As the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) slowly adds schools in order to strengthen its status among the nation's elite football conferences, it also must make a concession - soon, the ACC's powerful college hoops teams will not be playing each other as often as they did in the past. However, the truth of the matter has not set in yet, and last Wednesday, we were treated to the first of two Wake Forest/Duke match-ups this season.
The strength of the ACC was demonstrated last week when the No. 7 Wake Forest Demon Deacons hosted the No. 6 Duke Blue Devils in a game featuring two of the three best teams in the ACC.
Throughout the first half, the game was back and forth, with Wake holding small leads throughout the first 20 minutes. At the half, the Deacons led 45-39. Wake exploded out of the locker room and charged to a 14-point lead, leading 75-61 with just over eight minutes left to play.
But Duke held tough. Despite having superstar point guard Daniel Ewing foul out with over seven minutes to play, the Blue Devils found a way to hang in and chip away at the Deacons' lead. Duke Sharpshooter J.J. Redick nailed three three-pointers in the final two and a half minutes and Sean Dockery added another trifecta that eventually cut the Wake lead to one point (90-89) with three seconds remaining.
But as brilliant as Redick was, finishing with 33 points, he wasn't enough in the end. Duke fouled Wake's Taron Downey with two seconds left. Downey, who had missed a key free throw in regulation against Florida State in a game the Deacons went on to lose in overtime, put the past behind him and nailed both free throws, putting his team up two.
Duke in-bounded the ball to Redick, who managed to unload a desperate, off-balance three-pointer that fell just short as the buzzer sounded, giving Wake a crucial 92-89 victory. The Deacons have now beaten Duke three straight times at home.
The depth of these two teams was the key to the tale - Duke only had two players score in double figures, Redick and Shelden Williams (16 points). Wake, on the other hand, had four players in double figures, led by All-American Chris Paul (23 points).
Outside of the ACC, after a tumultuous career with the Iowa Hawkeyes, star guard Pierre Pierce has been dismissed from the team. In 2002, Pierce was charged with third-degree sexual abuse. This time around, Pierce said that he had had an argument with his girlfriend, and coach Steve Alford dismissed him from the team.
Pierce's scoring ability will be sorely missed by Hawkeye fans, as he led the team with 17.8 points per game this season.
Taking a look at other top teams, another week has passed, and the No. 1 Illinois Fighting Illini and the No. 5 Boston College (BC) Eagles are still undefeated. Illinois moved to 23-0 this week with a convincing 60-47 victory over Indiana. This Saturday, Wisconsin could give the team a scare, but Illinois has already defeated the Badgers in Madison earlier this season, breaking up a 38 game home winning streak for Wisconsin. BC moved to 20-0 after squeaking by Seton Hall on Saturday by a count of 60-52. But the Eagles still haven't played either Syracuse or Pittsburgh, games which will provide big tests for the Big East Cinderella story.
Most importantly, the biggest and best college hoops rivalry is coming up tonight. The North Carolina Tar Heels travel to Duke to take on the Blue Devils and the Cameron Crazies at 9 p.m. While Duke will enjoy the distinct home-court advantage and anything can happen in this type of game, the odds are stacked for the Heels. Duke's been on its heels as of late, and Carolina's playing its best basketball of the season. Look for the Tar Heels to beat up on the Blue Devils and reassert their dominance in the ACC.
