Conference play is now in full swing, and while you’d usually expect an additional week of play to better sort out the league’s pecking order, this past week did anything but. Instead, three of the four undefeated teams coming into the week dropped their first games and slid further downhill from there, compiling a total record of 1-6.
Meanwhile, middle-of-the-road teams Notre Dame, Clemson and Syracuse combined to go 7-0, with each taking down the previously vaunted Duke Blue Devils in succession.
Those are the CliffsNotes of an exciting week in ACC basketball, but what can we logically glean about the conference’s teams with this additional sample of games to learn from?
UNC-Chapel Hill’s Kennedy Meeks is officially back
After missing seven games due to a knee injury, Meeks returned to limited action (14 minutes played) on Jan. 9 against Syracuse, but he didn’t make his presence felt as we’ve come to expect, reeling in no defensive rebounds for just the fourth time in his 81-game career.
The storyline changed as the Tar Heels hosted in-state rival NC State one week later. North Carolina struggled to widen their lead on the Wolfpack early in the second half before Meeks took over. The junior center finished with five offensive boards and a game-high 23 points as his team claimed a 67-55 victory.
Meeks will be integral to the Tar Heels’ success going forward. He’s part of a big-man rotation that the team would like to keep just three players deep — the others being Brice Johnson and Isaiah Hicks. While Meeks was out, sophomore forward Justin Jackson filled in, but at 6-foot-8, he’s undersized and a poor rebounder.
Clemson could be for real
Clemson got out to a quick start in ACC play, winning three of its first four against some of the most impressive teams the ACC has to offer — the wins came against Louisville, Syracuse and Florida State while the single loss came on the road to UNC.
The Tigers followed up this stretch with the equally daunting task of taking on two of the three top-ranked teams in the conference, Miami and Duke, in a four-day span. They came out unscathed, sending their league record to 5-1 and vaulting themselves into position for an NCAA Tournament bid, at least for the moment.
Early season losses to lowly Massachusetts and Minnesota teams remain sore spots on Clemson’s resume, as does the 71-48 drumming at the hands of Georgia, but the committee can’t ignore that it is now 5-2 against likely NCAA Tournament teams.
The difference for Clemson in these surprising victories, which have mostly come down to the wire, has been made at the free throw line. The Tigers are first in the league in free throw percentage and second in proportion of scoring coming at the charity stripe. They also put opponents at the line less than any other team in the ACC and, fortunately for them, those opponents are shooting poorly when they get the opportunity (67.1 percent).
Louisville has the best defense in the country
While most of the top teams in the ACC this season are offensive-oriented, the Cardinals are the exception. They lead the country in defensive efficiency (defined as points allowed per 100 possessions) and held Pittsburgh, who still boast the sixth most efficient offense in the country, to 41 points, the second-lowest in the Jamie Dixon era.
Chinanu Onuaku is the team’s top rim-protector, currently ranking 43rd in the country in block rate, and forwards Anas Mahmoud, Mangok Mathiang and Raymond Spalding combine for over three blocks per game, though Mahmoud and Mathiang have missed several games due to injuries.
North Carolina may boast the top resume in the conference for the moment, but the Cardinals are quickly closing in, making the Feb. 1 matchup in Louisville one to watch for.
