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No. 10 FSU's visit from No. 12 Louisville tops ACC weekend
A look at things to watch this week in the Atlantic Coast Conference:
GAME OF THE WEEKEND: No. 12 Louisville at No. 10 Florida State. The Seminoles' brutal run of six consecutive games against Top 25 opponents comes to a close with a visit from the Cardinals. FSU (17-2, 5-1) has won four of the first five after Wednesday's home win against No. 15 Notre Dame, the only loss coming at No. 9 North Carolina last weekend. Still, coach Leonard Hamilton isn't interested in seeing his team take a breather after this stretch. "This is a new league where I am not sure you can take a night off because somebody maybe hasn't won many basketball games," he said after the Notre Dame win. "That's the way it used to be. That does not exist in the ACC anymore."
LOOKING AHEAD: No. 16 Virginia visits No. 15 Notre Dame on Tuesday night in a meeting of ranked teams. The Cavaliers (14-3, 4-2) are coming in after a Saturday home game against Georgia Tech, while the Fighting Irish (16-3, 5-1) enter Saturday's home game against Syracuse in a three-way tie atop the ACC with FSU and UNC.
PLAYER TO WATCH: London Perrantes looks like he's heating up, and that could mean good things for Virginia. The guard has hit 11 of the 18 3-pointers he attempted during a three-game stretch and set season scoring highs in consecutive games, scoring 24 against Wake Forest and 25 against Clemson. The Cavaliers didn't need much from him to beat Boston College, but that surely won't be the case against the Fighting Irish.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: When Duke wins, the Blue Devils do a much better job of sharing the ball. Duke has averaged 15 assists in its 14 victories but just 9.5 in its four losses. The Blue Devils (14-4, 2-3) had just eight assists each in losses at Louisville and Virginia Tech.
ON THE WOMEN'S SIDE: No. 17 Virginia Tech has quietly been sneaking up the national rankings, winning 12 in a row at home while improving to 16-1 overall. The Hokies are 1-1 against Top 25 opponents, beating then-No. 17 Tennessee but losing to then-No. 14 Miami. Now comes the biggest test they'll face to date - they visit No. 15 Duke on Thursday night, then host No. 7 Florida State on Sunday.
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Compiled by AP Basketball Writer Aaron Beard and AP Sports Writer Joedy McCreary in Raleigh, North Carolina.
