The ACC standings are starting to take shape after strong weeks by some of the conference's most talented teams.
No. 12 Florida State (15-1, 3-0)
The Seminoles won their 11th straight game Saturday 93-78 against No. 21 Virginia Tech, led by sophomore guard Terance Mann's career-high 22 points and nine rebounds. Four other Florida State players scored in double figures, and Xavier Rathan-Mayes dished out eight assists in an impressive offensive showing for the Seminoles.
Although Florida State has beaten two straight ranked teams, its schedule will not get any easier for a while. The Seminoles' next four games are all against ranked opponents—starting with a Tuesday night showdown at home against No. 8 Duke—before their conference schedule finally eases up in February.
No. 23 Notre Dame (14-2, 3-0)
The Fighting Irish have been tied or trailing in the last two minutes of all three of their ACC games, but they have managed to come out on top every time. Tuesday night, senior Steve Vasturia scored 24 points and Notre Dame closed the game on a 9-2 run to topple No. 9 Louisville 77-70, knocking down seven free throws down the stretch.
Saturday, the Fighting Irish were in trouble again, but they rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit and shot 15-of-32 from 3-point range to beat Clemson at home 75-70. Bonzie Colson's layup with a minute left broke a 70-70 tie, and Matt Farrell sealed the win with a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left.
Notre Dame will take its unbeaten ACC record on the road this week to Miami and Virginia Tech.
No. 8 Duke (14-2, 2-1)
Although the Blue Devils got back on track with a dominant 110-57 win against Georgia Tech and a 93-82 victory against Boston College, they still finished the week with more questions than answers. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski had lower-back surgery Friday and is expected to miss about four weeks, with Jeff Capel filling in as the interim head coach, and Duke may have also lost one of its leaders on the court.
Graduate student Amile Jefferson went down in the first half of Saturday's game against the Eagles with a foot injury, and the Blue Devils struggled on both ends on the floor without him. If Jefferson is out for an extended period of time, Duke will miss him in one of its toughest stretches of the year with road games at Florida State and Louisville this week.
No. 14 North Carolina (14-3, 2-1)
Joel Berry II poured in a career-high 31 points to will the Tar Heels past Clemson 89-86 in overtime Tuesday night on the road. Although North Carolina did not make a shot from the field in the last 5:18 of regulation, its offense woke up in overtime, and a putback by Kennedy Meeks with 1:12 remaining gave the Tar Heels the lead for good.
North Carolina had a much easier time Sunday against N.C. State in a game that was postponed a day due to the snowstorm that hit the Triangle area Friday night. The Tar Heels ran out to a 56-23 halftime lead on their way to a 107-56 romp, with Justin Jackson leading four players in double figures.
North Carolina travels to Winston-Salem Wednesday to face Wake Forest before hosting Florida State in a critical matchup Saturday.
Syracuse (10-6, 2-1)
Most people left the Orange for dead after a disappointing nonconference season and an ugly loss to Boston College in their ACC opener, but they came to life this week with double-digit wins against Miami and Pittsburgh at home. Graduate transfer Andrew White III led Syracuse in scoring with more than 20 points in both games, and the Orange shot 14-of-27 from beyond the arc against the Panthers in a game they led by 21 at halftime.
Syracuse still has a long way to go to make a case for the NCAA tournament, but it can continue piecing together its resume Tuesday on the road at Virginia Tech.
No. 11 Virginia (12-3, 2-2)
Senior London Perrantes scored 16 points and drilled a game-tying 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds left Wednesday against Pittsburgh, but the Cavaliers fell apart in the extra session and fell 88-76. The 88 points were the most Virginia has given up in four years.
The Cavaliers responded Sunday night with a 79-62 win against Wake Forest, outscoring the Demon Deacons 51-33 in the second half to rally from a one-point halftime deficit. Perrantes scored a season-high 24 points in the win and knocked down 4-of-5 3-point attempts.
Miami (11-3, 1-1)
The Hurricanes shot just 38.9 percent from the field in their disappointing 70-55 loss to Syracuse Wednesday, with none of their starters scoring in double figures, though freshman Dejan Vasiljevic came off the bench to score a career-high 18 points. Miami has eight days to think about its defeat before returning to the floor Thursday against Notre Dame.
No. 9 Louisville (13-3, 1-2)
The Cardinals finally got their first ACC win Saturday at Georgia Tech after losses to Virginia and Notre Dame, as Donovan Mitchell led the way with 20 points on 5-of-7 shooting from deep in the 65-50 victory. The sophomore guard has now scored at least 20 points in three straight games and never reaching that mark previously in his career.
Louisville also had 12 blocks Saturday and held the Yellow Jackets to just 34.0 percent shooting three days after it allowed the Fighting Irish to shoot 43.9 percent from the field. The Cardinals will start a three-game homestand against Pittsburgh Wednesday before Duke comes to town Saturday.
No. 21 Virginia Tech (12-3, 1-2)
After a convincing win against Duke in their ACC opener, the Hokies came out flat at N.C. State Wednesday and fell behind by 25 at halftime on its way to a 104-78 loss. Another poor defensive performance in Saturday's 93-78 loss at Florida State capped a listless week for Virginia Tech. Zach LeDay and Chris Clarke combined for 41 points in the frontcourt against the Seminoles, but the Hokies had just seven assists and committed 16 turnovers to kickstart Florida State's transition offense.
N.C. State (12-4, 1-2)
The Wolfpack's two games this week could not have been more different. Freshman phenom Dennis Smith Jr. had a triple-double with 27 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists Wednesday against Virginia Tech, and Terry Henderson and Abdul-Malik Abu each added at least 20 points as N.C. State shot a sizzling 64.1 percent from the field.
But Smith picked up three early fouls and the Wolfpack never got into a rhythm Sunday against North Carolina, turning the ball over 26 times in the blowout loss.
Pittsburgh (12-4, 1-2)
First-year head coach Kevin Stallings picked up his first ACC win in dramatic fashion Wednesday against Virginia. After Perrantes' 3-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation sent the game to overtime, the Panthers made three straight 3-pointers to score the first nine points of the extra session and cruise to an 88-76 win. Jamel Artis scored 24 points and shot 6-of-7 from 3-point range in the win.
But Pittsburgh could not keep its momentum going in Saturday's 77-66 loss to Syracuse. Artis and Michael Young—the ACC's top two scorers—combined for 40 points, but the rest of the team shot just 8-of-28 from the field in the loss.
Clemson (11-4, 1-2)
Avry Holmes—a 79.2 percent free-throw shooter—missed the front end of a one-and-one with five seconds left in a tie game against North Carolina Tuesday before the Tigers went on to lose in overtime. Clemson closed regulation on a 10-2 run, capped by a game-tying triple by Marcquise Reed's game-tying triple with 29 seconds left, and the Tigers got a steal on the Tar Heels' ensuing possession and drew a foul, but could not capitalize on the potential game-winning trip to the line.
Clemson faltered down the stretch again Saturday against Notre Dame, coming up empty on their last two possessions and squandering forward Jaron Blossomgame's second straight game with at least 22 points.
Georgia Tech (9-6, 1-2)
The Yellow Jackets' victory against North Carolina last week appears to be a flash in the pan, as Georgia Tech was the victim of the worst ACC loss in more than 50 years Wednesday against Duke. Saturday against Louisville, 6-foot-10 center Ben Lammers scored 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting, but the rest of the team scored just 26 points on 8-of-36 shooting at home. The Yellow Jackets are now close to the bottom of the ACC standings, where most expect they will remain for the rest of the season.
Boston College (8-8, 1-2)
The Eagles shot just 5-of-30 from downtown in a 79-66 loss against Wake Forest Tuesday, scoring just 29 second-half points after taking a 37-35 lead into the halftime locker room. Boston College responded by outperforming expectations Saturday at Duke, battling back from a 25-point first-half deficit to trim the Blue Devil lead to six before ultimately falling 93-82.
The Eagles shot 51.6 percent from the field in Durham, but committed 17 turnovers in the first half to dig themselves into a hole and finished the day with 21 giveaways.
Wake Forest (10-6, 1-3)
John Collins led four Demon Deacons in double figures with 17 points in Wake Forest's first conference win of the year against Boston College, but it could not keep pace with Virginia Sunday night. The Demon Deacons were tied with the Cavaliers at 46 late in the second half before Virginia took control with a decisive 10-0 run, and Wake Forest head coach Danny Manning has now lost all 20 of his ACC road games in his third year on the job.
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