ACC Hoops Wrap-up: Yellow Jackets hammer Tar Heels; Duke rallies

ACC Men

Georgia Tech Snaps North Carolina Five-Game Win Streak, 78-58: Iman Shumpert matched his career high with 30 points and Georgia Tech held North Carolina to its fewest points in the Roy Williams era to beat the Tar Heels 78-58 on Sunday night in Atlanta.

Glen Rice also matched his career high with 24 points as Georgia Tech (8-8 overall, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) ended its three-game losing streak.

North Carolina's previous scoring low in Williams' eight seasons as coach was 60 points in a postseason NIT win over Alabama-Birmingham last season.

North Carolina's five-game winning streak ended as the Tar Heels (12-5, 2-1) committed 18 turnovers, leading to 25 points for Georgia Tech. North Carolina set a season low by making only 27.6 percent of its shots from the field (16 of 58).

Harrison Barnes and John Henson each had 11 points for North Carolina, which never led.

Noles Top Wolfpack, 84-71: Bernard James hit all eight of his field goal attempts to score a career-high 16 points Saturday as Florida State captured an 84-71 win over North Carolina State.

The Seminoles (13-5, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) led 28-19 at the half and never looked back as they followed up Wednesday's 66-61 win over top-ranked Duke with no sign of a letdown.

Florida State shot 54.5 percent (30 of 55) from the floor and all five starters scored in double figures. Michael Snaer added 13 points and Terrance Shannon 12 along with a career-best nine rebounds for the Seminoles, who led by as many as 22 in the second half.

Tracy Smith scored 19 points and Ryan Harrow 17 for North Carolina State (11-6, 1-2), which shot just 38.7 percent (24 of 62).

The Seminoles never trailed and led comfortably throughout the second half on their way to a third straight ACC home victory.

Dawkins Helps Fuel Second Half Duke Comeback: Head coach Mike Krzyzewski seemingly has the blueprint on how to rebound after a road loss.

It might have taken a half to get rolling but the Blue Devils 76-60 win over Virginia from Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday afternoon gave Krzyzewski his 12th straight win at home following his team's first loss road loss of the season.

Krzyzewski has trained his teams over the years to not let a road loss affect the squad's confidence once returning home, winning them by an average of 27.5 points.

Saturday's win though required a comeback. The Blue Devils trailed by as many as 10 in the first half and nine with 16:01 remaining in the second.

For Duke, the comeback started with defense.

Dawkins finished with 14 points as the sophomore guard heated up in the second half, shooting 4-of-6 from the field and 3-of-5 from three to help fuel the comeback.

It was Dawkins and senior Nolan Smith's defense that created the most electric play of the game, as the pair forced a turnover from Joe Harris, resulting in a steal for Smith, an assist for Dawkins and a one-handed dunk for Smith to put the Blue Devils up three and the sellout crowd to its feet.

Hurricanes Edge BC, 72-71, for First ACC Win: Durand Scott scored 19 points to lead Miami to its first Atlantic Coast Conference win of the season, beating Boston College 72-71 on Saturday night.

Miami (12-5, 1-2) snapped a two-game losing streak after dropping ACC road games at Duke and Clemson. Miami improved to 8-0 at home this season in the win against Boston College (13-5, 3-1).

Trailing 68-67 with 20.9 seconds left, Boston College had a chance to take the lead. But Miami backup center Julian Gamble blocked Reggie Jackson's drive. Miami's Garrius Adams then made two free throws for a 70-67 lead.

To avoid a potential tying 3-pointer, Miami put Jackson on the line with 4.1 seconds left. He made one of two, and Miami's Reggie Johnson grabbed the rebound and made two free throws to make it 72-68.

Jackson made a largely inconsequential 3-pointer at the buzzer to close the scoring.

Adrian Thomas had 13 points for Miami, and Adams added 12.

For BC, Jackson led the way with 19, and Joe Trapani had 14. Corey Raji and Josh Southern each added 13.

Virginia Tech rolls past Wake Forest 94-65: The Virginia Tech Hokies used two big first-half runs and shot a season-high 58.6 percent from the floor to roll past Wake Forest 94-65 in an ACC game played Saturday night at Cassell Coliseum, handing the Demon Deacons their worst loss of the season.

Wake Forest led 9-6 in the early going, but the Hokies used a 14-2 run – with six players scoring baskets – to take a lead they never would relinquish. Jarell Eddie’s 3-pointer with 10:04 remaining in the first half ended the run and gave Tech a 20-11 lead.

Wake Forest’s C.J. Harris scored with 8:09 left in the first to make the score 24-16, but the Hokies embarked on another big run, scoring the next 11 straight points. Manny Atkins’ 3-pointer with 4:57 remaining in the half expanded Tech’s lead to 35-16 and the Hokies never looked back.

Tech made seven 3-pointers in the first half and shot 53.1 percent from the floor. For the game, the Hokies hit eight 3-pointers.

Six players scored in double figures for the Hokies, but the story was the production they got from their bench, which chipped in 39 points. Atkins, a sophomore from Stone Mountain, Ga., led Tech with a career-high 16 points, while Eddie, a freshman from Charlotte, N.C., scored a career-high 12 points.

Terps Fall at No. 7 Villanova, 74-66: Corey Fisher scored eight of his 17 points during a stunning 19-0 run that helped No. 7 Villanova avoid an upset and win its 11th straight game, 74-66 over Maryland on Saturday.

The Wildcats (16-1) trailed by 12 midway through the second half and could not make a shot against one of the top defensive teams in the nation.

Led by Jordan Williams, the Terps (11-6) were 9 minutes from the signature win against a Top 25 team they've been craving.

ACC Women

No. 3 Duke Cruises to Win Over Virginia Tech, 57-43: Allison Vernerey had 15 points and seven rebounds Sunday and No. 3 Duke cruised past Virginia Tech for the 14th consecutive time, 57-43.

The Blue Devils (17-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), coming off three consecutive victories against ranked teams, used an early 16-2 run to open a 20-6 lead. Jasmine Thomas started it with a foul line jumper and added a 3-pointer, and Tricia Liston also scored five.

Duke led 34-21 at halftime, but missed its first eight shots after halftime while Virginia Tech (9-9, 0-4) scored six straight points to get within seven. Thomas ended the dry spell with a 15-footer, sparking a 9-0 run, and the Hokies never got closer than 10 again.

Shanel Harrison led the Hokies with 10 points.

The Blue Devils remained one of two unbeaten teams left in Division I, along with Florida Gulf Coast.

Williams Leads 'Canes to 17th Straight Win, 65-53 over BC: Riquna Williams scored a season-high 33 points to help No. 22 Miami win its 17th straight game with a 65-53 victory over Boston College on Sunday.

Miami (18-1, 4-0 ACC), with its smaller and quicker players, used pressure defense to rally from a seven-point deficit against Atlantic Coast Conference rival Boston College (14-4, 1-2).

The Hurricanes came up with 19 steals and had a 31-11 turnover advantage to overcome being outrebounded 48-27.

Speedy guards Williams and Shenise Johnson, the top two scorers in the ACC, led the way for Miami. Williams had 21 of her points in the second half and made 6 3-pointers. Johnson had 13 of her 22 points in the second half.

Miami's defense held BC way under its 84.9 scoring average coming into the game.

Caroyln Swords had 23 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Eagles while Stefanie Murphy added 10 points and 15 boards.

Shine and Egwu Lead Virginia Past Penn, 54-45: The Virginia women's basketball team withstood a late Pennsylvania rally and came away with a 54-45 victory Sunday at John Paul Jones Arena. The Cavalier frontcourt was one of the keys to victory, as junior forward Chelsea Shine (Wayne, Pa.) led all scorers with 20 points and sophomore center Simone Egwu (Odenton, Md.) scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Virginia and the Cavaliers' record improved to 11-8 overall. Penn's record dropped to 5-8 on the season.

After leading 26-18 at halftime, Virginia built its lead to 17 points, 40-23, on a 3-pointer by freshman Ataira Franklin (Bowie, Md.) at the 17:36 mark.

Penn countered with a 15-3 run over the next 12 minutes to cut the Cavalier lead to 43-38 at the 7:48 mark. The Quakers got even closer, closing the gap to three points with 3:12 left on a lay-up by Alyssa Baron with 3:12 left in the game that made the score 48-45.

Junior guard Whitny Edwards (Charlotte, N.C.) had the answer for Virginia at that point, nailing a jumper from the elbow to extend the Cavalier lead back to five points, 50-45, with 2:39 left in the game.

Penn did not score again in the game and Virginia closed out the last two minutes with six unanswered points to earn the 54-45 victory.

Tar Heels Hold Off NC State, 83-76: Italee Lucas scored 19 points as No. 11 North Carolina held on to beat rival North Carolina State 83-76.

Chay Shegog scored 13 points for the Tar Heels (16-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who avenged last year's surprising home loss to the Wolfpack by pushing ahead by double figures late in the first half and holding on the rest of the way. North Carolina led by 16 at halftime and increased that margin to 62-38 early in the second half.

The only problem was the Tar Heels couldn't close out the scrappy Wolfpack (9-8, 1-2), who kept fighting and nearly came all the way back behind Marissa Kastanek. The sophomore scored a career-high 30 points and hit six 3-pointers, the last of which pulled N.C. State within five points with 17 seconds left.

The Tar Heels used an 11-0 run in the first half to take a 37-22 lead on Waltiea Rolle's stickback with 2:30 left, then pushed the lead to 24 points on Lucas' transition layup with about 13 minutes left.