ACC Tournament 2015: Round 2 Scores, Updated Bracket, Quarterfinals Schedule
If the ACC tournament can keep being as dramatic as the first day, fans will be in for quite a week.
While the opening round at Greensboro, North Carolina featured only the bottom four teams in the league, it led to two incredible games, with Boston College and Virginia Tech each coming away with one-point wins on late baskets.
With four new teams in action Wednesday, including a few worrying about their standing in the NCAA tournament, Day 2 should be just as exciting.
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Here is a look at scores and results for the second round of the ACC tournament, updated as the day progresses.
| 12 p.m. | Florida State 76, Clemson 73 |
| 2 p.m. | North Carolina 81, Boston College 63 |
| 7 p.m. | North Carolina State 81, Pittsburgh 70 |
| 9 p.m. | Miami 59, Virginia Tech 49 |
For an updated bracket, go to TheACC.com.
No. 9 Florida State 76, No. 8 Clemson 73
A late charge by Clemson was not enough to overcome an outstanding effort by guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes as Florida State escaped the first game of the day with a win.
The electric freshman guard totaled 30 points in the game, which seemed destined to be a blowout late in the second half. Brendan Sonnone of the Orlando Sentinel described what he saw from the performance:
Guard Montay Brandon also came through with 17 points, while the team shot 54.7 percent from the floor in the win.
Despite these strong efforts, Clemson was able to keep it competitive after being down 20 points with about 10 minutes remaining. Guard Rod Hall scored 25 points in the loss with much of that coming in the final few minutes, but it ended up being too little, too late for the No. 8 seed.
The two sides appeared to be evenly matched throughout the start of the first half, but Seminoles were able to turn a three-point advantage into a 33-26 halftime lead. Within the first minute of the second half, they were able to build that up to double digits.
As the game continued, Rathan-Mayes made his shots while Clemson was just left watching. Evan West of WCBD broke down the situation down the stretch:
The Tigers surprisingly did make a charge in the final minutes with their pressure defense to cut the lead to single digits. Some poor mistakes and missed free throws by Florida State gave Clemson a realistic chance to earn the win after a rough game.
Rob Dauster of NBC Sports described the comeback:
Guard Gabe DeVoe was able to get a shot that could've sent the game to overtime, but the comeback was not meant to be as the three-pointer rimmed out, giving the Seminoles a three-point win.
Virginia was awaiting the winner of this game in the quarterfinals, probably having similar thoughts as David Teel of the Daily Press:
Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, they will not get their wish as they will now play Florida State on Thursday at noon ET. As good as Virginia has been this season, this could be a matchup to watch in the next round.
No. 5 North Carolina 81, No. 12 Boston College 63
It wasn’t always pretty, but North Carolina was able to pull away from Boston College and earn a quality victory in its first game of the ACC tournament.
Like much of his teammates, forward Brice Johnson struggled to make shots at the rim for a good portion of the day. Still, he was able to finish with 17 points and nine rebounds in the win. As Powell Latimer of The News & Record pointed out, it was a quality day but not a great one:
This performance was especially important with fellow big man Kennedy Meeks out with an illness.
Guard Marcus Paige stepped up as well with a strong all-around effort, finishing with 17 points, nine assists and six rebounds.
While Boston College was able to keep things close early on, the Tar Heels still managed to get out to a 43-30 lead at halftime. Andrew Carter of the Charlotte Observer explained the difference in the game:
The poor shooting from Boston College guard Olivier Hanlan continued throughout the day, as the ACC’s leading scorer finished just 5-of-19 from the floor. Forward Aaron Brown picked up the slack with 20 points and Hanlan ended up with 18 himself, but it was difficult to keep up with North Carolina's fast-paced offense.
Although the deficit was cut to 10 with under four minutes remaining, the Eagles weren't able to get closer as their year ends with a loss.
The Tar Heels will now move on to the quarterfinals for what should be an excellent battle against No. 4 Louisville.
The squads split their two meetings during the regular season, with both matchups going down to the wire. With NCAA tournament seeding on the line, this is certain to be a good one.
No. 7 North Carolina State 81, No. 10 Pittsburgh 70
North Carolina State got out to a comfortable lead and stayed ahead to earn an opening win against Pittsburgh and help secure a bid to the NCAA tournament.
The story in this one was two different North Carolina State players taking over one half at a time. The first half was all about Anthony “Cat” Barber, who got off to a hot start to help pull away, via Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports:
He ended the first half with 21 of his career high of 34 total points, which at the time was just two short of Pittsburgh’s entire team. This impressive drive showed just how easy things were for him in the game:
In the second half, it was teammate Trevor Lacey’s chance to shine. The junior had 14 of his 21 points after intermission, helping the Wolfpack stay in front.
Matthew Steinbrink of Rivals.com summed up the game at that point:
Pittsburgh had four players in double figures, including Cameron Wright with a game high of 19, but the inability to shut down the explosive duo on the other side of the floor ended up being the difference.
North Carolina State will now try to replicate its biggest win of the year with an upcoming game against Duke. The squad actually beat the Blue Devils by 12 points in January, so advancing to the semifinals remains a possibility.
Of course, the Wolfpack can expect an angry Duke team looking for revenge in this one.
No. 6 Miami 59, No. 14 Virginia Tech 49
Miami's dreams of reaching the NCAA tournament remain alive after surviving a 59-49 battle against Virginia Tech.
While the Hokies came into the ACC tournament as the last seed, they fought hard to upset Wake Forest in the first round before giving the Hurricanes a battle in Round 2.
At the same time, Miami was trying to survive with point guard Angel Rodriguez limited with a wrist injury. He played sparingly, but it needed others to step up, which Sheldon McClellon did early:
The Texas transfer finished with 16 points, but he wasn't getting much help as the Hurricanes struggled to pull away from the No. 14 seed.
As Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports noted, the performance wasn't impressing anyone regardless of result:
The two sides continued to battle down the stretch, but Miami was finally able to get an advantage thanks to its outside shooting. Considering Virginia Tech finished just 3-of-15 from three-point range, it was hard to catch up.
With some quality free-throw shooting down the stretch, Miami held on for an ugly but effective 10-point win.
The squad will now try to solidify its place in the NCAA tournament by beating Notre Dame in the quarterfinals. It will be difficult to match the extremely efficient Fighting Irish on the offensive end of the court, but a tournament that has already featured plenty of drama could bring more surprises Thursday.
Round 3 Preview
| 12 p.m. | No.1 Virginia vs. No. 9 Florida State | ESPN |
| 2 p.m. | No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 5 North Carolina | ESPN |
| 7 p.m. | No. 2 Duke vs. No. 7 NC State | ESPN |
| 9 p.m. | No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 6 Miami | ESPN |
The quarterfinals will feature the first appearances from the top four seeds in the ACC tournament—four teams that all have the talent to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament.
This includes top-seeded Virginia, which is coming off of a rare loss at Louisville in the final game of the regular season. Despite the struggles, head coach Tony Bennett thinks his team will learn from it, per Todd Dybas of The Washington Times:
"I think we learned a valuable lesson against Louisville. We’ve got to be better than that if we want to advance. We understand that. We’ve got to learn from that, be thankful for what it taught us. ...That game showed us a few things we need to tighten up.
Who knows if we won that game if our guys would not understand it as clearly. I think we understand that clearly now. Now, we have to do something about it.
"
The Cavaliers can get a chance at redemption against the Cardinals if both teams win Thursday and advance to the quarterfinals.
On the other side of the bracket, Notre Dame and Duke will try to continue their offensive prowess and advance beyond the quarterfinals against inferior opponents.
Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter for the latest breaking news and analysis.
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