In sum: There wasn’t much in the way of drama in the first week of play for ACC teams. The league, as a whole, went 14-0, and only four of those victories were by a margin of fewer than 20 points. Perhaps it’s a surprise that two of those four such wins were by North Carolina. On Sunday, 12 3-pointers helped keep Valparaiso close against the Tar Heels, but UNC’s 62 percent shooting from inside was too much for the Crusaders to overcome.
Team of the week: Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons had a pair of impressive wins this weekend, starting Friday night with a 76-56 victory over Oral Roberts, a traditional power in the Summit League, and the coaches’ pick to finish second this year. On Sunday, Wake throttled East Carolina on the road, 89-58. Al-Farouq Aminu has emerged with the departures of James Johnson and Jeff Teague. After scoring 25 points and grabbing 13 boards against ORU, he had 23 points and nine boards against ECU.
Worst performance: Nobody lost, and no one was really threatened, so this dubious honor goes to Boston College for what happened off the court. The Eagles suspended Rakim Sanders, Corey Raji and Courtney Dunn for the first two games of the season for violation of team rules. BC has a history of suspensions in recent years, perhaps because its players are transgressing more or perhaps because Al Skinner is punishing the transgressors more harshly than most schools do. Either way, the Eagles had no trouble with Dartmouth on Friday, winning 89-58, behind Tyler Roche’s 30 points.
Upcoming: Florida State is the only ACC team yet to open its season, and the Seminoles get underway with three games this week, starting with Jacksonville at home on Monday and ending with a tricky game at Mercer on Saturday. Virginia travels to Tampa to take on USF on Monday. The two teams played down to the wire in Charlottesville last year, and the Cavs won. Three days later, Virginia hosts Rider, who just defeated Mississippi State in Starkville.
Thursday marks the start of a few in-season tournaments. Georgia Tech plays Dayton in the opening round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Flyers are fresh off a win over Creighton on Saturday. The winner of that game is likely to see Villanova on Friday. Mississippi and Kansas State loom on the opposite side of the bracket. UNC takes on Ohio State on Thursday at Madison Square Garden in the semifinals of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. Syracuse and Cal are on the opposite side of the bracket.
On Friday, St. Joseph’s plays Boston College in the first round of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. BC’s three suspended players should be reinstated by then. Purdue looms in the semifinals with Tennessee the team likely to come out of the opposite bracket.
Oral Roberts heads to UVa to close out a busy week for Tony Bennett’s team on Saturday. A day later, N.C. State plays Auburn in Daytona Beach.
