ACC tournament roundup: SMU stifles Syracuse in tourney debut
March 13 - Chuck Harris and Matt Cross both scored 12 points and SMU had a successful debut in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, defeating Syracuse 73-53 in Wednesday night's second-round game in Charlotte.
SMU's defense did most of the good work as Syracuse, which had a season-low point total, couldn't get untracked in the second half. Boopie Miller and Keon Ambrose-Hylton each contributed 10 points for the Mustangs, who are in their first season in the ACC.
SMU needs to string together victories to get into position for an NCAA Tournament bid and this was a good start, beating the Orange for the second week in a row. The sixth-seeded Mustangs (23-9) meet third-seeded Clemson (26-5) in Thursday's late-night quarterfinal.
J.J. Starling scored 11 of his 16 points in the first half for 14th-seeded Syracuse (14-19). Jyare Davis added 14 points and Eddie Lampkin Jr. had 10 rebounds, but the Orange have never won more than one game in the ACC tournament since joining in 2013-14.
North Carolina 76, Notre Dame 56
Jae'Lyn Withers connected on seven 3-pointers to account for his career-high 21 points and the Tar Heels rolled to a victory against the Fighting Irish in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament's second round at Charlotte, N.C.
Ven-Allen Lubin provided 17 points and 10 rebounds, and RJ Davis had 13 points for North Carolina, which raced to an early lead and didn't let up. Withers tied a North Carolina team record for 3-point baskets in the ACC tournament. Fifth-seeded North Carolina (21-12), which has won seven of its last eight games, meets fourth-seeded Wake Forest (21-10) in Thursday afternoon's quarterfinals.
ACC scoring leader Markus Burton scored 11 points for 12th-seeded Notre Dame (15-18).
Stanford 78, Cal 73
Maxime Raynaud's 23 points and Jaylen Blakes' 21 points combined with clutch baskets from backups Benny Gealer and Chisom Okpara enabled the Cardinal to survive their first Atlantic Coast Conference tournament game with a second-round win over the Golden Bears.
Stanford's late burst countered a 37-point outing by Cal's Andrej Stojakovic. DJ Campbell's 19 points and 10 rebounds and Mady Sissoko's 11 points boosted No. 15 seed Cal (14-19), which shot 52.8 percent from the field. Stojakovic went 13-for-22, which included four 3-pointers.
Seventh-seeded Stanford (20-12), which had a first-round bye, meets No. 13 Louisville (25-6), the second seed, in Thursday night's quarterfinals. Oziyah Sellers added 13 points and Okpara had 12 points for Stanford.
Georgia Tech 66, Virginia 60
Duncan Powell scored 21 points in his first Atlantic Coast Conference tournament game as the Yellow Jackets defeated the Cavaliers in a second-round contest.
Baye Ndongo provided 16 points and 10 rebounds and Naithan George added 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as the Yellow Jackets avenged a regular-season loss. Eighth-seeded Georgia Tech (17-15) will face top-seeded Duke (28-3), the No. 1 team in the nation, in the first quarterfinal on Thursday afternoon.
Isaac McKneely led ninth-seeded Virginia (15-17) with 27 points, shooting 7-for-11 on 3-pointers. Playing under interim coach Ron Sanchez, the Cavaliers completed their first losing season in 15 years. He was elevated to the position a few weeks prior to the start of the season after the sudden retirement of coach Tony Bennett.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
3 days ago
- Reuters
Super regionals roundup: Oregon State rallies late, stuns Florida State in 10
June 7 - After rallying from a three-run deficit in the ninth inning, Oregon State upended Florida State 5-4 on AJ Singer's walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning in the opener of the Corvallis Super Regional on Friday night. With the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the 10th, Florida State got a forceout at the plate before Singer stepped up and delivered a single to center, scoring Gavin Turley to win the opener of the best-of-three series. Down to their last strike in the ninth, the Beavers got one run back on a wild pitch by reliever Joe Charles that scored Wilson Weber. Jacob Krieg followed with a game-tying two-run single to tie the game at 4. Runs were few and far between early as both starters shined. Seminoles (41-15) starter Joey Volini tossed 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball and struck out eight. Beavers (46-13-1) starter Dax Whitney allowed one earned run and struck out 10 over 4 2/3 innings. The Seminoles opened the scoring with a Hunter Carns RBI double in the second. Weber responded with an RBI double in the fourth. Florida State's Myles Bailey broke the stalemate with a solo shot to right in the sixth. A pair of RBI singles in the seventh and eighth innings built a 4-1 Seminoles lead. North Carolina 18, Arizona 2 Fueled by a pair of five-run innings, the Tar Heels pounded the visiting Wildcats in a Game 1 rout at the Chapel Hill Super Regional. The Tar Heels (46-13) capitalized on shaky pitching by the Wildcats (42-19) in the first inning. Arizona starter Owen Kramkowski allowed two baserunners with a hit-by-pitch and a walk to open the inning. Singles from Luke Stevenson and Gavin Gallaher followed by a Hunter Stokely three-run homer quickly made it 5-1. North Carolina stretched its lead to seven with a three-run shot from Stevenson in the second, then manufactured two more runs in the fourth inning for a 10-2 lead. After more RBI singles and a pair of homers by Sam Angelo and Kane Kepley in the eighth, the North Carolina lead grew to a staggering 16 runs. Stokely and Stevenson led the way for the Tar Heels with five and four RBIs, respectively. Arizona made solid contact, notching 10 hits (four by Adonys Guzman), but failed to drive in runs consistently. North Carolina starter Jake Knapp (14-0) scattered two runs and nine hits over seven innings. Louisville 8, Miami 1 Jake Munroe's pair of homers, including one in a pivotal five-run third inning, powered the Cardinals to a Game 1 win over the Hurricanes in the Louisville Super Regional. After back-to-back Louisville (39-21) home runs by Garret Pike and Munroe in the second inning, the Hurricanes (34-26) narrowed the lead to one with a Renzo Gonzalez sacrifice fly in the top of the third. In the bottom of the third, Louisville loaded the bases with a double, an intentional walk and a hit by pitch. Pike then hit a comebacker to Miami starting pitcher AJ Ciscar, which Ciscar threw just out of the reach of catcher Tanner Smith. Louisville notched two runs on the error for a 4-1 lead. Munroe belted a ball to left-center field with runners on second and third for his second long ball of the day, bringing the Cardinals lead to 7-1. Louisville tacked on another run in the fourth inning with Munroe's fifth RBI of the day. --Field Level Media
The Herald Scotland
4 days ago
- The Herald Scotland
SEC wants College Football Playoff respect? Stop playing cupcakes
When the scheduling debate resurfaced two years ago, some SEC members expressed reluctance to add another conference game without additional compensation from its media partner. ESPN didn't sweeten the pot. The SEC stayed at eight. The latest excuse? Many SEC coaches feel loath to welcome a ninth conference game without first knowing the College Football Playoff format for 2026 and beyond. What's next, no ninth SEC game until there's peace in the Middle East? I'm losing my appetite for this eight-or-nine debate. The number should be 10 - as in, every power-conference team should play a minimum of 10 games against Power Four opponents. MAN WITH PLAN: Lane Kiffin pushes promising 16-team playoff model BIG DECISION: SEC's Greg Sankey can be hero or villain in playoff debate SEC craves more CFP respect while playing cupcake games The SEC routinely insists it should gain preference from the playoff selection committee because of its run of national championship dominance the past 20 years, plus its strength of schedule. I won't argue that the SEC often boasts the strongest top-to-bottom conference. The SEC's pandering to the playoff committee, though, plays weak considering how the conference structures its schedule. Teams only play half the other members of their 16-team conference, and most only play one Power Four non-conference opponent, while supplementing the schedule with a few layup games. In this era of the ever-expanding playoff, it is time for the SEC to curtail its feast of cupcake games. Either stay at eight conference games, or go to nine - so long as it adds up to 10 games against real competition. Power Four teams playing more games against legitimate opponents - and fewer games against directional schools - would provide clarity to the playoff's at-large selection process. Alabama, Florida and South Carolina will play 10 regular-season games against Power Four opponents. The SEC's other teams will play eight or nine games against power foes. By comparison, TCU and Baylor will play a nation-leading 11 games against Power Four competition. Let's not spare the ACC, either. The ACC joins the SEC in playing eight conference games, while their Big Ten and Big 12 peers play nine. Most ACC schools, at least, will play 10 games against power-conference opponents, if you include Notre Dame as a power foe. Alternative to a ninth SEC game? Play another Power Four school Prominent SEC voices continue to trumpet that the committee erred by rejecting three 9-3 teams from the inaugural 12-team playoff, and that the committee does not sufficiently reward the SEC's schedule. "I have a hard time seeing Ole Miss, Alabama, and South Carolina not being in the best teams last year," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said, in reference to 9-3 teams that didn't make the playoff. I maintain the committee flubbed by selecting two-loss SMU, which beat nobody of substance and lost its two games against Top 25 opponents. Mississippi, which smashed Georgia after suffering a resume-staining loss to Kentucky, would have been a better choice. And yet, the SEC's three-loss also-rans could have tempted the committee more if they'd played and won another conference game or at least played and won an additional game against a Power Four opponent, instead of creaming a Championship Subdivision school. We don't know how the committee would view a 9-3 SEC team that played 10 games against Power Four competition. We do know what the committee thought of the SEC's 9-3 teams that played only nine games against power-conference foes. They thought them undeserving of a playoff bid. If Florida, which plays Miami and Florida State, goes 9-3 this season, it likely would have a stronger case for an at-large bid than the SEC's three-loss teams last season. The same is true of South Carolina, which plays Virginia Tech and Clemson for 10 Power Four games. Alabama's games against Wisconsin and Florida State give the Tide 10 games at the big-boy table, too. Those teams stand in exception to the SEC's majority that choose a path of lesser non-conference resistance. The SEC keeps floating the myth that the playoff committee does not respect strength of schedule. That's untrue. Indiana won 11 games last season, but the Hoosiers' soft schedule meant Indiana ranked behind four other at-large playoff qualifiers that won fewer games. Also, the SEC's three-loss teams reached the playoff's doorstep largely because of their strength of schedule. Another marquee victory could help get a three-loss team across the playoff's threshold. I can understand the SEC's reluctance to add a ninth conference game. Another league game would guarantee another loss to half the conference. Those additional losses would hinder playoff pursuits across half the league. The alternative to a ninth SEC game, though, should not be a game against Weasel Tech or Seventh-Grade State. Schedule another opponent from the big leagues. Non-conference scheduling includes the hurdle of needing two to tango. Not every power-conference team wants to play an SEC foe. Nebraska ducked out of its series with Tennessee. Wake Forest canceled on Ole Miss. Still, the SEC cannot relent. SEC coaches would be wise to keep the pedal down on this blue-sky idea of a Big Ten-SEC challenge. The SEC insists it wields the nation's strongest conference and that the committee should honor it as such. That argument holds merit, but the case would become easier to prove if SEC teams scheduled fewer games against Coastal Cupcake and more games against power-conference peers. Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@ and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Daily Mail
Broken promise that left Bill Belichick 'furious' after disastrous CBS interview
Bill Belichick was reportedly promised by his publisher that the now-infamous April interview with CBS would only be about his book and not veer into outside topics. Belichick was asked questions not directly about the novel, most notably about 49-years-younger girlfriend Jordon Hudson, who was on set, seated off camera. The questions to Belichick about Hudson sparked the 24-year-old to interrupt and prompt weeks of questions as to her influence on the North Carolina head football coach. More than a dozen days before the interview aired on April 27, Belichick was reportedly written by Simon & Schuster's senior director of publicity, David Kass, stating 'I can assure you that the conversation [will be] about the book' and was 'furious' at what occurred, per TMZ. 'This is a book segment, that looks at your life in football and what people can learn from you to achieve success in their own lives,' Kass added. Kass has not immediately replied to request for comment. However, A CBS News spokesperson did give a statement, not changing their stance about the interview. 'When we agreed to speak with Mr. Belichick, it was for a wide-ranging interview. There were no preconditions or limitations to this conversation. This was confirmed repeatedly with his publisher before the interview took place and after it was completed,' the CBS News spokesperson told Kass was reportedly insistent on Belichick doing the interview, even flying to Chapel Hill in March to make sure the Tar Heels leader and he were on the same page about doing press for his book. It was Kass not attending the interview's taping, which was filmed in Annapolis, Maryland, that led Hudson to feel empowered to direct what Tony Dokoupil was asking. Belichick and Hudson have stayed firm that CBS did not honor their part of the deal for the interview in direct contradiction with the network's message. 'I agreed to speak with CBS Sunday Morning to promote my new book,' Belichick said. 'Prior to this interview, I clearly communicated with my publicist at Simon & Schuster that any promotional interviews I participated in would agree to focus solely on the contents of the book. Unfortunately, that expectation was not honored during the interview.' 'I was surprised when unrelated topics were introduced, and I repeatedly expressed to the reporter, Tony Dokoupil, and the producers that I preferred to keep the conversation centered on the book. 'After this occurred several times, Jordon, with whom I share both a personal and professional relationship, stepped in to reiterate that point to help refocus the discussion. 'She was not deflecting any specific question or topic but simply doing her job to ensure the interview stayed on track. Some of the clips make it appear as though we were avoiding the question of how we met, but we have been open about the fact that Jordon and I met on a flight to Palm Beach in 2021. 'The final eight-minute segment does not reflect the productive 35-minute conversation we had, which covered a wide range of topics related to my career. Instead, it presents selectively edited clips and stills from just a few minutes of the interview to suggest a false narrative - that Jordon was attempting to control the conversation - which is simply not true.' In what appears to be a show of support from UNC to Belichick's tenure, his statement was released by the school in order to try and calm the outpouring of shock at Sunday's scenes. Daily Mail exclusively reported last month that Belichick and Hudson are unfazed, overall, by the response to the interview. Belichick thinks some of the critics from his all-conquering run as Patriots coach now want to see him fail in Chapel Hill. After the interview aired, Pro Football Talk claimed that Hudson interrupted proceedings on so many occasions, CBS decided to include one moment to reflect her overriding influence. TMZ then claimed that Hudson stormed out of the interview for 30 minutes at one stage as she was so unhappy with the direction it was going. Belichick's statement doesn't address those allegations but it is perhaps notable that he described the overall discussion as a 'productive 35-minute conversation'. The New York Times reported that Hudson's presence was 'instrumental' in a deal breaking down
