GAME OF THE DAY: No. 20 Florida State 60, No. 12 Virginia 58
Huge road win for the Seminoles in the ACC as this young team went into Charlottesville and won after Virginia won easily at Louisville. Dwayne Bacon had 29 points and buried the game-winning three-pointer to seal the huge road win.
THINGS TO KNOW
Duke and North Carolina both lost as top-10 teams to unranked opponents on the same day for the first time since 1989 as they both fell victim on the road to start ACC play.
Virginia Tech 89, No. 5 Duke 75: Playing their first game without Grayson Allen (suspension) the Blue Devils struggled on the defensive end as the Hokies picked up a signature win. I have four takeaways from this one here.
Georgia Tech 75, No. 9 North Carolina 63: Josh Pastner gave the fans something to be excited about. The Yellow Jackets pulled of a surprising double-digit home win to open ACC play as Josh Okogie had 26 points. We have more on this one here.
No. 1 Villanova 80, No. 10 Creighton 70: This one was closer than the score might indicate as the Wildcats did a great job of pulling away late as Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson stepped up. I have four takeaways from this one.
No. 6 Louisville 77, No. 12 Indiana 62: The Cardinals scored an impressive neutral-court win in Indianapolis against the reeling Hoosiers. Donovan Mitchell had 25 points. Rob Dauster has five takeaways on this one here.
No. 24 Notre Dame 78, Pitt 77, OT: Steve Vasturia pump faked, took a power dribble and hopped over a step to bury the game-winning three with a few seconds left in overtime. The win for the Irish is a quality one in a day where many of the ACC’s best lost on the road.
So knowing what we know about the ACC today along with Louisville’s future schedule, does that make the Cardinals the favorite since they’ve already played their matchup nightmare? Duke and North Carolina are going through issues and Virginia just lost a home game as well so the league is obviously wide open and full of talented teams. I still think Duke is the team to beat but Louisville could be the favorite right now.
STARRED
Dwayne Bacon, Florida State: Bacon had 29 points in a huge road win over Virginia and nailed the game-winning three-pointer with under three seconds left.
Josh Okogie, Georgia Tech: The freshman came up big in the upset of North Carolina as he finished with 26 points on 7-for-14 shooting from the floor. Okogie was also good from the free-throw line as he was 11-for-13. He also tallied five rebounds and three assists.
Mike Daum, South Dakota State: One of the nation’s premier mid-major players had 30 points and hit the game-winner with three seconds left to lift the Jackrabbits over in-state rival South Dakota. Daum was 8-for-14 from the field and also had seven rebounds.
T.J. Cline, Richmond: Nice road win for the Spiders over Davidson in the Atlantic 10 as Cline had 19 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Cline also added two steals as he was 7-for-12 from the floor.
STRUGGLED
Trevon Bluiett, Xavier: The junior had a day to forget in a Xavier win over Georgetown as he finished 0-for-10 from the field to end up with one point. Bluiett was 0-for-6 from three-point range. He did finish with seven rebounds and three assists so at least Bluiett contributed in other area’s of the win.
Joel Berry, North Carolina: The Tar Heels lost a stunner at Georgia Tech as the junior had a sluggish outing. Berry was 3-for-13 from the field (2-for-9 from three-point range) while turning the ball over six times with only one assist.
TOP 25
- No. 17 Xavier overcame an off-day from junior Trevon Bluiett as the Musketeers beat Georgetown on the road for a Big East win. Edmond Sumner (28 points) and J.P. Macura (23 points) picked up the scoring slack for Xavier.
NOTABLE
- SMU ran past East Carolina to move to 2-0 in the American as all five starters finished in double-figures. Ben Moore led with 18 points.
- Clemson came back to beat Wake Forest on the road for an ACC win. This is the type of win the Tigers have to win to make the NCAA tournament. Marquise Reed finished with 21 points for Clemson.
- Tulsa outlasted UConn in overtime for a home win in the American. The Golden Hurricane held the Huskies scoreless the final 2:47 of overtime.