How about that Purdue-Tennessee game? Those two teams looked like top ten teams, and it was definitely a physical game to say the least. I'm excited to go more into Purdue's team as we look forward to next week's showdown in West Lafayette. As to the ACC, teams went 4-1 with the only loss being BC at the hands of Northern Iowa.
Boston College 69, Northern Iowa 81
UNI got a spectacular game from Kwadzo Ahelegbe, who was 14-17 from the floor, scoring 32 and adding 4 assists and 2 rebounds. Any time a guy goes 14-17 it's usually a combination of poor defense and the player just straight balling. UNI shot 65% as a team and 5-9 from deep. They also had just 5 turnovers on the day. That's usually a recipe for success. Corey Raji led BC with 18 points and 5 rebounds. Josh Southern and Joe Trapani added a combined 23 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
Virginia Tech 71, Campbell 60
The Fighting Camels sure lived up to their name yesterday. Virginia Tech usually has a couple games like this (3 point win over Gardner-Webb last year, loss to Seton Hall), so it was good to see them get back under control and finish the game. J.T. Thompson set a career high with 17 points, while Malcolm Delaney added 15 on just 3-13 shooting.
UNC 93, Gardner-Webb 72
This game was a lot closer than the final score indicated. Gardner-Webb really hung in there. And once again, it was a combination of poor defense and turnovers that were stinging the Heels. Gardner-Webb hit 15 of 36 threes on the day, but a lot of those misses came near the end of the game when they were in desperation mode.
Deon Thompson is quickly becoming an All-ACC candidate and had another big night--22 and 10 on 9-10 shooting. Tyler Zeller and Ed Davis combined for 31 points and 18 rebounds, while highly-touted freshman John Henson continued to struggle with his production (Just 2 points on 1-3 shooting in 13 minutes).
Clemson 102, Winthrop 66
Now Clemson is doing it right so far. They are winning by an average of 35 points in their 4 wins. They're playing cupcakes like a lot of other teams, but they are just straight dusting people. Clemson had 6 players in double figures--Jerai Grant, David Potter, Tanner Smith, Andre Young, Noel Johnson and Trevor Booker--and 10 players played double-digit minutes. This is the way to see what you have on your bench and keep your starters fresh.
Maryland 79, Chaminade 51
Maryland looked shaky early on and it could be a combination of the trip to Hawaii or the fact that Chaminade really tries to get up for these games, but the Terrapins were able to take the lead with 7 minutes left in the first half and run with it. Sean Mosley led all scorers with 19 points and had 8 rebounds. Greivis Vasquez continues to struggle with his shot (2-7), as he is just 28.6% in the early goings.