Virginia Tech at Wake Forest (2, MSG): Two teams with first-year coaches apparently well on their way to #TuesdayInGreensboro meet, with Buzz Williams’ Hokies (9-11, 1-6) coming off two of their better games to date — a near-upset of Virginia and an overtime defeat of Pittsburgh.
North Carolina at Louisville (4, ESPN): The Tar Heels (17-4, 7-1) erased a double-digit lead in the final nine minutes of the teams’ first meeting back on Jan. 10. Louisville gets another crack at Marcus Paige and Co., this time at home.
Duke at Virginia (7, ESPN): The unbeaten Cavaliers (19-0, 7-0), who haven’t played since Sunday, look to take down the Blue Devils again in a rematch of last season’s ACC tournament title game.
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