Freshman Dinos Mitoglou helped shoot Wake Forest past Miami.
N.C. State couldn’t close out Virginia at home.
Louisville won largely without Wayne Blackshear.
That, plus a look at Saturday’s crammed schedule, in the ACC night in review.
Dinos Mitoglou, Wake Forest
The freshman forward dropped 21 points and eight rebounds on Miami as the Demon Deacons earned a 72-70 victory. Mitoglou, who made six 3-pointers in the victory, connected on multiple outside shots for the seventh time in Wake Forest’s last eight games.
That’s three victories in four contests for the Demon Deacons, who nonetheless still have road games against Virginia, Notre Dame and Duke still looming in the final month of the regular season.
N.C. State
The margin of error for the Wolfpack (14-11, 5-7 ACC) continues to shrink, as does its NCAA tournament hopes. N.C. State has dropped five of its last six after falling 51-47 at home to Virginia.
The problem for the Wolfpack isn’t so much this loss as it was a reminder that it is largely competitive with the ACC’s high-level teams. Already on its resume before Wednesday was an overtime setback against Notre Dame and a two-point loss to North Carolina.
But near-misses do a team little good, and it’s getting to the point the Wolfpack almost has to steal a game at Louisville on Saturday or at North Carolina on Feb. 24 to have any hope of bagging an at-large bid.
1
Minute played by Louisville’s Wayne Blackshear, who aggravated a hip pointer in the Cardinals’ 69-56 defeat of Pittsburgh. Without Blackshear, the Cardinals leaned on their bench more than usual, getting 15 solid minutes from Quentin Snider to complete the season sweep of the Panthers.
44
Consecutive winning seasons for Syracuse, which locked up an above .500 finish with its 70-56 triumph at Boston College. The Orange (16-8, 7-4) has only seven games remaining this season because of its ban from the ACC and NCAA tournaments.
North Carolina at Pittsburgh (Noon, ACC Network; CW 6 in Syracuse): In their first game since the death of program patriarch Dean Smith, the Tar Heels (18-6, 8-3) will visit Jamie Dixon’s Panthers (16-9, 5-6).
Virginia Tech at Clemson (Noon, MSG+): The Tigers (14-10, 6-6) will attempt to snap a two-game slide as the increasingly pesky Hokies (10-14, 2-9) make the trip to Death Valley.
Wake Forest at Virginia (2:30, ACC Network; CW 6 in Syracuse): The Cavaliers (22-1, 10-1) get the first of two games with the Demon Deacons (12-13, 4-8), this one at John Paul Jones Arena.
Florida State at Georgia Tech (2:30, ACC Network; ESPN3 in Syracuse): The Seminoles (13-12, 5-7) will try to keep some distance between themselves and the bottom four in the ACC as they head to Atlanta to meet the Yellow Jackets (11-13, 2-10).
N.C. State at Louisville (4, ESPN): The increasingly desperate Wolfpack (14-11, 5-7) gets a shot at a pivotal road victory when they meet the Cardinals (20-4, 8-3) for the first time as conference rivals.
Duke at Syracuse (6, ESPN): Thanks to both Syracuse’s postseason ban and the Orange’s midpack performance, this game won’t have as much buzz as these teams’ two meetings last year. Nonetheless, it still matches the two winningest coaches in Division I history.
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