Underdogs ruling at upset-filled ACC tournament

College Basketball

Underdogs ruling at upset-filled ACC tournament

By Joedy McCreary, AP Sports Writer

Mar 13, 2010

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Greensboro, N.C. — The underdogs are trying to top each other at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament - and they're succeeding.

"I've been seeing all the highlights of all the games, and what it seemed like is all the lower seeds were coming out on top," North Carolina State freshman Scott Wood said. "I kind of didn't want to let them all down."

Three upsets in the quarterfinal round set up a pair of unlikely semifinal matchups Saturday: Top-seeded Duke faces 12th-seeded Miami, and seventh-seeded Georgia Tech takes on 11th-seeded N.C. State.

The fourth-ranked Blue Devils — the only one of the top six seeds to make it to the semifinals — beat Virginia 57-46 before the Hurricanes started the binge of upsets by topping fourth-seeded Virginia Tech 70-65.

Then came the evening session, when the Yellow Jackets toppled No. 19 Maryland 69-64, and the Wolfpack beat third-seeded Florida State 58-52.

The ACC's two bottom seeds have made it to the semifinals, and five of the top six seeds are done — both firsts in the storied league tournament's history. In fact, never before had four of the top six been eliminated by this stage of the event.

"That's just one thing that I've noticed, and it just shows that the lower seeds have probably been wanting it a little bit more," Wood said. "I think that's how it should be."

At least one team — either N.C. State or Georgia Tech — is assured of becoming the latest ACC team to play four tournament games in four days. The Hurricanes, who sprung their second upset in a 24-hour period, hope to join them.

"In AAU, we played four games in one day. This is what I'm here for," said Miami's Durand Scott, who scored 11 of his 17 points in the final 6 minutes against the Hokies. "This is what I like. I love to play basketball. I live for this. If I could play it nonstop without a break, I would do it."

Three of the league's top players struggled just as mightily as its top teams.

ACC player of the year Greivis Vasquez of Maryland and fellow all-conference players Jon Scheyer of Duke and Malcolm Delaney of Virginia Tech combined to make 14 of 53 shots, including 3 of 25 from 3-point range.

The ACC's only favorite to win Friday used Scheyer's timely scoring surge. He scored seven of his 15 points during the decisive run against the Cavaliers.

Kyle Singler had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Nolan Smith also had 15 points while Scheyer, the third member of Duke's "Big Three," keyed the 11-0 run that saved the Blue Devils from joining the league's growing list of upset victims.

Instead, they'll face the Hurricanes, who had dropped 11 of 14 games before arriving here and joined the 2006 Wake Forest team as the only 12th-seed to reach the semifinals. DeQuan Jones added 14 points for the Hurricanes, who had never won two games in their previous five ACC tournaments.

In the other half of the bracket, Wood had his second hot shooting performance against the Seminoles, scoring 18 points on six 3-pointers to send the Wolfpack into the semifinals for the first time since coach Sidney Lowe reached the title game in his first season in 2007. They'll face a Georgia Tech team that blew most of a 19-point lead, overcame 25 turnovers and needed Iman Shumpert to strip the ball from Vasquez in the closing seconds.

That gave the Yellow Jackets' NCAA tournament resume a boost, with Selection Sunday drawing closer. Not that coach Paul Hewitt is looking that far ahead just yet.

"Right now, we're in this tournament. We can answer all the questions ourselves," Hewitt said. "It's in our hands. We'll just see what happens tomorrow, and we'll take it from there."

Most Recent Comments

RE: Underdogs ruling at upset-filled ACC tournament

I've been watching this tourney for years, and I can't remember this many upsets. Duke to win it all.

RE: Underdogs ruling at upset-filled ACC tournament

I realize college basketball is weak in general this year, but with all the tournament upsets around the country this year, one might think some of the top teams are "mailing it in" to give more teams in their conference a chance to get off the bubble.
- Posted by Ken D.

You don't really believe that, do you?

I don't think any TEAM wants to help another conference team get into the dance. Now the CONFERENCE may want that, because the more that get in, the better. But I don't think that has any bearing on the outcomes of these games.

Speaking just for the ACC, aside from Duke and Maryland, it's anybody's tournament. The seedings mean nothing. Someone HAD to be a 6 seed. Someone HAD to be an 11 seed. But the 11 seeded Wolfpack has now won 5 of their last 6 games. They're playing better than their seeding now. No seed is safe in the ACC this year! Duke even struggled with Virginia!