The ACC Tournament tipped off Championship Week for the major conferences on Tuesday afternoon with two opening round games in Washington, DC. The first game was extremely tight (with 15 ties and 16 lead changes) as N.C. State rode a hot shooting freshman to edge Wake Forest, 75-72. In the second game, as expected, Florida State easily dispatched Boston College, 88-66. Here are some quick takeaways for each of the ACC Tourney’s opening day participants.
Maverick Rowan hit six three-pointers to lead N.C. State past Wake Forest in First Round action at the ACC Tournament. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
N.C. State (16-16): The last time the ACC Tournament was played in the DC area (2005), a hot shooting guard named J.J. Redick led Duke to the title. We couldn’t help but think of Redick’s performance when Wolfpack freshman Maverick Rowan torched the Demon Deacons down the stretch yesterday. With the game on the line in the last few minutes, Rowan nailed three consecutive threes in a two-minute stretch to give N.C. State enough of a cushion to hold off Wake Forest. Rowan finished with 24 points on 6-0f-13 shooting from three-point range, as Mark Gottfried’s team moved on to a third matchup with Duke this season. We like the Wolfpack’s chances against a Duke team that has looked somewhat worn down lately, especially with a confident sharpshooter like Rowan around to help Anthony ‘Cat’ Barber in the scoring column.
Wake Forest (11-20): Some of the same old problems cropped up for Danny Manning‘s club on Tuesday afternoon. The Deacons were sloppy with the ball (16 turnovers), squandered numerous opportunities at the foul line (14-of-21 FT), and couldn’t get defensive stops when they needed them. Manning’s disappointing second season in Winston-Salem started with great promise that included non-conference wins over Indiana (the Big Ten champions), UCLA, LSU and Arkansas. But Wake Forest never seemed to recover from a late January gut-wrenching meltdown versus Virginia, losing 17 of its last 19 games.
Florida State (19-12): The Seminoles took care of business on Tuesday without having to overly exert themselves, leaving them fresh for Wednesday night’s second round meeting with Virginia Tech. Leonard Hamilton played 10 players for at least 10 minutes and got balanced scoring from the group — eight Seminoles scored at least six points. Florida State has a score to settle with the Hokies — just two-and-a-half weeks ago in Blacksburg, Virginia Tech stormed back to win by 10 after the Seminoles had led for most of the game. To have any remaining hope of getting into the NCAA Tournament, Florida State needs to focus on one game at a time and just keep winning. Red-hot Virginia Tech will be tough — Buzz Williams’ team brings a five-game winning streak to DC.
Boston College (7-25): The Eagles’ season mercifully came to a close in the Verizon Center yesterday afternoon. Hopelessly outmanned in nearly every game, Boston College ended the year with an absurd 0-19 record versus ACC schools. And with the impending loss of its two best players, seniors Eli Carter and Dennis Clifford, the near-term future certainly doesn’t look very bright. It’s been a nightmare academic year for revenue sports in Chestnut Hill — the football team was also winless in ACC play. But the Eagles’ fan base can still proudly claim to have the league’s (and one of the nation’s) best hockey programs. That’s something, right?