Duke earned tough road wins over Wake Forest and Florida State this week to earn their first ACC road wins of the season. One of the other Triangle teams was able to match the Blue Devils' success. The other had a very different week.
NC State (16-6, 5-4)
January 29: NC State 55, Virginia 58
No. 19 NC State had another close game go against it, as the nation’s top shooting team fell to the nation’s second stingiest defense. Virginia saw its streak of allowing less than 60 points in an ACC game run up to seven straight games as they outplayed an injured Wolfpack team. Forward C.J. Leslie played through an illness and NC State lost guard Lorenzo Brown ten minutes into the game with a leg injury. In spite of his illness, Leslie led the Wolfpack with 20 points and 14 rebounds, but missed a critical free throw to tie the game with 3:20 left. Richard Howell’s 12 points, 11 rebounds and six assists ably supported him.
February 2: Miami 79, N.C. State 78
The Wolfpack lost an absolute heart-breaker Saturday to the Hurricanes when center Reggie Johnson's tip in gave Miami a one point lead with 0.8 seconds left to play. Freshman Rodney Purvis' heave from almost full court rattled out and N.C. State became losers of two straight. With Lorenzo Brown's foot in a boot, freshman Tyler Lewis played a career-high 36 minutes, scoring a career-high 16 points and doling out five assists. C.J. Leslie and Richard Howell were there usual strong selves, but it wasn't enough to give Miami its first ACC loss of the year.
Analysis: N.C. State has now lost four of their last six games and have lost starting point guard Lorenzo Brown. Offensively, the Wolfpack have the talent to win games, as C.J. Leslie, Richard Howell, and the State freshmen are clearly a talented bunch. However, something clearly is preventing this team from pulling out close games. The Wolfpack are going to need to find ways to win ACC games, now without Brown, in order to have any hope of being around late in the tournament. The losing streak could result in N.C. State being left out of the top-25 this week.
Upcoming: Feb 7 at Duke; Feb 10 at Clemson
UNC (15-6, 5-3)
January 29: North Carolina 82, Boston College 70
The Tar Heels put their loss to N.C. State behind them with a convincing victory at Boston College. North Carolina’s top performer was sophomore James Michael McAdoo, who led the team in scoring with 17 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds and dished three assists to cap off a solid win for the Tar Heels. Dexter Strickland and P.J. Hairston had 14 points apiece and Marcus Paige chipped in with six assists. North Carolina shot 48% and were an improved 75% at the line.
February 2: Virginia Tech 60, North Carolina 72
It took the Tar Heels an extra five minutes to finally separate from the Hokies Saturday, outlasting Virginia Tech by 12 in overtime. Neither team shot the ball well from the floor—UNC shot 37.5 percent and VT shot 38.7 percent—but the +10 rebounding differential was huge in allowing North Carolina to seize the victory. James Michael McAdoo was phenomenal, scoring 22 on 8-of-12 shooting and ripping down 12 rebounds. Freshman Marcus Paige chipped in a career-high 19 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists.
Analysis: James Michael McAdoo continues to improve for the young Tar Heels and has started to put in some top-drawer performances. North Carolina has two very tough games coming up on the schedule after they face Wake Forest Tuesday. They first travel to Coral Gables to face the ACC leading Hurricanes, then have to play at Cameron Indoor Stadium against rival Duke. The level of competitiveness in those games will say a lot about whether North Carolina belongs in the tournament come March.
Upcoming: Feb 5 vs. Wake Forest; Feb 9 at Miami
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.