Dr. Quads Examines Day 2 of ACC Tourney

Believe it or not, the Second Round of the ACC Tournament has come and gone, and after arriving with 15 teams on Tuesday, we are quickly down to 8, as the quarterfinals get started later this afternoon. For a tournament that was believed to be wide-open, the teams that are still left playing are the teams you probably expected to see when they unveiled the bracket last weekend. Here’s a quick rundown of what happened at the Spectrum Center yesterday: 

Game #4 – NC State vs Pittsburgh:

• After another slow start defensively, it looked like State was going to be in a dogfight against the 15th-seeded Pitt Panthers, only leading by a point at the half, 51-50. But in the second half, the better team showed up on the court, as State was able to pull away for a 98-88 win, to secure themselves a spot in the NCAA Tournament. They got quality contributions from Quadir Copeland, who had 24 points and 8 assists, to lead an offensive effort that saw the Pack shoot 61% from the field and 57% from behind the arc on 13 makes. State’s starter went a combined 10-15 from behind the arc, led by Darrion Williams, who was 4-5, to attribute all of his points. NC State will face Virginia today at high noon. 

Game #5 – Louisville vs SMU:

• Despite not having Mykel Brown, who is trying to get as healthy as possible for the NCAA Tournament, the Louisville Cardinals were able to top SMU 62-58, in what ended up being the best game of the day. After a high-scoring game to get the day started, points were hard to come by, even for two teams that can score with the best the league has to offer. Xavier transfer, Ryan Conwell led Louisville with 16 points, including a tough layup late, to help the Cardinals prevail. Pat Kelsey’s squad has struggled to win games this year when they haven’t shot the ball well, but they were able to win yesterday, while shooting 40% from the field and 23% from deep. The loss drops SMU to 20-13, but given the performance of other teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble, they should be safely in the field. 

Game #6 – Florida State vc California:

• There wasn’t a team that showed more improvement as the season moved along, outside of Florida State, which entered last night’s game having won 9 of 11. Cal entered the game needing a win to start any conversation about them as a potential NCAA Tournament team, but that never manifested, as FSU put the game away in the first half, building a 46-32 lead, on their way to a 95-89 win. 3 Seminole starters scored in double figures, led by Robert McCray V, who scored a game-high 30 points, on 10-17 from the field, and 4-7 from behind the arc. Dai Dai Ames of Cal tried to will the Golden Bears to a comeback win, scoring 27 points on 9-18 shooting, but they couldn’t overcome the slow start. Florida State will take on the #1 seed Duke tonight at 7 PM. 

Game #7 – Clemson vs Wake Forest:

• There was a lof of belief entering the final game last night that Wake Forest was going to be the team to start competing in the tournament on Tuesday, and make it to Thursday, but that was not the case. Clemson made 9 first-half triples, on their way to building a 41-23 lead, before cooling off in the second half, in a 71-62 win. The Tigers had lost 6 of 8 entering the ACC Tournament, but looked the form of a team that started 10-1 in league play. 7 Clemson players scored at least 8 points, with their leading scorer, RJ Godfrey, scoring just 11 in the win. It wasn’t all positive vibes, though, as big man Carter Welling was seen leaving the floor in a walking boot after exiting the game in the first half, and not returning to the floor. They’ll be back in action later tonight against North Carolina.