Miami and Duke further moved away from the rest of the ACC pack by continuing to get excellent performances from their best players, while Virginia made a move thanks to the terrific play of Joe Harris.
North Carolina State creatively won at Clemson and Erick Green finally ran out of gas.
So, with respect to Wake Forest’s Devin Thomas, North Carolina’s James Michael McAdoo and Reggie Bullock, Florida State’s Michael Snaer, Miami’s Durand Scott and Rion Brown, NC State’s Lorenzo Brown, C.J. Leslie, Scott Wood and Tyler Lewis, Clemson’s K.J. McDaniels, Virginia’s Akil Mitchell, Boston College’s Olivier Hanlan and Ryan Anderson, Duke’s Seth Curry and Quinn Cook … here are this week’s Big Men on Campus:
Shane Larkin, Miami: The sophomore point guard continues to get better and better, and as a result so do the Hurricanes. He totaled 28 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds in a 22-point win over Boston College and 26-point win over North Carolina. Larkin posted 18 points and nine assists against the Tar Heels.
Joe Harris, Virginia: The junior wing is turning these performances into a regular thing. He scored 21 points in a win over Clemson and then 22 points in a key win at Maryland. Harris gives the Cavaliers stability every night and has become one of the top players in the ACC.
Richard Howell, NC State: The senior forward had two more excellent games scoring 23 points in a loss at Duke and then netting 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in a last-second win at Clemson. He also set a terrific screen freeing Scott Wood for the game-winning 3-pointer Sunday.
Erick Green, Virginia Tech: The senior guard scored 57 points, grabbed eight rebounds and handed out four assists in a pair of losses by the Hokies. He also had to be helped off the floor because of dehydration late in Saturday’s home loss to Georgia Tech. Green leads the nation in scoring and is attempting to become the first ACC player to do so since Grady Wallace of South Carolina did so in 1957.
Kenny Kadji, Miami: The 6-foot-11 gangly senior had another terrific week helping lead to Hurricanes to one of their best seasons in school history. He scored 33 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the week, and his always-excellent floor game continued to improve.
North Carolina uniforms: It’s hard to imagine any UNC fan ever wanting to see the block NC uniforms ever again. Sure, the 2000 team went to the Final Four, but at the time, it was also the second losingest team in UNC history with 14 losses. Why can’t beautiful traditional uniforms be left alone?
Mason Plumlee, Duke: The 6-foot-11 native of Indiana was dominant with 30 points and nine rebounds and two assists) in a win over NC State at home, and then was crucial in Duke escaping Boston College with a one-point win by totaling 19 points and 10 rebounds. This may have been one of the best weeks of his terrific senior season.
Mark Gottfried, NC State: Gottfried wisely called timeout with seven seconds left and his team trailing at Clemson by two points to draw up what turned out to be a game-winning 3-pointer by Scott Wood. It was a beautiful play, with Wood running off the same screen twice, and was a gutsy call. This is the kind of play and victory that can get a team back in the right frame of mind.
