The ACC lost one in the AP top 25 this week (Miami), but picked up a few nice non-conference wins (then-No. 24 North Carolina over then-No. 12 Ohio State, then-No. 24 Notre Dame over Purdue) and avoided a ton of embarrassment in the pre-holiday malaise.
Louisville had a bit of an ugly win over Western Kentucky that was made so by a first-half skirmish that saw star player Montrezl Harrell being ejected for throwing a punch. Harrell will be suspended one game and returns for this weekend's top-five showdown against Kentucky, arguably the most important and biggest game played by any ACC team this year to date.
Terry Rozier, Louisville: The sophomore guard really stepped up when Montrezl Harrell was ejected in the first half against Western Kentucky, scoring 32 points on 9 of 16 shooting to go with fie rebounds and three steals in 38 minutes. He helped carry the team to a much-needed win in a game that wasn't pretty, but still goes in the win column for the surging Cardinals.
Trevor Lacey/Ralston Turner, NC State: Lacey averaged 22 points in two games against Tennessee and No. 24 West Virginia on 14 of 23 shooting, adding 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 37 minutes a game. Turner averaged 21 points on 11 of 23 shooting, but it was his 33-point outburst against Tennessee that helped lead the Wolfpack to their big win of last week. Turner hit eight 3-pointers in that game, but was held to just nine points in the West Virginia loss. Still a big week for the pair, and Lacey is developing into one of the best players in the ACC.
Demetrius Jackson/Pat Connaughton, Notre Dame: Notre Dame absolutely shellacked Purdue in Indianapolis, and Jackson and Connaughton led the way, Jackson with 22 points and Connaughton with 19 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks. Notre Dame was able to overcome an off night from Jerian Grant (who finished with 10) as everyone else stepped up, but particularly these two.
Jahlil Okafor, Duke: The No. 1 recruit in the country continues to show why, as the big fella averaged 18.5 points and 14 rebounds last week, not to mention three assists, a steal and 1.5 blocks in two games (both wins). Oh, and he was 13 of 19 shooting. His big game came against Elon (25 points, 20 rebounds), but he kept Connecticut's front line in foul trouble (while picking up just one himself) and still finished that game with 12 points and eight rebounds, adding two assists. He's going to need to improve his free-throw shooting (51.1 percent), but it's early, and that's nitpicking.
Malcolm Brogdon, Virginia: The junior is really starting to get comfortable this year, and he was dominant in Virginia's two games last week, averaging 15.5 points to go with four rebounds and dishing out eight assists to just one turnover. He was particularly good against Harvard (15 points, six rebounds, six assists). Oh, and he did all that while he defended Harvard's best player Wesley Saunders, who was held to the lowest point total of his career (four) on 0 of 7 shooting, zero assists and three turnovers.
In addition to Okafor's big week, Duke's Justise Winslow (12 points per game) and Tyus Jones (12.5 ppg) had nice weeks, particularly Jones who had 21 of his 24 points in two games last week in the UConn win. Speaking of freshmen trios, Virginia Tech's Justin Bibbs, Ahmed Hill and Jalen Hudson combined to score 26 points on 9 of 19 shooting in the win over the Citadel.
It wasn't a bad week for duos, either. North Carolina's Justin Jackson averaged nine points and four assists in two games last week, while freshmen point guard Joel Berry had 13 points in two games and added four assists to no turnovers. Also, Florida State's Xavier Rathan-Meyes averaged nine points and nine assists in two Seminole wins, while fellow freshman Phil Cofer added nine points and 6.5 rebounds.
Were it not for going through scores this week, I wouldn't have even seen Notre Dame's 94-63 pummeling of Purdue on a neutral court in Indianapolis on Saturday. The Irish held Purdue to its worse offensive efficiency of the year while outscoring Purdue 48-24 in the second half, and they did it without shooting as well as they have been. And their best player, Jerian Grant, had just 10 points. But six total Notre Dame players finished in double digits. And they kept a Purdue team that had been excellent on the offensive glass to a season-low 13.9 percent, Purdue's worst mark since 2011.
Notre Dame is balanced, dangerous and -- perhaps scariest of all -- still improving.
Virginia over Harvard, 76-27. What the Cavaliers did to Harvard on Sunday night was just a complete and utter domination from tip to buzzer. Harvard was 7-1 entering the Virginia game and has been a perennial frisky Ivy League team under Tommy Amaker. The Crimson are legit. That made what Virginia did to them all the more impressive, holding them to their worst offensive efficiency in the Ken Pom era, which is since 2002 (45.5).
And in said era, only one other current ACC team has ever done that to an opponent (Louisville three times, including once this year to Savannah State). Harvard had not posted an offensive efficiency under 70 in a game since 2007, and its lowest in the Ken Pom era was a 62.2 in 2002 against Boston. Oh, and Virginia did all that while effectively shooting 65.4 percent and putting up an offensive efficiency of 128.1, the best marks by a Harvard opponent since 2010.
A few weeks ago, the Hurricanes had just cracked the top 25. Last week, they were No. 18. Even Ken Pomeroy and his advanced stats loved the Hurricanes; they got as high as 19th in his rankings. But they've lost two of their last three, both at home (Green Bay, Eastern Kentucky). Green Bay wasn't such a bad loss -- neither Ken Pom nor the AP poll thought so (Pomeroy only dropped them to 26th afterwards, and they stayed in the poll at 18). But after climbing back up to 23 with a win over Savannah State on Dec. 8, an 11-day layoff seemed to lead to cobwebs forming in their basketball brains as they were absolutely shellacked by an Eastern Kentucky team that was 5-4 coming in (163rd in Pomeroy's rankings).
The loss dropped Miami 42 spots, per Pomeroy, to 65. And it was ugly -- 72-44, and after halftime, it wasn't close. Miami scored just four points in the first 10 minutes of the second half and attempted 27 3-pointers compared to 14 two-pointers against a team that had a two-point defense that went up to 309th nationally after the Miami game and whose two tallest rotation players were 6-foot-8. Miami also turned it over on more than a quarter of its possessions. Rust or not, it's a bit of an alarming sign for a Miami team that looked to be able to compete for the top six or seven spots in the league.
Rod Hall/Landry Nnoko, Clemson. Both were not very good at all in the loss to South Carolina. Hall, Clemson's senior point guard, had two points on 1 of 8 shooting an five turnovers in 29 minutes. He also missed both his free-throw attempts. Nnoko, a junior center, missed his only shot attempt and managed to pick up four fouls in 10 minutes.
Not to be too harsh on these two, but Clemson has little to no chance of winning if they struggle -- and struggle, they did, in a 68-45 loss to South Carolina.
Miami (9-2) vs. Providence (9-3), Monday, 9 p.m. (Barclay's Center)
So, Miami needs this one pretty badly. After dropping three in a row to Kentucky, Boston College and Brown, Providence has bounced back nicely with three straight wins. Miami has lost two of three and has just one more non-conference game left before ACC play begins. The matchup of Providence point guard Kris Dunn versus Miami's Angel Rodriguez should be fun, but Rodriguez needs to break out of his slump (he's 6 of 25 from three in the last four games after starting the season 18 of 37).
Louisiana Tech (8-3) at NC State (9-3), Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Talk about needing a win. This is the third of a tough four-game non-conference stretch for the Wolfpack, which started with Tennessee last week (a win), then went to the Garden for a matchup with a top-25 West Virginia team (loss) and now Louisiana Tech and Cincinnati in a one-week span. NC State probably needs to win both to keep a strong at-large profile, but the Wolfpack really need to start with this one against a Louisiana Tech team who has yet to lose a game by double digits and took Syracuse down to the last shot at the Carrier Dome.
Georgia Tech (8-2) at Dayton (8-2), Tuesday, 8 p.m.
Bad loss to USC Upstate aside, it hasn't been all that disastrous a start to non-conference play for Georgia Tech. The Jackets have three wins over Ken Pom's top 100 teams and could make it four and five if they can win their final two non-conference games, starting with this tricky trip to Dayton. The Flyers won at Georgia Tech last year before going on to become the darlings of last year's NCAA Tournament, reaching the Elite 8 before falling to Florida. Dayton hasn't lost a home game this year and will be a tough out for the Yellow Jackets, especially if they can't hit shots.
No. 1 Kentucky (12-0) at No. 4 Louisville (10-0), Saturday, 2 p.m.
Does this matchup really need much of an introduction? The regional rivalry has become more and more national in recent years, as John Calipari has returned Kentucky to everything it was in the past (and more) while Rick Pitino has made Louisville into a perennial power. Oh, and the fans don't like each other very much, so there is that. No team -- even Kentucky -- is without flaws, but it has seemed like when the Wildcats are amped up for an opponent, that opponent has generally not stood much of a chance. Can Louisville expose warts in the Wildcats that haven't been visible to date with their smothering defense and tough guard play?
Wake Forest (5-6) at Richmond (6-4), Sunday, 4 p.m.
Wake is 2-3 against the Spiders in the last five meetings, and both wins have come in overtime. The Demon Deacons haven't won in Richmond since 2009, and that team finished 24-7 and was ranked No. 1 in the nation at some point. Point is, Richmond is a pesky opponent for a lot of teams, and especially a Wake team that is young and reeling right now. But Wake has been game for some of its tougher opponents this year, and is going to have to dig deep to salvage something positive from non-conference play.
