N.C. State bounced back from an ugly loss to win at Clemson.
Georgia Tech lost its best player less than four minutes into what became a lopsided loss to North Carolina.
Clemson’s Gabe DeVoe more than doubled his season scoring output for the Tigers.
That, plus a look at Wednesday’s three games, in the ACC basketball night in review.
N.C. State
All that really matters for N.C. State (18-12, 9-8 ACC) at this stage is winning games, which is exactly what the Wolfpack did with a 66-61 triumph at Clemson.
It wasn’t particularly easy, and it definitely wasn’t picturesque (N.C. State trailed 21-20 at halftime). But after a lamentably poor performance at Boston College on Saturday, the Wolfpack managed recover and not cause itself too much aggravation as it chases an NCAA tournament berth. A victory over Syracuse on Saturday should be enough to safely place N.C. State into the field.
Marcus Georges-Hunt, Georgia Tech
The Yellow Jackets’ best player suffered a right foot injury before the first media timeout, a loss that effectively doomed Georgia Tech to the wrong end of a name-your-score scenario with North Carolina. The Tar Heels (21-9, 11-6) ultimately cruised to an 81-49 victory.
As for Georges-Hunt, coach Brian Gregory told reporters “it did not look good,” which would seem to place his availability for the ACC tournament in question. In turn, being without the junior would make it a tough task for the Yellow Jackets (12-18, 3-15) to turn back either Boston College or Wake Forest, one of which they’ll face on the opening day of next week’s league tournament.
18
Points for Clemson freshman guard Gabe DeVoe, who entered the night with only 12 points in 16 games all season. DeVoe shot 6 of 10 during his six-minute stint for the Tigers (16-13, 8-9), who lost their final game at Littlejohn Coliseum before its massive schedule renovation over the next year.
.630
Field goal percentage for North Carolina’s bench in its 81-49 defeat of Georgia Tech. Joel Berry II scored 15 points to lead the Tar Heels’ reserves, who combined for 43 points on 17 of 27 shooting while completing a season sweep of the Yellow Jackets.
Notre Dame at Louisville (7, ESPN2): An old Big East rivalry with plenty of wild overtime games in its past is renewed after a one-season hiatus as the Fighting Irish (24-5, 12-4) visit the Cardinals (24-6, 11-5).
Wake Forest at Duke (8, ACC Network; CW 6 in Syracuse): The Blue Devils (26-3, 13-3) can lock up the No. 2 seed in the ACC tournament as they play host to the Demon Deacons (13-16, 5-11), who are winless on the road in conference play.
Miami at Pittsburgh (8, ACC Network; ESPN3 in Syracuse): This might as well be an at-large eliminator for both the Hurricanes (18-11, 8-8) and the Panthers (19-11, 8-8), who are both coming off weekend losses.
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