Syracuse did maybe the most Syracuse thing ever Monday night. Duke, for all its top-end talent, apparently has next to no depth. Pittsburgh is showing just how quickly a program can turn it around. And Florida State responded poorly after missing a golden opportunity on Saturday.
Chalk it up as just another crazy, eventful night in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Syracuse came into its game at Duke on Monday fresh off a 14-point loss at home to Georgia Tech, which is an improving team that nonetheless no one will confuse with the Blue Devils’ stratosphere in the ACC at this time. Coupled with a home loss earlier in the season to Old Dominion and neutral court losses to Connecticut and Oregon (we won’t include the home loss to Buffalo; anyone calling that a bad loss for the Cuse is looking too much at brand names), the Orange has been decidedly ordinary too many times the first two months of the season.
Certainly, the team ranked in the polls as the No. 1 in the country would take care of business at home against such a team, right?
Normally that would be the case, but the Orange have been the exception to seemingly every rule the last couple years now. Sure enough, the Rasputin of college basketball rose up again, rallying for a 95-91 overtime win at Cameron Indoor Stadium to stun at least the rankings, as well as a TV network that is betting just about the farm on the Dukies being a transcendent team this year.
Syracuse received herculean efforts from Tyus Battle (32 points, including almost impossible shots) and Paschal Chukwu (10 points and 18 rebounds off the bench. Maybe we should’ve known it was their night when Elijah Hughes hit a 75-footer at the halftime buzzer to put the Cuse down just one at the break.
And, oh yes, the Orange were certainly helped by Duke being shorthanded. Cameron Reddish-who won the Blue Devils’ game Saturday against Florida State with a three-pointer-missed the game with flu symptoms, and then point guard Tre Jones departed with a right shoulder injury early in the first half, one that might keep him out for some time.
Without those two, Duke tried to win by shooting over the Syracuse zone, firing a school record 43 three-point tries. The Blue Devils made just nine, though-barely over 20 percent. The result should be alarming for those who have bought the idea that Duke is head-and-shoulders above the rest of the country this year. At the very least, it should raise some serious questions.
Duke was undoubtedly missing some key players. At the same time: are we to believe the Blue Devils’ talent is so poor behind their heralded freshmen and 7-8 man rotation that, at vaunted Cameron Indoor, they can’t handle the same team that lost at home just two days earlier by double digits to Georgia Tech?
The other side of Monday night’s ACC action was Pittsburgh impressing again with a 75-62 victory over temporarily reeling Florida State. Fearless freshman Trey McGowens-one of our favorite frosh this season-scored 30 and the young Panthers were the tougher team in the second half, telling against an experienced FSU squad.
While many have been very surprised by Pittsburgh’s quick turnaround this season, it shows just how a single recruiting class can make a big difference for a program. Pitt struck gold with McGowens, Xavier Johnson (18 points) and Au’Diese Toney (nine points, eight rebounds), who combined to score a full 76% of the Panthers’ points Monday night. When you have rookies playing that well at an ACC level, it’s not surprising how quickly this program has left the Kevin Stallings era behind.
For Florida State, it was a disappointing response after the Seminoles’ what-kind-of-defense-was-that? loss to Duke on Saturday, where Reddish was allowed to shoot an ultra-wide open three-pointer for the win. Athletic and deep as they are, the Seminoles now have four losses overall and are just 1-3 in ACC play early on. FSU has a stretch of plenty winnable conference games coming up, so any further slumping will be cause for some real concern in Tallahassee.
Side Dishes:
- Nebraska may not have needed a win at Indiana Monday night, but at the least an encouraging performance was necessary with three early road losses in conference already. The Cornhuskers got both, leading from start to finish in a 66-51 win over the Hoosiers. Glenn Watson scored 15 to lead four starters in double figures, and along with a win at Clemson now the Huskers have a couple nice wins on true road courts. On the other hand, Indiana delivered an uninspired effort at home, shooting just 36.5% and getting next to nothing from anyone not named Romeo Langford (18 points) or Juwan Morgan (17).
- Also in the Big Ten, Maryland built a huge lead against Wisconsin at home, leading by 21 early in the second half and still by 18 with 10 minutes left. Somehow, the Badgers came all the way back to take the lead with Nathan Reuvers scoring 18 points and four of Wisconsin’s 11 second half three-pointers. The Terrapins finally recovered, getting a huge three-pointer from Anthony Cowan with 44 seconds left for the go-ahead points in an eventual 64-60 win. Outstanding never-quit effort by the Badgers, while the Terps can breathe a sigh of relief after very nearly letting one get away.
- Kansas held on just barely for an 80-78 win over Texas. The Jayhawks actually trailed at halftime before controlling the second half and leading by 10 with five minutes left before the Longhorns came back to tie it. Lagerald Vick scored 21 and Marcus Garrett added a career-high 20 to save KU, while it was a similar story again for the Horns, who also led Texas Tech on Saturday before slipping in the second half. Texas did make 13 of 33 from three-point range, supporting at least for one night a typically poor-shooting team’s oft-confounding strategy of firing away often from long range.
- Bucknell moved back into sole possession of first place in the wacky Patriot League with a 93-78 victory over Holy Cross. Big Nate Sestina scored a career-best 32 points, making 11 of 11 from the field. The Bison can score-this is the same team that put up 97 on UNLV in an impressive blowout win. The Crusaders, meanwhile, dropped to 2-3 in league and slipped out of a previously six-way tie for third at 2-2.
- Northern Colorado knocked Montana State from the ranks of undefeated teams in the Big Sky, holding off the Bobcats’ late charge to win 73-70 on the road in Bozeman. In the process, the Bears have created a three-way tie for first in the league now between the two teams and Weber State.
- North Carolina Central is one of three teams at 3-0 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference after Jordan Perkins went coast-to-coast and scored just before the buzzer to get the Eagles past Delaware State 71-70. Also winning at the buzzer was South Carolina State, which got a tip-in by Damni Applewhite for the winning points in a 70-68 victory over Coppin State.
- Morgan State was to play at Howard on Monday in the MEAC. The game was moved to Tuesday, though, due to weather in the Washington D.C. area.
Tonight’s Menu: We’re settling into the conference routine now with schedules, with the familiar Tuesday night leagues in play.
- The night starts with Seton Hall at Providence (6:30 p.m. Eastern, FS1), and it’s just about a must-win for the Friars, who are 0-3 in the Big East and already have two home losses. There’s a really good chance this will be a close game: the Pirates’ last six games have been decided by an average of 3.7 points, including five of them by four or less.
- The game of the night is a state rivalry game with Virginia Tech at Virginia (7 p.m., Raycom/Fox Sports regional networks). The Cavaliers are the team known for defense, but the Hokies also have been excellent on that end, vastly improved. Tech is among the national leaders in three-pointers per game; UVA leads the country in three-point percentage defense. Also, let’s see if Nickeil Alexander-Walker bounces back after scoring just four last time out in a narrow win over Georgia Tech.
- After losing home chances against Florida and LSU, Arkansas now has a tough road chore going to Tennessee (7 p.m., ESPN2). At the same time in the SEC, Kentucky goes to Georgia, a tricky game with the Bulldogs possessing the size to give the Wildcats some trouble (7 p.m., ESPN), and still-confounding Florida has to take on Mississippi State, which just lost at home to its rival (7 p.m., SEC Network).
- Buffalo hits the road again, going to Western Michigan in the Mid-American Conference. The Broncos have lost six straight. Also in the MAC, Bowling Green-the only undefeated in the East Division besides Buffalo-hosts Ball State, while West leader Northern Illinois hosts attacking Central Michigan, which is second in the country in free throw attempts.
- A pair of disappointing teams in a Missouri Valley Conference that has its share of such teams: Southern Illinois is at Illinois State (7 p.m., CBSSN). These are also two of six-yes, six-teams tied for third in the league at 2-2. Also in the Valley, surprising league leader Valparaiso is at defending conference champion Loyola (Ill.).
- South Florida has been competitive in the American, and the Bulls will try to be a thorn to Cincinnati (7 p.m., ESPNews). Believe it or not, the Bulls are an overtime loss at Temple and a loss at the buzzer at Tulsa from being 4-0 in league. Keep an eye on USF.
- After a satisfying road win at Wisconsin, Purdue now hosts Rutgers (7 p.m., Big Ten Network).
- Marquette ranked in the top 15 seems awfully high for us. The Golden Eagles do have one road win in the Big East already and look for another at Georgetown (8:30 p.m., FS1).
- Notre Dame plays at North Carolina (9 p.m., ESPN), and it’s probably not a good night for the Fighting Irish to face UNC. Not after the Tar Heels laid an egg at home against Louisville last time out.
- A really good one in the SEC: LSU goes to Mississippi, the chic team of the moment in the sport (9 p.m., SEC Network). The Rebels have won 10 straight and could not have more momentum than at the moment, having just won at rival Mississippi State. Very quietly, though, the Tigers also have won their last five.
- Nevada goes to Boise State, which has quietly won three in a row (9 p.m., CBSSN) and is tied for first in the Mountain West with UNLV. The Wolf Pack have found going on the road in conference far tougher than many expected.
- That begins a Mountain West twinbill as the night also wraps up there with New Mexico at San Diego State (11 p.m., CBSSN).
Have a superb Tuesday.
Twitter: @HoopvilleAdam
