Big Ten-ACC Challenge 2011: UNC Downs Wisconsin; B1G Dominates ACC

Though the score looked like a midseason conference Big Ten game, the No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels actually turned up the offensive juice in the second half of the final game of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge against the No. 9 Wisconsin Badgers, ultimately winning 60-57.

Thought at one point, the Tar Heels were leading the Badgers by double digits, Bo Ryan's squad simply would not go away down the stretch on the strength of their preseason All-American, point guard Jordan Taylor. Taylor had a furious run to try to bring the Badgers back in the final minute, eventually getting the score to within five with 24 seconds to go, but missed a wide-open three-pointer and the Badgers weren't able to foul a Tar Heel until four seconds were left on the clock, sealing the game.

The story for the Tar Heels was defense, playing a Big Ten-style game on that end. John Henson grabbed 17 rebounds with those lanky arms of his and Dexter Strickland, aside from the last minute of the game, played absolutely phenomenal one-on-one defense against Taylor to force other Badgers to beat the Heels, and, ultimately, they couldn't.

Harrison Barnes led all scorers with 20 points, and was the key offensive force in the second half as the Tar Heels built their lead. Taylor scored 18, but on 6-20 shooting, including 3-11 from three-point land.

For more on these two teams, visit UNC blog Carolina March and Wisconsin blog Bucky's 5th Quarter.

Though it was just a four-point game at halftime, a dominant second half by Michigan St. led the Spartans to a surprisingly easy win against the Florida St. Seminoles, 65-49, clinching the Big Ten's third consecutive victory in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, along with concurrent wins by Indiana over N.C. State and Penn State over Boston College.

The Spartans were led by a career high in points by Keith Appling, who poured in 24 to go with seven rebounds, and dominated the 'Noles at the line, allowing their ACC foes to shooting just six free throws (they made three) while shooting 20 of their own. Sparty also turned the ball over 11 times to the 'Noles' 18. Brandon Wood had a double-double, 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Draymond Green also scored 16 for Michigan State.

The Seminoles were completely stymied on offense, failing to score 50 points, and no one on the team scored more than 13. They were led by a double-double from Bernard James, but got little production outside him in the losing effort.

For more on these two teams, visit Spartans blog The Only Colors and Florida State blog Tomahawk Nation.

Though Boston College is sloughing through an awful beginning to the season, it doesn't make this next statement any less surprising: the Penn St. Nittany Lions have won a road game in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. In basketball. The Nittany Lions traveled to Chestnut Hill and gave the Eagles their fifth loss already this year.

Penn State was led by a duo of dynamic scorers dropping double deuces. Junior guard Tim Frazier and sophomore guard Jermaine Marshall each scored 22 points, accounting for more than two-thirds of the Nittany Lions' total points. The two guards combined to shoot 15-28 from the field, 6-11 from the three-point line and, surprisingly, 12 rebounds. They are now 6-2 on the season, a good jump start on what's sure to be a brutal conference schedule considering how strong the Big Ten is this season.

The Eagles, meanwhile, kept their early season string of terrible performances. They're just 2-5 this season, and the Nittany Lions were the first Big Six school they've faced. Their two victories came by a combined seven points over the University of New Hampshire and UC Riverside (in overtime), and they've lost to such luminaries as Holy Cross and New Mexico. They were led by guard Matt Humphrey with 15 points.

For more on these two teams, visit Penn State blog Black Shoe Diaries and Boston College blog BC Interruption.

After being down early to the hot shooting of the N.C. State Wolfpack, particularly Scott Wood and Lorenzo Brown, the Indiana Hoosiers ran by their foes in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge to win, 86-75, in Raleigh.

The Hoosiers were led by junior Jordan Hulls and highly touted freshman Cody Zeller, who scored 20 and 19 points respectively, and provided the vast majority of their teams' scoring early to keep the game close. The Wolfpack led by a point at halftime, but were outscored by 12 in the second half. Hulls provided a huge spark off the bench with a stunningly efficient performance, shooting 6-9 from the field, 3-4 from behind the arc and 5-5 from the foul line. Zeller added nine rebounds and turned it over just once as he continues to place his name among the top freshmen in the country.

The Wolfpack got standout scoring efforts from Wood (16 points, 3-4 from deep) and Brown off the bench (19 points), but were forced to mitigate a lackluster output from center DeShawn Painter, who shot just 5-12 and scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds. Sophomore C.J. Leslie came off the bench with 10 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks, but turned it over five times in the loss.

For more on these two teams, visit N.C. State blog Backing The Pack and Indiana blog The Crimson Quarry.

The No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes ran over the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils, dominating the game from start to finish before winning, 85-63, in the highlight of the 2011 Big 10-ACC Challenge so far.

After the game, Mike Krzyzewski didn't sugarcoat Duke's performance. "Sometimes you just get your butt kicked," he said. "We were getting our butt kicked. I've had my butt kicked before. We've kicked some butt. Tonight my butt's sore."

The Buckeyes took an early lead over the Blue Devils, going up 11-0 on Duke in the first four minutes before a jumper by Mason Plumlee finally got the Blue Devils on the board. The Buckeyes poured it on in the first half taking a huge 47-28 lead into halftime.

"They just jumped on us from the beginning," Plumlee said. "We weren't ready to play."

The Blue Devils battled back in the second half, but it just wasn't enough to overcome the early Ohio State onslaught. It was a team effort from the Buckeyes, led by Jared Sullinger, who scored 21 points with eight boards. William Buford added 20 points, with Deshaun Thomas and Aaron Craft scoring 18 and 17, respectively. 

"This basketball team is special," Sullinger said.

In the loss, the Blue Devils were led by Austin Rivers' game-high 22 points and Plumlee's 16.

For more on the Ohio State basketball team, visit SB Nation's Ohio State blog Along The Olentangy. For more on the Duke Blue Devils, visit SB Nations' Duke blog Duke Basketball Report.

Despite a very strong showing in the EA Sports Maui Invitational, the No. 15 Michigan Wolverines couldn't stop the Virginia Cavaliers on the road when it counted, losing 70-58 after being outscored by 11 in the second half.

Sixth-year senior forward Mike Scott led the way for the Wahoos with a double-double, putting up 18 points and 11 rebounds while chipping in three assists for good measure. Sophomore guard Joe Harris also had 18 points and snared seven rebounds to go with it, knocking down three three-pointers. Senior point guard Sammy Zeglinski also scored 11 points, dishing out seven assists, and shooting 10 shots — all three-pointers.

Michigan shot well from deep, as is its M.O. under head coach John Beilein, going .455 from beyond the arc, but the Wolverines attempted only seven free-throws and turned the ball over 11 times, not a ratio for success. Freshman point guard Trey Burke scored 11 points and added four rebounds and four assists, but the discrepancy in points scored at the foul line — Michigan's four to Virginia's 17 — was too much to overcome.

For more on these two teams, visit Michigan blog Maize N Brew and Virginia blog Streaking The Lawn.

Tip Time: 9:35 pm. ET

Location: Value City Arena: Columbus, OH

Television: ESPN

Announcers: Dan Shulman (play-by-play) and Dick Vitale (analysis)

All-Time Series: Duke leads 3-2

Last Meeting: Duke won 91-76 in 2002

Favorite: Ohio State by 7.5

Preview

It's hard to believe that a matchup of the second and third-ranked teams in the country could sneak up on the college basketball public, but that's sort of what has happened here.

For so long, so much attention has been focused on Saturday's Kentucky/North Carolina game that this has almost felt like an undercard clash since before the season even started. But if the once-beaten Tar Heels can knock off top-ranked Wildcats this weekend, the winner of Tuesday night's showdown will very likely be the new No. 1 team in the country this time next week.

Duke enters this game in the unfamiliar role of November underdog. In fact, the Blue Devils haven't lost in November since the 2006 CBE Classic title game, a streak of 35-consecutive victories.

Second-ranked Ohio State is favored with good reason, though. The Buckeyes are led by player of the year favorite Jared Sullinger and appear more talented and better-suited to make a run at the national championship than the squad which spent the bulk of last season ranked No. 1. A lot of that has to do with the fact that Sullinger (18.8 points, 10.7 rebounds) has slimmed down considerably and made himself more multi-dimensional. A bolstered supporting cast also deserves a substantial amount of credit. Returning starters Aaron Craft (5.5 assists, 3.5 steals) and William Buford (17.7 points) appear much improved, and sophomore Deshaun Thomas (12.3 ppg) has flourished in a larger role.

Though the Buckeyes are beating opponents by an average of more than 30 points per game, they have yet to leave the comforts of Columbus and haven't faced a true test outside of a seven-point win over Florida on Nov. 15. The same can't be said for Duke, which is coming off its fifth Maui Invitational title and will be facing its third ranked opponent in as many games.

The weakness of this Blue Devil team was supposed to be its lack of post presence, but those concerns have been alleviated by the play of junior Mason Plumlee. Showcasing a toughness that had been absent from his first two collegiate seasons, Plumlee is averaging a double-double at 11.4 ppg and 10.0. Most notably, he more than held his own against talented Kansas big man Thomas Robinson in the Maui title game, scoring 17 points and snatching 12 rebounds in Duke's 68-61 win. Obviously, his play will again be a major point of focus on Tuesday night with Sullinger suiting up for the opposing squad.

Duke figures to have its strongest advantage on the perimeter, where the Blue Devils are ninth in the nation in three-point shooting (52%). Seth Curry (15.1 ppg) is the team's leading scorer and most lethal outside threat. Ryan Kelly (14.6 ppg) and Andre Dawkins (10.1 ppg) are also both shooting above 40 percent from beyond the arc. The game's X-Factor might be freshman Austin Rivers, who ranks third on the team in scoring at 14.4 ppg, but has yet to have that true breakout game that many were - rightly or wrongly - figuring would be a nightly occurrence.

What each team needs to win tonight might also be the same thing each needs in order to claim a national championship. Duke must get a surprisingly strong performance in the post, be it from Plumlee or someone else. Ohio State will need someone other than Sullinger to give a healthy contribution on offense.

Prediction: Ohio State 77, Duke 71

This is the night the Buckeyes erase any doubt as to whether or not they're a true national title contender.