Paul Hewitt, what are you going to do now?
NC State 74, Boston College 69
BC started a perfect 8-8 from the field (oddly though, Tyrese Rice missed the Eagles’ only free throw attempt in that early stretch) and looked to quickly turn NC State’s final home game into one bummer of a senior night. The Eagles faded fast in the first half, however, and the Pack took a nine point lead into the locker room. The afore-mentioned Rice was stellar in the first half, hitting a few circus shots and getting to the basket with ease. He seemed miffed after the break and was mostly shut down by the man-D of Javi Gonzalez.
Speaking of Gonzalez, the coming-of-age guard who was all but left left for dead after a woeful freshman campaign was the story of the night. He made plays all over the court and his line in the box score shows it: five points, six assists, five rebounds, and two steals in just 24 minutes. Ben McCauley was the Pack’s leading scorer with 20. Fellow senior Courtney Fells dropped 11 but didn’t play in the second half due to a groin injury. Rakim Sanders led the Eagles with 21 and made things interesting late with a pair of threes. Rice had a double at 14-11 but, as mentioned, was mostly absent in the second half.
The Wolfpack conclude their home schedule at 5-1, the Eagles are finished on the road at 4-4.
North Carolina 86, Virginia Tech 78
The Heels stave off the Hokies and inch closer towards locking up a #1 seed. With the loss, VT won’t finish better than 7-9 in-conference and is in peril of slipping off the bubble and into the NIT. Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson both had a monstrous night; each dropped 22 points, Hansbrough added 15 rebounds. A.D. Vassallo led the Hokies’ failed second half surge with a pair of threes around the nine-minute mark. Curiously, it isn’t often that a team shoots 100% from the charity stripe and loses a close one. VT’s 17-17 free-throw performance (Jeff Allen alone was 10-10) was rendered moot in the face of Carolina’s 26-34 rebuttal. Yes, the Tar Heels shot twice as many FTs as the Hokies. Go figure.
Georgia Tech 79, Miami 68
Champagne is being uncorked, Disney World commercials are being filmed, cliches are abounding: the Yellow Jackets fought off history tonight and dodged bearing the cross of the first ACC team in nearly two decades to go 1-for-season. The Canes all but rolled over and died, shooting an abysmal 32% from the field despite having four players in double figures (including double-doubles from Dwayne Collins and Brian Asbury). Tech’s senior guard Lewis Clinch went out with a bang: 30 points, largely on 9-16 shooting from behind the arc.
The places Miami’s fleeting NCAA hopes squarely in the proverbial crapper. It also sets up a rather interesting contest on Sunday in Coral Gables with NC State. Both teams are 6-9 in-conference, the winner will finish in 9th place and add another bullet to their, uh, NIT resume.
