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Distributed by Universal Uclick • For release March 1, 2010 ACC STANDINGS Through Feb. 28 ACC ALL PF PA Duke 12-2 25-4 79.3 61.7 Maryland 11-3 21-7 80.0 67.3 Virginia Tech 8-6 21-7 72.5 64.3 Clemson 8-6 20-8 73.5 63.2 Florida State 8-6 20-8 70.0 60.7 Wake Forest 8-6 18-8 74.5 68.7 Georgia Tech 7-7 19-9 74.3 64.7 Virginia 5-9 14-13 66.4 63.3 Boston College 5-9 14-13 70.0 66.4 North Carolina 4-10 15-14 76.9 72.7 N.C. State 4-10 16-13 68.7 65.6 Miami 4-10 18-10 72.9 64.4 TEAM LEADERS FIELD-GOAL PERCENTAGE Maryland ......................476 Miami ........................468 Georgia Tech ....................465 Florida State ....................458 Clemson .......................454 North Carolina ..................452 Boston College ..................448 Duke .........................445 FIELD-GOAL DEFENSE Florida State ....................371 Georgia Tech ....................375 Wake Forest ....................379 Maryland ......................380 Virginia Tech ...................395 Duke .........................403 Miami ........................404 Clemson .......................414 North Carolina ..................415 FREE-THROW PERCENTAGE Duke .........................759 Virginia .......................753 Virginia Tech ...................721 Maryland ......................713 Boston College ..................711 N.C. State ......................683 Clemson .......................674 Miami ........................660 REBOUNDS Wake Forest ................... 42.7 North Carolina ................. 42.0 Georgia Tech ................... 40.5 Duke ........................ 39.6 Maryland ..................... 39.1 Florida State ................... 38.6 Virginia Tech .................. 38.2 Clemson ...................... 37.4 ASSISTS Maryland ..................... 16.8 North Carolina ................. 15.8 Boston College ................. 15.1 Duke ........................ 14.5 Miami ....................... 14.5 Clemson ...................... 14.3 Georgia Tech ................... 14.3 BLOCKS Florida State .................... 6.5 North Carolina .................. 6.0 Wake Forest .................... 5.6 Georgia Tech .................... 5.5 Clemson ....................... 5.0 Maryland ...................... 5.0 Virginia Tech ................... 5.0 INDIVIDUAL LEADERS SCORING Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech ...... 20.4 Greivis Vasquez, Maryland ......... 19.5 Jon Scheyer, Duke ............... 18.8 Nolan Smith, Duke .............. 17.4 Sylven Landesberg, Virginia ........ 17.4 Tracy Smith, N.C. State ........... 17.1 Kyle Singler, Duke ............... 17.1 REBOUNDS Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest ...... 11.0 Ed Davis, North Carolina............ 9.6 Gani Lawal, Georgia Tech ........... 9.1 Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech ......... 8.4 Jordan Williams, Maryland .......... 8.4 Trevor Booker, Clemson ............ 8.4 Dwayne Collins, Miami ............. 8.0 FIELD-GOAL PERCENTAGE Tracy Smith, N.C. State ............543 Trevor Booker, Clemson ............513 Landon Milbourne, Maryland ........510 Mike Scott, Virginia ...............500 Deon Thompson, North Carolina ......489 Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest .......463 FREE-THROW PERCENTAGE Jon Scheyer, Duke ................887 Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech .......850 Greivis Vasquez, Maryland ..........843 C.J. Harris, Wake Forest ............829 Sylven Landesberg, Virginia .........822 Solomon Alabi, Florida State.........817 Nolan Smith, Duke ...............795 ASSISTS Greivis Vasquez, Maryland .......... 6.4 Ishmael Smith, Wake Forest ......... 6.2 Larry Drew II, North Carolina ........ 6.0 Jon Scheyer, Duke ................ 5.4 Reggie Jackson, Boston College ....... 4.6 Biko Paris, Boston College .......... 4.5 BLOCKS Ed Davis, North Carolina............ 2.8 Solomon Alabi, Florida State......... 2.4 Jerai Grant, Clemson .............. 1.9 Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech ......... 1.9 Chris Singleton, Florida State ........ 1.6 Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest ....... 1.5 Gani Lawal, Georgia Tech ........... 1.5 John Henson, North Carolina ........ 1.5 T hings are not exactly what we envisioned when the schedule was released, but that does not mean the Saturday night’s regular-season finale between North Carolina and host Duke won’t live up to our expectations of college sports’ most heated rivalry. A combination of youthful inexperience and injuries has taken its toll on the Tar Heels and their chances of defending their 2009 national championship this season. North Carolina head coach Roy Williams has found him- self questioning his Hall of Fame credentials, and the Tar Heels faithful have had difficulty realizing just how far the program has fallen after back-to-back NCAA Final Four appearances. In spite of all of this season’s misfortunes, Williams and his squad still have a chance to make things right for one night and leave the hated Blue Devils in search of answers as they prepare for a run at the ACC Tournament champi- onship and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Rivalr y games always present potential pitfalls, and Duke cannot afford a loss to Williams’ worst North Carolina team if it plans to convince itself and the rest of the nation that it is prepared to live up to the program’s lofty standards during the month of March. Records: North Carolina 15-14 (4-10 ACC); Duke 25-4 (12-2 ACC). Coaches: North Carolina’s Roy Williams (609-152); Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (858-278). Tip-off: 9 p.m. ET Saturday. TV: ESPN. Keys for North Carolina: Perform at the line. The Tar Heels were 19-for-33 from the stripe in this past Saturday’s 77-68 win at Wake Forest. . . . Limit the Blue Devils to one shot. Duke overcame a 31 percent shooting performance by turning 23 offensive rebounds into 21 points in a 64-54 win in Chapel Hill on Feb. 10. Keys for Duke: A fast start. The Blue Devils jumped out to a 20-4 lead and never looked back in Sunday’s 67-49 win at Virginia. . . . Three- point defense. Virginia was the third-straight team to shoot less than 20 percent from behind the arc against the Blue Devils, who are on the verge of setting a program record for 3-point field-goal defense percentage. THE REST OF THE MATCHUPS Florida State at Miami Records: Florida State 20-8 (8-6 ACC); Miami 18-10 (4-10 ACC). Coaches: Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton (351-314); Miami’s Frank Haith (106-83). Tip-off: Noon ET Saturday. TV: ESPN2. Keys for Florida State: Finding a go-to guy for the stretch run. No Florida State player scored more than eight points in Sunday’s 53-50 loss to Clemson. . . . Hamilton has to make sure that Sunday’s collapse against Clemson does not have long-term ramifications. Keys for Miami: Find energy and focus. Before this past Saturday’s 71-67 loss to visiting N.C. State, Haith said that he felt that his team “didn’t have the pop needed to win an ACC bas- ketball game.” . . . Don’t discount any Florida State player’s ability to be the difference maker. Seminoles sophomore Luke Loucks came off the bench and fueled last month’s 71-65 win over the Hurricanes with 19 points. Maryland at Virginia Records: Mar yland 21-7 (11-3 ACC); Virginia 14-13 (5-9 ACC). Coaches: Maryland’s Gary Williams (646-364); Virginia’s Tony Bennett (83-46). Tip-off: 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday. TV: Raycom Sports. Keys for Maryland: Overcome the emotional high or let- down that may stem from Wednesday night’s clash against conference leader Duke. . . . Dictate the tempo. The Ter- rapins are averaging a conference-best 78.1 points against ACC foes, while the Cavaliers averaged a conference-worst 62.9 points in their first 14 games against ACC opponents. Keys for Virginia: Contain Greivis Vasquez. The Maryland senior guard, who scored a career-high 41 points in this past Saturday’s 104-100 double-overtime win at Virginia Tech, exploded for 25 points in the first half of Maryland’s 85-66 win over Virginia on Feb. 15. . . . Finish with a flurry. Senior forward/center Jerome Meyinsse secured his first back-to-back double-figure scoring performances with a career-high 21 points on Sunday against Duke. Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech Records: Virginia Tech 21-7 (8-6 ACC); Georgia Tech 19-9 (7-7 ACC). Coaches: Virginia Tech’s Seth Greenberg (341-262); Georgia Tech’s Paul Hewitt (239-167). Tip-off: 4 p.m. ET Saturday. TV: Raycom Sports. Keys for Virginia Tech: Demonstrate some balance. In addition to getting a combined 73 points from the trio of Malcolm Delaney, Jeff Allen and Dorenzo Hudson, the Hokies received 15 points and 10 points, respectively, from J.T. Thompson and Terrell Bell this past Saturday . . . . Win the turnover battle. The Hokies have a conference-best plus-3.1 turnover margin against ACC foes and the Yellow Jackets average a conference-worst 16.1 turnovers in ACC games. Keys for Georgia Tech: Realize what could be at stake. A win over the Hokies could solidify Georgia Tech’s case for the NCAA Tournament. . . . Execute at the line. The Yellow Jackets converted a season-best 91.7 percent of their free throws in this past Saturday’s 73-68 win over Boston College. Boston College at N.C. State Records: Boston College 14-14 (5-9 ACC); N.C. State 16-13 (4-10 ACC). Coaches: Boston College’s Al Skinner (384-289); N.C. State’s Sidney Lowe (67-59). Tip-off: 2 p.m. ET Sunday. TV: Raycom Sports. Keys for Boston College: Point guard play. The Eagles’ Reggie Jackson had 13 points and his second-consecutive double-figure assist game with 10 this past Saturday at Georgia Tech, while the Wolfpack’s Javier Gonzalez had 19 points against Miami. . . . Defense. Georgia Tech shot 52.9 percent from the field against a Boston College team that is 8-1 whenever its opponent shoots under 40 percent. Keys for N.C. State: Respect the outside shooting of Boston Col- lege for ward Joe Trapani, who was 6-for-9 from behind the arc and scored a game-high 26 points this past Saturday at Georgia Tech. . . . Answer big runs. The Eagles used two second-half runs to take a 71-67 decision over North Carolina on Feb. 20 and started an 80-60 win over Virginia Tech on Feb. 24 with a 15-2 run. Clemson at Wake Forest Records: Clemson 20-8 (8-6 ACC); Wake Forest 18-8 (8-6 ACC). Coaches: Clemson’s Oliver Purnell (393-276); Wake Forest’s Dino Gaudio (127-152). Tip-off: 6 p.m. ET Sunday. TV: Fox Sports Net. Keys for Clemson: Timely outside shooting from Andre Young. The reser ve guard knocked down a half-court shot at the first-half buzzer and nailed a late 3-pointer that gave his team a lead it would never relinquish on Sunday at Florida State. . . . Controlling the boards. The Tigers, who will be facing the conference’s top rebounder in Demon Deacon sophomore Al-Farouq Aminu, are 15-3 this season when outrebounding their opponents. Keys for Wake Forest: Put the ball in the hole. The Demon Deacons shot a season-worst 29.7 percent from the field this past Satur- day against North Carolina. . . . Home-court advantage. A season-high 14,510 people entered the Lawrence Joel Coli- seum to see the Demon Deacons take on North Carolina. GAME OF THE WEEK North Carolina at Duke © 2010 Sports News Bureau Inc. This one always counts Junior Rakim Sanders, who had extended his streak of consecutive double-figure scoring performances to eight and had become the 36th player in school history to score 1,000 career points in an 80-60 win over Virginia Tech on Feb. 24, started and played 19 scoreless minutes in this past Saturday’s 73-68 loss at Georgia Tech. Sunday’s 53-50 come- from-behind victory at Florida State enabled this year’s seniors to become the winningest class in program history and the first Clemson class to tally four consecutive 20-win seasons. The win was the Tigers’ 92nd overall and 34th in conference play since the start of the 2006-07 campaign. The Blue Devils continued their domination of Virginia and guaranteed themselves a third- consecutive 25-win season with Sunday’s 67-49 win in Charlottesville. The 18-point win was Duke’s 13th in the last 14 series meetings and head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s record-setting 134th conference road victory. The Seminoles saw their three-game winning streak snapped on Sunday by visiting Clemson. The only time that Florida State has won four games in a row against conference foes came during its inaugural ACC season when it strung together six straight conference wins from Jan. 31 to Feb. 20, 1993. After getting an average of 30.3 points from its reserves over the previous three games, Georgia Tech received just 12 points from bench players this past Saturday against Boston College. Senior Zachery Peacock led a quartet of reserves with seven points to move within 41 points of 1,000 for his career. This past Saturday’s 104-100 double-overtime victory at Virginia Tech was head coach Gary Williams’ 200th in either a regular-season conference game or conference tournament game. Former North Carolina head coach Dean Smith and current Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski are the only other two ACC coaches to win at least 200 games against conference teams. Freshman Durand Scott tallied 13 points, five assists and three rebounds in Saturday’s 71-66 loss to visiting N.C. State. The performance gave the 6-foot-3 Scott 252 points, 106 rebounds and 102 assists on the season. He is the second Miami freshman to collect at least 100 points, 100 rebounds and 100 assists in a season. This past Saturday’s 77-68 win at Wake Forest snapped a three-game losing streak and moved the Tar Heels one victory closer to becoming the second NCAA Division I men’s basketball program to claim 2,000 all-time wins. Kentucky was the first on Dec. 21, 2009. Former Wolfpack great David Thompson and former Duke standout Christian Laettner were among eight players named to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2010. Laettner was a three-time All-American and a two-time national champion at Duke from 1989-92, while Thompson, a Naismith Memorial Hall of Famer, was a three-time ACC Player of the Year and a 1974 national champion at N.C. State. A thigh injury kept sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg out of Sunday’s loss to visiting Duke. Landesberg, who was one of six conference players named to the 2010 Naismith Award’s Midseason Top 30 list, scored a game-high 27 points despite suffering the injury in a 74-62 loss at Miami on Feb. 23. Last Saturday’s game against visiting Maryland, which was the highest-scoring conference game since Wake Forest’s 119-114 triple- overtime win over North Carolina on Dec. 20, 2003, was originally scheduled to tip-off at 4 p.m., but a broken water main at the Hokies’ Cassell Coliseum pushed the start back three hours. Senior guard L.D. Williams collected 14 points on 3-of-13 shooting and nine rebounds in this past Saturday’s nine- point loss to visiting North Carolina. The performance enabled Williams to move within 20 points of 1,000 for his career. 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