SB Nation - Virginia Cavaliers

Deacon Dump 12/9: Bring on the College Cup

MRickman84 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:05:49 -0000

More photos » by John Bazemore - AP

Strange group of links today--a lot on Wake's matchup with UVA. It's snowing a lot right now, so I wouldn't be upset if I was back down in the Dash. It was great to see inspired games from James Johnson and Jeff Teague as they played each other last night. If they play like that, they will get more minutes. James easily had the best game he's had all year and it looked like Vinny Del Negro was trying out some things in the 4th quarter to test out Johnson's skill set. It worked.

Season wrap-up: Wake Forest - ACC Blog - ESPN
Much of this year’s struggles had to do with the rebuilding effort on defense, where coordinator Brad Lambert had to replace seven starters. The most noticeable difference was in the turnover category, where the Deacs led the nation with 37 takeaways in 2008. This year they had 15. They also dropped from the No. 1 punt return unit in the nation to No. 56. Skinner had another record-setting season, but he was inconsistent at times and finished with 12 interceptions, compared to seven last year.

Landon: MU search turns to names other than Jones - The Herald Dispatch
It's looking more and more like former Marshall assistant Brad Lambert is emerging as the most viable option in the Herd's head football coaching sweepstakes.

Previewing the College Cup - RootZoo Sports
Predictions: Akron 1-0 UNC: Akron stays undefeated Wake Forest 2-1 UVA: Hard to beat someone three times

FayObserver.com - Player who committed in eighth grade reconsiders
According to Tomcats coach Wendell Jeffries, in the past few months, coaches from Kentucky, Wake Forest, Miami, Baylor, DePaul, George Mason and Kansas State have all stopped by to evaluate Boatright's skills.

Deacons' soccer team will try to break through against Cavs
"I don't think there's anything we do in particular that's different against any other team," he said. Senior Austin da Luz of Wake Forest acknowledges that both teams are very familiar with each other. "It's always a tough game with them, and there's some bad blood, but we think this time we are going to try and forget the other games against them," da Luz said, "and just go into it as a tournament game, because if you lose you go home."

‘Hoos face Wake Forest in College Cup | Augusta Free Press
The teams have met twice this year, once during the regular season and once in the 2009 ACC Tournament. On Sept. 18, 2009 at Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., the Cavaliers came away with a 1-0 victory on a goal by Mike Volk. At the ACC Tournament in the semifinal round, fifth-seeded Virginia advanced past the top-seeded Demon Deacons, 5-4 on penalty kicks, after the teams played to a double overtime scoreless draw.

ACC Power Rankings: 12.8

MRickman84 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:30:14 -0000

So this probably should have been done yesterday, but I really want to get in the habit of doing power rankings throughout the season. UNC occupies the top spot this week, with Duke coming in second, as both are coming off tough losses last week to strong opponents.

Let's take a look at who is where after the jump...

1.) UNC-- [W vs. Michigan State, L vs. Kentucky] UNC is getting better as was expected. The young guys are playing well and Larry Drew II looks a lot more comfortable. I'm still concerned about the Heels' bench, as Strickland looks a little lost out there and Henson just does not know what to do with his body. The Wear twins are eating up a ton of minutes without a lot of productivity. Tyler Zeller is a great player for them though and really makes the perfect sixth man. UNC gets another tough test when they head to Dallas to play Texas at the Cowboys stadium next week.

2.) Duke -- [L vs. Wisconsin, W vs. St. John's] I thought this Duke team was supposed to be able to shoot? Kyle Singler is looking average at best so far this year and is taking a LOT of shots. You know what you're getting out of Jon Scheyer week in and week out and that is a great stabilizer. Andre Dawkins has been spectacular so far and we are going to be seeing a lot more of him as Duke enters ACC play. Duke's big weakness is still down low--Zoubek and Thomas are just bad, but the Plumlees work hard and are good players.

3.) GT [W vs. Siena, W vs. USC] The Jackets were left out of the Challenge this year because of their finish last season, and that really is a shame as I believe they would have won their matchup and turned the tide for the ACC. Instead, Tech put a whooping on Siena and USC last week. GT is stellar in the frontcourt with Lawal, Peacock and Favors, but losing Iman Shumpert is going to be sidelined for 3-6 weeks with a knee injury.

4.) Clemson [L vs. Illinois, W vs. South Carolina] Clemson is looking like bi-polar Clemson again, surprise! This is a good, solid basketball team. They have 5 players averaging at least 9 points per game and Trevor Booker is almost averaging a double-double (13 and 9). Their problem is that they just lose focus (as seen by the terrible collapse against Illinois). I think they are a better team than Georgia Tech, but they just can't pass them until they show some consistency.

5.) Miami [W vs. Minnesota, L vs. BC] Yes, I know they lost their first conference game. But it was very close and came down to the buzzer. They picked up a great non-con win over Minnesota, but still have not really been challenged other than their last two contests. Dwayne Collins is very good, but there's a lot of pressure on him coming into conference play since two of Miami's three strong guards are newcomers (Malcolm Grant from Villinova and freshman Durand Scott.) James Dews can get it done too, but we will see just how much the 'Canes miss Jack McClinton after the 1st of the year.

6.) Wake Forest [L vs. Purdue, W vs. Gonzaga] After a disappointing loss at home to William & Mary, the Deacs took to the road for two very tough tests. After a hard-fought loss to Purdue, the Deacs looked like they finally clicked in a win over Gonzaga at the Kennel. If the Demon Deacons can use this as a momentum builder, they could enter the new year at 10-2. They will be tested by UNC-W, who has played some good teams tough, as well as Richmond, which received votes in the polls this week. Freshmen C.J. Harris and Ari Stewart are looking like the real deal, but the Deacs absolutely need to get consistency from their bigs and from Al-Farouq Aminu.

7.) Virginia Tech [W vs. Iowa, W vs. Georgia] I like VT. They're better than they look on paper, and their loss to Temple is not a bad one--the Owls almost pulled off the upset against Georgetown a few games ago. They easily could finish anywhere between 6th and 10th, but the combo of Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen should be good for at least 6 conference wins.

8.) Maryland [W vs. Indiana, L vs. Villanova] I've seen Maryland play 4 times now this year and I'm sorry, I just don't think they are very good. Greivis Vasquez takes way too many ill-advised shots and he is shooting 32%. Sean Mosley and Landon Milbourne are the strong points to this team and Eric Hayes keeps them calm sometimes, but they aren't deep and I'm not sold on their front court. The Terps were a hot pick to start the season, but they have to prove something to me before they can move up the board.

9.) Boston College [W vs. Michigan, W vs. Miami] Here we go again. It's the same old story every year. BC looks sparse on paper and then Al Skinner does a great job coaching his team to overachieve. It'll probably happen again this year and their last two wins are a big indicator of this. Reggie Jackson could be a great player, and BC gets bumped up a spot just from his nasty dunk against the 'Canes (on a terrible offensive foul call in the last 30 seconds) and his clutch FTs to seal the win. Raji, Jackson, Trapani is a great combo and they get a good effort out of Josh Southern too.

10.) Florida State [L vs. Ohio State, W vs. FIU] Florida State looked downright ugly against Ohio State. And downright ugly against Florida. But that win against Marquette was big, so they have that in them. Alabi, Singleton and Kitchen are a nice 1-2-3, but the 'Noles need to be getting more out of Xavier Gibson and Ryan Reid.

11.) NC State [L vs. Northwestern, W. vs Marquette] After their loss to Northwestern, I didn't think at all that the Wolfpack would beat Marquette. It was the furthest thing from my mind. State is 6-1, but they are a mess and there is just not much there.

12.) Virginia [L vs. Penn State, L vs. Auburn] Hey, at least Virginia has beaten Cleveland State, something Wake wasn't able to do last year. Sylven Landesberg is a heck of a player, but when your next two leading scorers are Mike Scott and Sammy Zeglinski, there's a problem there. Virginia is not very good.

Maryland Minute 12.6.09 - UVA Finds a Head Coach

Ben Broman — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:33:48 -0000

UVA's next head man. Image via www.thecollegianur.com

View full size photo »

Mike London UVA's New HC
Well, my realistic first choice is gone. Didn't want to root against him. However, it could be much worse.

Virginia has called a news conference for Monday to discuss its football program, where it seems likely the Cavaliers will announce their choice to replace former coach Al Groh, who was fired a week ago. The news conference will come one day after the school asked Richmond for permission to speak with its coach, Mike London, about the job.

Ruh Roh: Mackall Still Looking Around
This is very, very bad. It's a teaser from Scout, but it's clearly Mackall (they have his name, after all). He's visiting Purdue and Rutgers, and is listing Michigan and VT. This would be an awful development.

Terps Returning to Zone
It was written before the Nova game, but they went zone there, too. Of course, it was for different reasons and worked a lot less, but that's what happened.

Pearman's Connection to Villanova
I thought this was funny.

When Villanova Coach Jay Wright played at Bucknell during the early 1980s he had a roommate named Craig Cody, who also played on the team. Cody is the uncle of Maryland junior swingman David Pearman, a walk-on who joined the Terrapins as a freshman in 2007.
Though Pearman, a native of Columbia, Md., grew up a Terrapins fan, he said at one time during his years at Oakland Mills High he considered trying to walk on at Villanova. Wright said that when Pearman was in 10th grade, Cody brought Pearman up to Villanova to watch one of the team's practices. Wright and Pearman spoke at the workout, and Wright's staff later went to watch some of Pearman's high school games.

Wright called him "a helluva walkon".

Terps #2 In Local Poll
Probably going to go down, but I found this funny:

The bright side: Already has more than twice as many wins as the football team. (Sean Flynn

Maryland Women Win 44th Consecutive Home Game
They beat Loyala to move to 8-1 on the season. They're really good at home.

Off-Topic: Billick on Coaching Again
Said he was interested, but that Notre Dame was the "one job that could lure him back into coaching". I am quietly weeping.

Big Ten / ACC Challenge - can the B10 finally win the challenge?

GopherNation — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:22:32 -0000

We all know that the ACC has dominated this "challenge" going a perfect 10-0 through the challenge's 10 year history. The Big Ten is back to being a heavyweight this year. The question is, are they good enough to finally beat the ACC head-to-head? The strength and depth of each conference is put to the test and each and every year the ACC wins. It becomes harder and harder to come up with appropriate excuses as to why the Big Ten is still better/deeper despite being unable to win more than they lose in this "challenge".

The conventional wisdom (especially in the Midwest) is that the Big Ten is arguably the best conference in the country and could go as deep as getting seven or eight into the NCAA Tournament. But unfortunately that may not translate into a B10/ACC Challenge win. I'll breakdown the match-ups in slightly greater detail below but here is how I see things playing out.

ACC Locks

Duke over Wisconsin
Maryland over Indiana
Virginia Tech over Iowa

Big Ten Locks

Purdue over Wake Forest
Ohio State over Florida State (admittedly this is closer than a lock)
Penn State over Virginia (only because it is over)

The Rest

Michigan State @ North Carolina
Minnesota @ Miami
Northwestern @ NC State
Illinois @ Clemson
Boston College @ Michigan

The Penn State win was huge and makes this much more winable. The Big Ten still needs to snag three of the toss-up five and four of those are on the road so...

Here is a brief look at each match-up with some key tempo-free stats.

Penn State @ Virginia - We kick off the Challenge with Talor Battle vs. Sylven Landesberg. And Battle won the battle, will it be enough for the Big Ten to win the war? (that analogy was awesome) Let's not waste time on this game since it is over.

Wake Forest @ Purdue - Here is a lock for the Big Ten and this may be the biggest lock of the entire challenge. Purdue is at home and so far has been the best looking team in the conference. Wake is 4-1 but has four meaningless wins and then a loss to William & Mary (that is one loss, not two).

	Wake Forest	Purdue
KenPom Rank	90	7
Off Eff	1.034	1.101
Def Eff	0.914	0.792
TO%	21.1%	17.7%
Off Reb %	42.2%	32.6%
Def Reb %	69.3%	71.7%

Wake rebounds on the offensive end of the floor very well but they tend to turn the ball over a bit too much, while Purdue forces turnovers to the tune of 28.3% of their opponents possessions. Wake is lead by Al-Farouq Aminu who is averaging 18.8 ppg and 11.2 rpg, he should be fun to watch but Purue's balance and overall efficiency should carry the Boilermakers to the home win here.

Northwestern @ NC State - NU is coming of a big win over the overrated Notre Dame Irish and NC State really hasn't played anybody yet. They did beat Auburn but that isn't a terribly impressive win. After the loss of Kevin Coble the Wildcats have turned to a the combo of Michael Thompson and John Shurna who are averaging a combined 32.7 ppg (48% of NU's offense), 9.4 rpg and 6.2 apg.

	Northwestern	NC State
KenPom Rank	87	46
Off Eff	1.086	1.068
Def Eff	0.978	0.895
TO%	18.4%	22.0%
Off Reb %	29.2%	35.2%
Def Reb %	64.1%	67.2%

This is one of the more interesting match-ups. The Wolfpack should be favored but Northwestern is a unique team to defend and could pose some problems for NC State. Northwestern has been pretty bad rebounding the ball this year and NC State has had their turnover problems. Whichever team can minimize their problem area the most will win this game. I'm calling the road upset here for Northwestern. I think they force just enough turnovers and then shoot their way to a win here.

Maryland @ Indiana -A lock for the ACC. Indiana is just too young, inexperienced and unimpressive to beat a decent but not great Maryland team. The Terps are on a two-game losing streak and really have not beaten anybody significant in this short season but I just don't see a way that Indiana pulls this one out. The Terps have four players averaging double-figures, three of whom are seniors. On the flip side Indiana is led by three players averaging 12 points or more per game but they include two freshman and a sophomore.

	Maryland	Indiana
KenPom Rank	51	189
Off Eff	1.028	0.945
Def Eff	0.868	0.966
TO%	15.2%	22.6%
Off Reb %	29.4%	33.6%
Def Reb %	66.3%	65.9%

This one will be a turnover fest for the Hoosiers. Maryland forces turnovers and Indiana loves to give it up. Add that to the fact that IU already struggles to score and you see why I have Maryland winning.

Michigan State @ North Carolina - My initial reaction is that this is another ACC win. The Tar Heels are just not a great match-up for Michigan State and the Spartans are on the road. Neither team has lived up to their preseason hype but the rematch of last year's NCAA final is the marquee match-up nonetheless.

	Michigan St	North Carolina
KenPom Rank	45	75
Off Eff	1.123	1.075
Def Eff	0.933	0.930
TO%	19.9%	22.8%
Off Reb %	43.4%	43.3%
Def Reb %	69.9%	69.2%

UNC has a turnover issue and they are not scoring nearly as efficiently as we are used to seeing Roy Williams team score. But Michigan State doesn't force many turnovers so I really don't expect that to be an issues. All other efficiency stats are virtually even. Both teams hold opponents to about .93 points per possession, both teams score right around 1.1 ppp and both teams rebound at near identical percentages. Whichever teams boxes out and keeps the Michigan State is probably a more experienced team but UNC is home and until the Spartans actually beat the Tar Heals I'm going with UNC.

Virginia Tech @ Iowa - I don't know that I need to spend much time on this one, Iowa is pretty bad this year.

	Virginia Tech	Iowa
KenPom Rank	145	207
Off Eff	0.915	0.955
Def Eff	0.886	0.995
TO%	16.3%	23.0%
Off Reb %	38.4%	32.6%
Def Reb %	69.3%	73.9%

On the surface and looking at the numbers I just don't see how Iowa gets this one done. Virginia Tech is also not very good and they struggle offensively more than Iowa does but I'd be surprised if they were to fall to the Hawkeyes.

Illinois @ Clemson - This might be the game I'm most looking forward to. Both teams are balanced with good inside/outside threats. Illinois is led by Demetri McCamey on the perimeter and Mike Davis on the interior. McCamey is averaging 12.7 ppg and 6.0 apg while Davis is averaging a double-double with 11.8 ppg and 10.0 rpg. For Clemson they are led by their senior forward Trevor Booker who is averaging 13.9 ppg and 8.7 rpg, but he's not alone as Tanner Smith is chipping in 11.6 ppg from the perimeter. These guys may not exactly guard each other but their match-ups should be a lot of fun to watch (especially if you like the color orange).

	Illinois	Clemson
KenPom Rank	83	10
Off Eff	1.089	1.125
Def Eff	0.967	0.843
TO%	15.6%	21.0%
Off Reb %	35.1%	39.6%
Def Reb %	74.7%	68.6%

Clemson is more efficient on offense but Illinois takes better care of the ball and their defensive rebounding is better. I want to go with Illinois here but after their losses to Bradley and Utah last week they make it really difficult to make that leap. Clemson will likely get the home W here.

Minnesota @ Miami - This is a Gopher blog so I'm going with a Gopher win. Miami is 7-0 but they have not played anybody of even relative significance.

	Minnesota	Miami
KenPom Rank	8	31
Off Eff	1.018	1.042
Def Eff	0.753	0.842
TO%	18.3%	26.5%
Off Reb %	31.2%	43.7%
Def Reb %	71.0%	71.4%

I think the numbers will back me up here. The Gopher offense struggles but this game comes down to defense and turnovers. Miami turns the ball over at an alarming rate and the Gophers offense thrives when the ball is given to them as much as the Hurricanes have been giving it up this year.

Boston College @ Michigan - A couple weeks ago I would have felt this was a lock for Michigan, but the Wolverines have struggled lately and this is going to be another tough match-up for them.

	Boston College	Michigan
KenPom Rank	82	130
Off Eff	1.174	1.034
Def Eff	1.032	0.979
TO%	18.3%	13.8%
Off Reb %	43.4%	29.9%
Def Reb %	70.7%	61.0%

Boston College is pretty efficient offensively but not so much on the defensive end. Michigan has really struggled with rebounding on both ends. The numbers support a BC win but when the lights get bright and when playing at home I expect Manny Harris to lead Michigan to a big win for the Big Ten. He can't do it alone but I think he'll be the catalyst.

Duke @ Wisconsin - I have great respect for Bo Ryan but Duke is just plain too good. I don't need to spend much time on this one. Wisconsin is experienced and it is at the Kohl Center but Duke is just too good.

	Duke	Wisconsin
KenPom Rank	3	50
Off Eff	1.188	1.096
Def Eff	0.809	0.920
TO%	15.5%	18.3%
Off Reb %	41.3%	32.2%
Def Reb %	67.6%	74.8%

The number support a Duke win. They rebound better, they take care of the ball better, they are are more efficient on both ends and they shoot better. This would be a huge shock if the Badgers were to pull this one out.

Florida State @ Ohio State - This also appears to be a really good match-up. Ohio State has been great in the early part of the season largely because Evan Turner has been outstanding. He is leading the Big Ten in rebounds (12.8) and assists (6.7). And also throwing in a decent 19.8 ppg which is third best in the league. He'll be the man the Seminoles should be most concerned about but they can't lose Jon Diebler who is making nearly four three-pointers per game and averaging 15.7 ppg. Florida State is athletic and lead by their own big time forward, Chris Singleton. He is averaging 12.3 ppg and 8.1 rpg. FSU is also big in the middle with Solomon Alabi and Xavier Gibson measuring out at 7-1 and 6-11 respectively.

	Florida St	Ohio St
KenPom Rank	17	25
Off Eff	0.992	1.132
Def Eff	0.758	0.895
TO%	26.4%	15.5%
Off Reb %	40.0%	34.1%
Def Reb %	68.4%	72.4%

Looking at the numbers FSU is very good defensively. They hold teams to just .758 points per possession which is third best in the country. They also hold teams to a 37.8 eFG% and block 22.9% of their opponents shots; both of which are also third best in the nation. This team will defend and it will be interesting to see if Turner, Diebler and Lighty can find some offense in this game. The Achilles heal of FSU is their turnover rate. When you give up the ball on 26.4% of your possessions you will allow good teams to stay in the game regardless of how good you are on defense. Ohio State is very good offensively scoring 1.132 pnts per possession and recording an eFG% of 59.5 (6th best in the country). If FSU continues to turn the ball over then I think OSU's offense will roll. Rebounding should be an important stat, but I think the key will be the turnovers. OSU wins this game at home.

After all of that (and one game in the books) I am seeing a Big Ten win, finally.

Big Ten -6 (PSU, Pur, Minn, OSU, Mich, NU)

ACC - 5 (Mary, Duke, UNC, VTech, Clem)

Big Ten-ACC Challenge: A Back-of-the-Envelope Mathematical Preview

KJ@theonlycolors — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:00:29 -0000

A number of college basketball observers have been asking whether this is the year the Big Ten finally wins the Big Ten-ACC Challenge--although the less-than-dominating early-season tournament performances by ranked Big Ten teams this past week has probably reduced some of the national-level enthusiasm for Big Ten basketball.

Still, the Big Ten looks like it's 8 teams deep in terms of potential NCAA Tournament entrants. Is this the year the conference puts the "challenge" in the "Big Ten-ACC Challenge"? (To be fair, as pointed out by Mike Miller, they have come within one game of winning the thing 5 times in 10 attempts.)

To get some sense of the Big Ten's chances I've approximated game-by-game odds based on the still-early-but-fairly-reasonable-looking Sagarin ratings. Here they are:

Visitor	Home	Line	Favored
Penn St	Virginia	(9.0)	ACC
Wake Forest	Purdue	(14.0)	B10
Maryland	Indiana	6.0	ACC
Northwestern	NC State	(8.5)	ACC
Michigan St	North Carolina	(3.0)	ACC
Virginia Tech	Iowa	5.5	ACC
Illinois	Clemson	(13.5)	ACC
Boston College	Michigan	(2.5)	B10
Minnesota	Miami	(4.5)	ACC
Duke	Wisconsin	2.0	ACC
Florida St	Ohio St	(1.0)	B10

The numbers aren't very promising, as the ACC team is favored in 8 of 11 match-ups. And 2 of the 3 Big Ten favorites are favored by very small margins.

The big obstacle is that, of the Big Ten's 6 home games, 2 of them are being played at the venues of the two ~~worst~~ weakest teams in the Big Ten. Unless Indiana and/or Iowa can somehow hold court and win their games, the Big Ten would need to win the other four home games (including Wisconsin over Duke) and pull off two road victories--with MSU and Minnesota being the best hopes. As deep as the Big Ten looks in terms of potential tournament teams, the ACC is deeper through the very bottom of the league, with no team ranked lower than #83 in the Sagarin ratings.

So I'll go on record as predicting the Big Ten loses the challenge for yet another year. But, as the old cliché goes, they play the games on the court, not on paper. Hopefully I'm wrong, and the Big Ten rebounds from its generally disappointing results thus far in the new season.

Game action starts tonight, with Penn State-Virginia on ESPN2 at 7:00.

RPI WATCH: 11/26/09

BracketCat — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:00:13 -0000

One of our conference opponents laid a big egg to a mid-major Wednesday. Find out who after the jump.

If for some reason you absolutely need to know up-to-date numbers, I get them here.

Current Kansas State RPI = 28

Current Kansas State SOS = 45

Great Wins (RPI 1-50) = Dayton

Solid Wins (RPI 51-100) = Loyola

Bad Losses (RPI 100 or greater) = none

Loyola (3-1) | RPI = 54
Western Illinois (2-3) | RPI = 125
Boston (1-4) | RPI = 141
Ole Miss (4-1) | RPI = 76
No. 18 Dayton (2-2) | RPI = 32
IUPUI (5-1) | RPI = 56: Win over Indiana-East (98-67)
Fort Hays State (3-0)
Washington State (4-0) | RPI = 164: Win over Alaska-Anchorage (87-68)
Xavier (3-0) | RPI = 79
UNLV (4-0) | RPI = 3: Win over Holy Cross (80-59)
Alabama (2-1) | RPI = 186
UAPB (0-3) | RPI = 166
Cleveland State (3-3) | RPI = 201: Loss to Virginia (76-65)
South Dakota (2-3)
Missouri (3-0) | RPI = 283
Texas A&M (3-0) | RPI = 135
Colorado (4-2) | RPI = 127: Win at Chaminade (73-58)
No. 3 Texas (4-0) | RPI = 71
Oklahoma State (4-0) | RPI = 22
Baylor (4-0) | RPI = 60
No. 1 Kansas (4-0) | RPI = 50: Win over Oakland (89-59)
Nebraska (3-1) | RPI = 126
Iowa State (5-0) | RPI = 187
No. 25 Oklahoma (2-2) | RPI = 146: Loss to San Diego (76-64)
Texas Tech (6-0) | RPI = 94

Hayes of the Day: Nov. 26

MRickman84 — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:00:13 -0000

Only four games yesterday, so only a few contenders for the vaunted Hayes of the Day. Mull it over with some cranberry sauce and give thanks for the Eric Hayes in your family.

Poll

Who was yesterday's Hayes of the Day?

Virginia- Sammy Zeglinski vs. Cleveland State: 10 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 TO

0 votes

Duke- Lance Thomas vs. Arizona State: 4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 TO, 1-2 FG in 23 minutes

2 votes

Maryland- Sean Mosley vs. Wisconsin: 10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 TO, 5 PF

0 votes

Miami- Durand Scott vs. Florida Gulf Coast: 8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 0 TO

4 votes

Eric Hayes: 13 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block, 2 TO

2 votes

8 votes | Poll has closed

Around the ACC: 11/26

MRickman84 — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:00:26 -0000

Only two ACC teams in action today--Clemson takes on Texas A&M at 4:30 in the 76 Classic and Florida State plays Iona at 9:00 in the Old Spice Classic. The biggest game of the day is Minnesota v. Butler (also part of the 76 Classic) tonight at 8:30. That kind of a game is good for gauging how good a mid-major really is, in addition to what a high end team in a conference like the Big Ten looks like against a good opponent. I'm definitely interested in this matchup.

Maryland 69, Wisconsin 78
Maryland has not looked good. Now, this game wasn't exactly pretty for either team throughout, but it is pretty obvious that the Terps have some questions they need to answer. Vasquez keeps jacking it up but hit a couple more late to give him 18 points. The problems from the Cincy game were not as evident, but MD's perimeter defense really doomed them against the Badgers as Wisconsin hit 10 of 22. Cedar Falls product Jason Bohannon dropped 20 on 5-7 shooting (4-5 on 3PTs).

Virginia 76, Cleveland State 65
Good to see the Cavs pull off a decent win. I honestly don't know what to make of UVA. They don't have a ton of pieces, but they do have Tony Bennett instituting a new philosophy into the team. If they buy in, Virginia could outproduce their talent level. Cleveland State is not a dud team. We know what they can do and they're picked to finish 3rd in the Horizon. So this is definitely a good victory for the Cavs.

Landesberg had 20 points, but the big story was walk-on Will Sherrill's 15 point explosion in the second half.

Miami 77, Florida Gulf Coast 58

Miami beat a team they should beat. The 'Canes forced 23 Eagle turnovers and held FGCU to 1-13 shooting from beyond the arc. DeQuan Jones led Miami with 18 points and 5 rebounds, while Malcolm Grant tossed in 14 points, 4 assists and 5 rebounds. James Dews lit it up with 5 of 6 threes for 15.

Duke 64, Arizona State 53

Oh, Herb Sendek. Your teams never look good, but they always compete. And with 13 minutes to go in the game, they were tied with Duke, who really struggled to find their shot and a rhythm. Kyle Singler really struggled, missing 9 of his first 10, but recovered to hit 4 of his last 6 to finish with 13. Jon Scheyer committed a turnover. That brings him to...one this season. He also had 16 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Nolan Smith added 14. Duke really shot poorly in this game though, especially from deep (4-18) as two of those four came from freshman Andre Dawkins. Former Duke benchwarmer Eric Boateng had 4 points and 9 TOs.

Hayes of the Day: Nov. 25

MRickman84 — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:00:19 -0000

Ok, so I figured this thing out. After talking it over and playing around, I've decided the Hayes of the Day wil be the ACC player who has the most Eric Hayes-like completely average ACC game from the night before. Vote away.

Poll

Who is today's Hayes of the Day?

Virginia- Sammy Zeglinski vs. Stanford: 2 points, 3 assists, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 TO

0 votes

Maryland- Cliff Tucker vs. Cincinnati: 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 TO

6 votes

Florida State- Michael Snaer vs. Florida: 5 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 TO

2 votes

LD Williams vs. Winston-Salem State: 9 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 TO

6 votes

Eric Hayes: 5 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 block, 0 TO

1 votes

15 votes | Poll has closed

Around the ACC: 11.25

MRickman84 — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:58:14 -0000

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The biggest story of the day was Maryland's loss to Cincinnati, which will effectively drop them from the rankings. Cincinnati looked pretty strong the whole way and was way more physical and tenacious on the boards. The ACC had a hiccup --with only Wake winning out of the four games. Let's recap yesterday's games in the ACC.

Cincinnati 69, Maryland 57
Greivis Vasquez's struggles to find his shot finally caught up with Maryland. The senior finished with 19 points, but he was 5-17 from the field. He took more than double the shots of every other individual player, so if he is going to dominate that many possessions, he absolutely needs to have better shot selection and make more for Maryland to have the kind of season they are hoping for.

Freshman Lance Stephenson, who the Terps were recruiting pretty heavily before backing off, had an efficient 11 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 4 assists. He isn't pretty at times, but he has shown he is pretty good at cleaning up the trash around the hoop. Oh, and the Terrapins shot 2-14 from beyond the arc. Woof.

Florida 68, Florida State 52
This game was not very pretty. FSU was down 20 at the half and creeped back in it with pressing and quick possessions before the Gators went on a 12-0 run. The 'Noles shot 33% and 3-16 from deep (and people talk about Wake's poor three point shooting...). They also had 23 turnovers. Derwin Kitchen led all scorers with 15, but also had 5 turnovers of his own.

Virginia 52, Stanford 57
In another stinger for the ACC, Virginia fell to Stanford in a close contest till about the 5 minute mark before Stanford went on a run and closed the game out. The Cardinal were paced by Landry Fields' 25 and 13. Sylven Landesberg and Jeff Jones combined for 33 points on 12-21 shooting, but the rest of the Cavaliers shot just 16%.

Wake Forest 76, Winston-Salem State, 52
The story was guard play, with Ish Smith and CJ Harris dominating. You can find a full recap of the game soon, so check back a little later in the day.