Around the ACC: Opening weekend

No. 12 North Carolina 84, Oakland 61

With leading scorer P.J Hairston and senior guard Leslie McDonald sidelined due to NCAA eligibility concerns, sophomore guard J.P. Tokoto took over and scored a career-high 13 points, all in a dominant first half for the Tar Heels. They shot 74.4 percent from the field in the first half, the highest percentage for any half in 11 seasons under head coach Roy Williams. The Golden Grizzlies were “shell-shocked,” as their head coach Greg Kampe described, in the first half, shooting only 21 percent while going down 58-21 at the intermission. North Carolina forward James Michael McAdoo had a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds.

No. 8 Syracuse 80, Cornell 62

Cornell stunningly found themselves holding a 14-point lead with 4:11 to play in the first half, thanks mostly to the strong play of sharpshooter Nolan Cressler, who finished with a career-high 23 points. Sophomore Trevor Cooney sparked life back into the Orange, contributing greatly to an 18-5 surge in the second half and had an emphatic two-handed dunk to put Syracuse up 60-48 with 11 minutes to play. He had 27 points and knocked down seven 3-pointers as the Orange defeated the Big Red for the 34th straight time. Syracuse senior C.J. Fair ended up with 19 points.

No. 18 Connecticut 78, Maryland 77

The Terrapins almost overcame a 17-point deficit late in the second half to shock the Huskies. Connecticut’s Shabazz Napier was given a technical for boasting about a fastbreak, energizing Maryland into producing an 11-0 run off five consecutive points from junior Nick Faust. Junior Dez Wells couldn’t connect on two separate opportunities to take the lead for the Terps after Connecticut missed the front end of back-to-back 1-and-1s. Faust led Maryland with 17 points as Wells, Evan Smotrycz and Jake Layman all had 13.

No. 24 Virginia 61, James Madison 41

Virginia never trailed as their perimeter defense held James Madison to shooting just 31.3 percent from the floor. Cavalier redshirt sophomore Anthony Gill went 5-for-5 from the field for a game-high 13 points, but returning first-team, all-ACC senior guard Joe Harris disappointed with only five points. Virginia’s rebounding advantage sparked a 17-1 run in the first half in which James Madison went almost seven minutes without scoring.

Clemson 71, Stetson 51

Junior forward K.J. McDaniels put together a career-high 20-point effort to lead the Tigers to their 29th straight season-opening victory. Clemson managed a 33-5 run in the first half to go ahead 46-15 at the break, forcing Stetson into shooting only 20 percent from the field. The Tigers, without a senior on their roster, constantly switched players in and out to exhaust the Hatters.

No. 21 Notre Dame 84, Stetson 49

Against Miami (OH), fifth-year senior center Garrick Sherman shot 1-of-7 and fouled out in a narrow 12-point win. He cleared the memory of that dismal, season-opening performance with a 15-point, nine-rebound effort to give the Fighting Irish their second win in three days. Notre Dame shot 64 percent from 3-point range and 61 percent from the field while Stetson only shot 27 percent overall and had 10 turnovers in the first half alone. The Fighting Irish’s lead never dropped to fewer than 27 points in the second half, as Notre Dame improved to 48-0 in the month of November under head coach Mike Brey.

Florida State 91, Jacksonville 67

Needing to step up this year, sophomore point guard Devon Bookert took control of the game for the Seminoles, finishing with 16 points and nine rebounds. Pivotal as well, Florida State forward Okaro White scored 18 points and tacked on 11 rebounds. The Dolphins kept it close in the early stages of the second half, sinking a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 50-45. However, the Seminoles’ size advantage and high field goal percentage ultimately allowed them to pull away, as they outrebounded Jacksonville 41-28 and shot 53.3 percent.

St. Francis Brooklyn 66, Miami (FL) 62 OT

Miami couldn’t convert on any of their 15 3-point attempts in the game, marking the first time the Hurricanes didn’t complete a shot from beyond the arc in all 173 of their games at the Bank United Center. They never led in the overtime period, and missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds of overtime after a turnover. The Terriers missed their first 13 shots but still found themselves with a 27-26 lead at halftime. Miami only shot 31 percent from the field, clearly struggling as only 13.3 percent of their scoring from last year returned.

Georgia Tech 88, Presbyterian 57

Star sophomores Marcus Georges-Hunt and Robert Carter, Jr. respectively had 17 points and nine rebounds and 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Yellow Jackets routed the Blue Hose. Center Daniel Miller and senior transfer Trae Golden each added on 12 points in the victory. Presbyterian only shot 34 percent compared to Georgia Tech’s 51 percent, and earned just four points from their reserves while the Yellow Jackets’s bench contributed 25 points. With the win, Georgia Tech improved to 9-0 all-time against the Blue Hose.

N.C. State 98, Appalachian State 77

While the score was a close 43-38 at a halftime, N.C. State blew the game open in the second half, excelling against the Mountaineers in creating easy buckets in transition and leading by as many as 27 points. Durham native T.J. Warren scored 21 of his game-high 27 points in the second half for the Wolfpack, and junior guard Desmond Lee added 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting. Appalachian State made 56 percent of their shots from the floor in the first half, but only mustered 43 percent from the field after the break.

USC Upstate 64, Virginia Tech 63

Senior forward Cadarian Haines contributed 17 second-half points for Virginia Tech, but it wasn’t enough as the Spartans stunned the Hokies. Forward Jarell Eddie, who led the Hokies with 18 points, had his game-winning attempt blocked by Babatunde Olumiwuya, the player also responsible for breaking the 62-62 tie with an inside basket with 1:54 remaining. For the Spartans, it was the first-ever victory against an ACC opponent.

Pittsburgh 88, Savannah State 55

Junior center Derrick Randall rode the bench for two years at Rutgers, but finally made a statement, playing in his first regular season game for Pittsburgh, posting career highs with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Senior Lamar Patterson had a career-high seven assists for the Panthers in the blowout. Pittsburgh shot out to a 40-13 lead at the half, with the 13 points given up marking the third-fewest given up in any half by the Panthers in 63 years. The game was characterized by a high amount of fouls as the teams are still adjusting to the new rules about contact in the lane, featuring 52 free throws and 48 fouls.

Wake Forest 89, Colgate 78

The contest stayed very even for the first 30 minutes, but sophomore guard Cody Miller-McIntyre took over after that. He scored 14 consecutive points for the Demon Deacons in an 19-4 run in which the Raiders did not make a field goal for more than five minutes. Colgate completed nine 3-pointers in the first half, but only three in the final 18 minutes. The Raiders were simply unable to contain Wake Forest in the interior, as 74 of the 89 points for the Demon Deacons came in the paint or off free throws.

Massachusetts 86, Boston College 73

Boston College fell to its intrastate rival Massachusetts in a disappointing loss, leaving the Eagles with an 0-2 start after losing to Providence in overtime in the opener. The Minutemen turned up their defensive pressure as they fought back from a nine-point deficit in the second half. The tilt was knotted at 51-all before Massachusetts broke away with a 14-2 run under the talented effort of Chaz Williams. Boston College’s Ryan Anderson led the Eagles with 22 points, while sophomore guard Olivier Hanlan tacked on 19 points.